Inside The Oil Theft Market And The Role Of Leadership In Nigeria

Oil spillage has contributed to hardship in south-south, Nigeria, the oil-dominated part of the country, and oil has been polluting the farmland making it hard for crops to grow. What has taken a deep toll on Nigeria’s economy is the oil theft in the region, illegal exploitation of the oil and pushing into market, making it hard for Nigeria to meet up to the quota stipulated by OPEC[ Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries]. Oil spills have been making it hard for the locals to boost of any kind of bountiful harvest, the size of market produce has drastically reduced.

Niger Delta, a region and home to more than 6.5 million people who largely based their earnings and depend on fishing and farming, boosting of robust agricultural produce due to the nature of rainforest and being the mangrove forest vegetative zones of Nigeria. This region has been driving oil market for Nigeria, as the major natural resources after the fall of agriculture and emergence of discovery of oil in Nigeria states, locals in the region have suffered tremendously due to the effect of oil exploration leaving them with not only damage to the land but also no good water drinking, the role of leadership has collapsed in this effect to manage the oil exploration and keeping the community healthy, they have been left vulnerable to the situation.

A serious loggerheads ensued between Niger Delta Militants and government of Nigeria, over the handling of resources generated from oil and how it is managed at the expense of Niger Deltans, which led to threat to pipelines. In 2020 and 2021, Nigeria’s National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency [NOSDRA] recorded a combined total of 822 oil spills, resulting in 28,003 barrels spewing into the environment. These spills get into already growing crops making it unsafe for consumption after harvest. In 2021, a Netherlands court ordered the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell to compensate four farmers from Oruma in Ogbia in Bayelsa who had instituted a case against the company for a 2008 oil spillage they alleged affected their farms and yields.

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Oil companies operating there are Shell Petroleum Development and Nigeria Agip Oil Company, what has been the major challenges with cleaning land after spills, when locals gathered momentum to protest against the spillage as the level of havoc is unbecoming, they are very often threatened by the security personnel. Locals also shoot themselves in the leg, when they cohort with those companies at the detriment of the people, making livelihood very difficult for the population who largely depend on farming and fishing as sources of income.

Leadership and followership have fallen to lowest minimum level in Nigeria, the people are not holding leaders accountable, the cord is loosen and there is no proper leadership and followership. The populace are easily switched and swayed from different angles, the spillage has created avenue for oil theft, and creation of market where the region is exploited illegally using locals as an instrument to this as opposed to healthy environment and the role leadership play in keep the situation aloft.