Polluting and/or unusual activities in the waters would negatively impact not only a region or people’s aquatic life, but also the semi-terrestrial and terrestrial habitats, as well as socio-economic, environmental, and spiritual wellbeing of the people. In other words, many, if not, all species of terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna, and the totality of a people’s way of living―their culture of life―come under threat when pollution and other aberrant activities take root in the waters. The impacts reverberate across the nation as waterways and waterbodies are connected and hold value to local and national economy, agriculture, industry, business, and energy[1].
The waters of Nigeria generally and the Niger Delta specifically are plagued by different forms and levels of polluting and unusual activities. Water bodies in Nigeria have increasingly become sinks and conduits of pollution from the extractive, palm oil, brewery and soft drink, soap and detergent, textile, and tannery industries[2]. Major sources of pollution in the coastal waters of Nigeria include activities of the petroleum industry, mining, industrial and domestic effluents, agricultural or farmland runoff (pesticides, fertilizers), gas flaring, industrial emissions, burning of garbage, and logging and transportation of timber on water[3]. The pollution flows and spreads from south to north, east to west of Nigeria and in reverse. It disperses from communities to cities and vice versa; creeks to rivers to the seas, taking a seat in aquatic and marine ecosystems and delving deep into the seabed. It trickles down into groundwater, sipping into the soil, food chain and finding its way into homes and stomachs of people and animals, and roots of plants. Among the polluting activities, spillage of crude oil has caused greater devastation to the environment of the Niger Delta.
Incidents of crude oil spillage into the waters of the Niger Delta pose one of the highest threats to, not just the aquatic and marine environment of the region but, the entire land and people of the area, considering the high level of harm that comes with these incidents and their long-term effects. The impact of oil spillage on the health, environment, and economy of the Niger Delta especially and Nigeria as a whole is yet to be holistically measured. These incessant oil spills in the waters of the region cause the nation and its coastal communities huge economic and cultural losses. They impact the food chain of humans, marine and terrestrial animals, sink into the seabed harming marine vegetation, pollute harbour facilities like fishing ports and damage eco-sensitive near shore resources such as mangroves and estuaries. What is worse, spilled oil become difficult to recover, especially, from the sea surface. This is because of the unpredictability of the sea surface and weather conditions[4].
There are reasons why oil spilled into waterbodies spread and cause so much harm. The reasons include processes that act on oil once it spills in the waters. These processes include emulsification, oxidation, evaporation, dispersion, sedimentation, biodegradation, and dissolution which together is known as weathering[5]. Factors including advection, tidal current, waves, longshore currents and spreading process of the spilled oil are part of the reasons that make oil spill on waterbodies one of the most degrading polluting activities. Advection, for example, is the natural movement of a mass of fluid, allowing water current to control the movement of spilled oil carried along in water column, extending from the ocean surface to the seafloor[6].
Other disturbing activities on the waters of the Niger Delta are oil theft; the destruction of vessels and ship carting away stolen crude oil by Nigerian military and other security operatives; artisanal refining of crude oil and destruction of the illegal refineries, and industrial fishing trawlers exploitation. There is also the issue of pirates operating on the waters, militarisation and grabbing of the waters, and heavy use of agro-chemicals that are washed into the waterbodies by rain. The invasion of the nipa palm and aquatic weed, particularly the Eichhornia crassipes also known as water hyacinth, have become a menace in the coastal waters of Nigeria. The nipa palm is said to have been introduced into the waters of Nigeria as part of pollution mitigation mechanisms but are now having so much negative impact on the waters and the local economy[7]. The plants continue to invade the waters of the delta, even as activities of the oil industry incessantly foul the waters and exacerbate criminal activities on the waters.
The study examines the polluting and aberrant activities in the waters of the Niger Delta. Many of these activities have been widely reported and investigated but not so much with due attention to how they are happening on the waters, and impacting communities, people and activities that depend largely on the waters.
[1] UN World Water Development Report 2021 (21 September 2023). Valuing water for the Economy. UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/reports/wwdr/2021/en/valuing-water-economy
[2] Ado, Abdulmumini; Tukur, Abubakar Ibrahim; Ladan, Magaji; Gumel, Sani Muhammad; Muhammad, Ayuba Abdullahi; Habibu, Shehu & Koki, Isa Baba (2015). A review on industrial effluents as major sources of water pollution in Nigeria. Chemistry Journal1 (5), 159-164.
[3] Ajao, E.A.; Oyewo, E.O.; & Unyimadu, J.P. (1996). A review of the pollution of coastal waters in Nigeria. Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research. https://aquadocs.org/bitstream/handle/1834/2214/NIOMR-TP-107-.pdf?sequence=1
[4] Mishra, Aditya Kumar & Kumar, G. Suresh (2015). Weathering of Oil Spill: Modeling and Analysis. Aquatic Procedia 4, 435 – 442. doi: 10.1016/j.aqpro.2015.02.058
[5] Evans, Donald L.; Lautenbacher Jr., Conrad C. & Davidson, Margaret A. (2002). Trajectory Analysis Handbook. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration Hazardous Materials Response Division https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/Trajectory_Analysis_Handbook.pdf
[6] Badejo, O.T. & Nwilo, P.C. management of oil spill dispersal along the Nigerian coastal areas. https://www.isprs.org/proceedings/xxxv/congress/comm7/papers/241.pdf
[7] Nwogwugwu, Nneka (April 25, 2022). Water Hyacinth: Benefits, Uses, Impacts to Environment. NatureNews. https://naturenews.africa/water-hyacinth-benefits-uses-impacts-to-environment/#
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