 
Petroleum extraction in the Niger Delta has led to many environmental issues. The delta covers within wetlands, formed primarily by sediment deposition. Home to 20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups, this floodplain makes up 7.5% of Nigeria's total land mass, and is Africa's largest wetland. The Delta's environment can be broken down into four ecological zones: coastal barrier islands, mangrove swamp forests, freshwater swamps, and lowland rainforests. Fishing and farming are the main sources of livelihoods for majority of her residents.
The delta is well endowed with natural resources and the surrounding ecosystem contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet. In addition to supporting abundant flora and fauna, arable terrain that can sustain a wide variety of crops, lumber or agricultural trees, and more species of freshwater fish than any ecosystem in West Africa.
The advent of oil production has also negatively impacted the Niger Delta region due to unprecedented oil spillage which has been ongoing for the past 5 decades making the region one of the most polluted in the world. The heavy contamination of the air, ground and water with toxic pollutants is often used as an example of ecocide. It is estimated that while the European Union experienced 10 incidences of oil spills in 40 years, Nigeria recorded 9,343 cases within 10 years.
The resultant environmental degradation from gas flaring, dredging of larger rivers, oil spillage and reclamation of land due to oil and gas extraction across the Niger Delta region costs about US$758 million every year. Regrettably, 75% of the cost is borne by the local communities through polluted water, infertile farmland and lost biodiversity. The region could experience a loss of 40% of its habitable terrain in the next thirty years as a result of extensive dam construction in the region.
Oil spills.
Extent of the problem.
The Department of Petroleum Resources estimated that 1.89 million barrels of petroleum were spilled into the Niger Delta between 1976 and 1996 out of a total of 2.4 million barrels that spilled in 4,835 incidents. (approximately 220 thousand cubic metres). A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report states that there have been a total of 6,817 oil spills between 1976 and 2001, which account for a loss of three million barrels of oil, of which more than 70% were not recovered. 69% of these spills occurred off-shore, a quarter was in swamps and 6% spilled on land. Bronwen Manby, then researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, documented in July 1997 that "according to the official estimates of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)... approximately of oil are spilled in 300 separate incidents annually. It can be safely assumed that, due to under-reporting, the real figure is substantially higher: conservative estimates place it at up to ten times higher."
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation places the quantity of petroleum jettisoned into the environment yearly at with an average of 300 individual spills annually. However, because this amount does not take into account "minor" spills, the World Bank argues that the true quantity of petroleum spilled into the environment could be as much as ten times the officially claimed amount. The largest individual spills include the blowout of a Texaco offshore station which in 1980 dumped an estimation amounting to Sabotage of crude oil into the Gulf of Guinea and Royal Dutch Shell's Forcados Terminal tank failure which produced a spillage estimated at . In 2010 Baird reported that between 9 million and 13 million barrels have been spilled in the Niger Delta since 1958. One source even calculates that the total amount of petroleum in barrels spilled between 1960 and 1997 is upwards of . United nation's report of 2011 documented the environment of the Niger Delta is so polluted that it could take 25 to 30 years to reverse the associated sustainability consequences of the pollution.
A catastrophic spill occurred on May 1, 2010 at an ExxonMobil offshore oil platform approximately from shore. The rupture spewed more than of crude into the Delta. Because the spill occurred just 10 days after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, people affected by repeated spills in the Niger Delta noted "massive differences" in international response to these disasters and relative lack of media coverage for such events in Nigeria.
Causes.
Most of the oil infrastructure is old and lacks regular inspection or maintenance. Half of all spills occur due to pipeline and tanker corrosion and accidents (50%), other causes include sabotage (28%) and oil production operations (21%), with 1% of the spills being accounted for by inadequate or non-functional production equipment.
A reason that corrosion accounts for such a high percentage of all spills is that as a result of the small size of the oilfields in the Niger Delta, there is an extensive network of pipelines between the fields, as well as numerous small networks of flowlines—the narrow diameter pipes that carry oil from wellheads to flowstations—allowing many opportunities for leaks. In onshore areas most pipelines and flowlines are laid above ground. Pipelines, which have an estimate life span of about fifteen years, are old and susceptible to corrosion. Many of the pipelines are as old as twenty to twenty-five years.
Shell admits that "most of the facilities were constructed between the 1960s and early 1980s to the then prevailing standards. SPDC [Shell Petroleum and Development Company] would not build them that way today.”
Sabotage is performed primarily through what is known as "bunkering", whereby the saboteur attempts to tap the pipeline. In the process of extraction sometimes the pipeline is damaged or destroyed. Oil extracted in this manner can often be sold.
Sabotage and theft through oil siphoning has become a major issue in the Niger River Delta states as well, contributing to further environmental degradation. Damaged lines may go unnoticed for days, and repair of the damaged pipes takes even longer. Oil siphoning has become a big business, with the stolen oil quickly making its way onto the black market, referred to as "Nigerian Swag".
While the popularity of selling stolen oil increases, the number of deaths caused by explosion increase as well. In late December 2006 more than 200 people were killed in the Lagos region of Nigeria in an oil line explosion.
