Transnational Oil Companies, Environmental Pollution and Crisis of Underdevelopment in Nigeria’s Niger Delta

A Study of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).

Abstract

The article analyzes the ways in which globalized oil extraction by transnationals, and the insecurity created by oil-related activities of oil transnationals in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, especially Shell (SPDC the first Transnational Oil Company to prospect for crude oil in the region, and has the largest oil acreages in Nigeria. Shell thus became the prime target of all aggrieved groups, the militants, local youths and the communities, etc. It is also the most criticized among the many oil industries in the region. Hence the need to investigate the role that it has played in the conflict with a view to making an informed assessment of her actions and inactions in the communities where it operates. Few regions in the world have been as unfortunate as Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta with abundant natural wealth stands in stark contrast to its palpable underdevelopment. The oil sector accounts for over 90 percent of Nigeria’s export earnings and 80 percent of the federal government’s revenue, for over 63 years (1956 when oil was discovered), the region has been mired in conflict and violence that threatens human security and the national economy. The oil communities are now basically saying, clean the environment, listen to our demands or there will be no peace in the region.