Oil practices in Nigeria have many negative effects on the environment and the health of the people living there. Much of the oil contamination originates from “leaking pipelines, wellheads, and flow stations; from spills in connection with transport of mostly stolen oil; from illegal tapping of the wells; and from artisanal refining under very primitive conditions (Lindén and Pålsson).” Groundwater and soil are heavily affected and have major impacts on the health and livelihoods of Nigerians (Lindén and Pålsson).
A 2011 United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report exposed that the drinking water in Ogoniland, Nigeria held 900 times the World Health Organization’s guidelines for carcinogens. Another study revealed that oil spills “reduce the ascorbic acid content of vegetables by as much as 36% and the crude protein content of cassava by 40%, which results in a 24% increase in the prevalence of childhood malnutrition in the region (Adekola).” In addition to that, it was found that animals that come in contact with crude oil suffer from teratogens and carcinogens and could be damaging to human health if consumed. Unfortunately, spills are not the only danger that comes from oil production.
Gas flares, the “flaring of natural gas from oil stations as a by-product of crude oil production,” is dangerous and damaging, occurring more in the Niger Delta than anywhere else in the world (Adekola). Gas flares are harmful to human health and the environment, increasing the risk of disease, food insecurity, and weather damage. They release toxins such as benzene, nitrogen oxides, dioxins, hydrogen sulfide, xylene, and toluene and “contaminate surface water, groundwater, air, and crops with hydrocarbons (Adekola).” The government is responsible for communicating these health risks, but is fragmented and split into at least three government agencies that appear to be failing at their jobs as only 19% of Nigerians received any kind of notification of these risks (Adekola).
Alongside health consequences, there are many negative effects on vegetation and wildlife as a result of the physical properties of oil. Seabirds become coated in oil which reduces “mobility and dissolution of natural fats and waxes on body surfaces” such as feathers (Lindén and Pålsson). Some aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons also have the ability to directly intoxicate organisms through ingestion or penetration through body surfaces. Once oil contamination has occurred, it is challenging to clean up. It can be pulled farther into the ocean by the tides and it seeps into the soil, asphyxiating plants and destroying mangrove trees along with the organisms that rely on them (Lindén and Pålsson).
Nigerian Activists Against Shell Corporation 