Nigerian regulations of the oil industry are weak and rarely enforced, allowing in essence, the industry to self-regulate.
Consequences.
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We witnessed the slow poisoning of the waters of this country and the destruction of vegetation and agricultural land and good water source by oil spills which occur during petroleum operations. But since the inception of the oil industry in Nigeria, more than fifty years ago, there has been no concerned and effective effort on the part of the government, let alone the oil operators, to control environmental problems associated with the industry.
River Chiefs of the Niger Delta, 1992
Oil spillage has a major impact on the ecosystem into which it is released and may constitute ecocide. Immense tracts of the mangrove forests, which are especially susceptible to oil (mainly because it is stored in the soil and re-released annually during inundations), have been destroyed. An estimated 5 to 10% of Nigerian mangrove ecosystems have been wiped out either by settlement or oil. The rainforest which previously occupied some of land has disappeared as well.
Spills in populated areas often spread out over a wide area, destroying crops and aquacultures through contamination of the groundwater and soils. The consumption of dissolved oxygen by bacteria feeding on the spilled hydrocarbons also contributes to the death of fish. In agricultural communities, often a year's supply of food can be destroyed instantaneously. The Niger River has been invaded by water hyacinth, which thrives in polluted environments but clogs waterways and competes with native plants.
People in the affected areas complain about health issues including breathing problems and skin lesions; many have lost basic human rights such as health, access to food, clean water, and an ability to work.
On 30 January 2013 a Dutch court ruled that Shell is liable for the pollution in the Niger Delta. In January 2015, Shell agreed to pay $80 million to the Ogoniland community of Bodo for two oil spills in 2008 after a court case in London.
Cleanup.
In 2011, Nigeria commissioned a report from the United Nations on the impact of oil extraction in the delta area of 'Ogoniland'. The report found severe soil ground and tapwater contamination, destruction of mangroves, and "that institutional control measures in place both in the oil industry and the Government were not implemented adequately." The UN concluded it would take over 30 years to reverse the damage. Based on those recommendations, in August 2017 Nigeria launched a $1 billion clean-up and restoration program. In January 2019 engineers first arrived to begin the clean-up.
In 2019, the Nigerian government came under scrutiny when a memo from President Muhammadu Buhari's office directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to take over the Ogoniland oil wells from Shell "and ensure smooth re-entry." NGOs and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People have protested the proposed action.
The federal government of Nigeria through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation disbursed the sum of $180m as the take off fee for the 21 selected companies out of the 400 companies that bid for the contract.
Loss of mangrove forests.
Vegetation in the Niger River Delta consists of extensive mangrove forests, brackish swamp forests, and rainforests. The large expanses of mangrove forests are estimated to cover approximately of land. Mangroves remain very important to the indigenous people of Nigeria as well as to the various organisms that inhabit these ecosystems.
Human impact from poor land management upstream coupled with the constant pollution of petroleum has caused 5–10% of these mangrove forests to disappear. The volatile, quickly penetrating, and viscous properties of petroleum have wiped out large areas of vegetation. When spills occur close to and within the drainage basin, the hydrologic force of both the river and tides force spilled petroleum to move up into areas of vegetation.
Mangrove forests are included in a highly complex trophic system. If oil directly affects any organism within an ecosystem, it can indirectly affect a host of other organisms. These floral communities rely on nutrient cycling, clean water, sunlight, and proper substrates. With ideal conditions they offer habitat structure, and input of energy via photosynthesis to the organisms they interact with. The effects of petroleum spills on mangroves are known to acidify the soils, halt cellular respiration, and starve roots of vital oxygen.
An area of mangroves that has been destroyed by petroleum may be susceptible to other problems. These areas may not be suitable for any native plant growth until bacteria and microorganisms can remediate the conditions. A particular species of mangrove, "Rhizophora racemosa", lives higher in the delta system. As the soils supporting "R. racemosa" become too toxic, a non-native invasive species of palm, "Nypa fruticans", quickly colonises the area. This invasive species has a shallower root system that destabilises the banks along the waterways, further affecting sediment distribution lower in the delta system. "N. fruticans" also impedes navigation and decreases overall biodiversity. In places where "N. fruticans" has invaded, communities are investigating how the palm can be used by local people.
The loss of mangrove forests is not only degrading life for plants and animals, but for humans as well. These systems are highly valued by the indigenous people living in the affected areas. Mangrove forests have been a major source of wood for local people. They also are important to a variety of species vital to subsistence practices for local indigenous groups, who unfortunately see little to none of the economic benefits of petroleum. Mangroves also provide essential habitat for rare and endangered species like the manatee and pygmy hippopotamus. Poor policy decisions regarding the allocation of petroleum revenue has caused political unrest in Nigeria. This clash among governing bodies, oil corporations, and the people of Nigeria has resulted in sabotage to petroleum pipelines, further exacerbating the threat to mangrove forests.
The future for mangrove forests and other floral communities is not all negative. Local and outside groups have provided funds and labour to remediate and restore the destroyed mangrove swamps. The federal government of Nigeria established the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2000 which aims to suppress the environmental and ecological impacts petroleum has had in the region. Governmental and