2.3 Causes of deforestation
2.3.7 Pollution
The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) Act of 1999 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria No. 59 defines pollution as “Man-made or man-aided alteration of chemical, physical or biological quality of the environment to the extent that is detrimental to that environment or beyond acceptable limits” (1999: 59). The same Act also defines environment as that which “includes water, air, land and all plants and human beings or animals living therein and the inter-relationships which exist among these or any of them” (FEPA 1999:59).
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Available statistics have shown that pollution globally is one of the hazards threatening human health and changing the aesthetic nature of the environment (Lynas 2011;
Ogunyemi 2017). All forms of pollution are mostly anthropogenic. Mark Lynas maintains that, “humans have now devised countless thousands of novel substances, never before seen on Earth, and released them into the natural environment” (2011: 157).
Deane-Drummond (2008) argues that over-consumption which depends on the production of more goods by different industries is putting strain on the environment.
She claims cardiovascular diseases and cancers are health challenges associated with pollutants which have caused death in recent times. Some chemicals and toxic wastes are highly mobile and can affect people and species far away from where they originated (Lynas 2011).
In Nigeria, oil spillage is one of the major man-made problems leading to the pollution of the environment especially in the southern part of the country where a lot of oil exploration activities have been taking place in the oil-rich Niger Delta (Parke 2016;
Ross 2016; Daily Trust 26 January 2017; Kent 2017). Ross (2016) reported that several hectares of land have been degraded, local fish ponds and some lakes poisoned by oil spillage from the Royal Dutch Shell Company (Ross 2016). In the Bodo and Bonga fishing communities, there were two major leakages of crude oil which destroyed vast areas of vegetation and polluted fishing ponds and lakes within these communities. This led the communities to seek arbitration from the International Court in The Hague. The court ruled in favour of the community and ordered Shell Company to compensate for the damage caused by the spill (Simire 2014; BBC News 30 January 2017).
Aikhionbare corroborates that oil spillage has left many communities with environmental problems since oil exploration began: “The mangrove forests in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria have been devastated since the discovery of oil” (2015: 1). The spillages usually occur as a result of pipeline vandalism, old rusted pipelines and tanker accidents found in various parts of the country.
Apart from oil spillage in the Niger Delta, gas flaring is another pollutant that is causing havoc in areas which oil exploration activities have been taking place. Gas flaring is the burning of natural gas into the atmosphere during the drilling of crude oil. This menace
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poses environmental, economic and health challenges, more especially to the inhabitants of such areas (Echewofun and Okeke 2017). Some negative impacts of gas flaring include contamination of surface and ground water, increased deforestation and contamination of the soil.
In some instances, environmental pollution in Nigeria has resulted in agitation. For example, in 1990 the late Ken Saro-Wiwa founded the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP) in the Niger Delta region. Among others, the demands of the organisation were for Ogoniland to receive a bigger share of Nigeria’s oil revenue. The Movement challenged the military government of that time about the continuous oil exploration by Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum and other companies in the region which had been destroying the environment with large scale pollution-related problems such as the contamination of water, land degradation and destruction of their habitat. The group also accused the oil companies, especially the Royal Dutch Shell Company, of supporting the military suppression of the Niger Delta people (Onishi 2000; BBC News 2013). There were growing protests and several cases of vandalism and this resulted in the killing of four Ogoni Chiefs (Traditional Rulers). The late Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others were arrested and indicted for murder. The then military regime under General Sani Abacha ordered their execution in November 1995, and this led to the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of nations for three years (Onishi 2000; Sher 1996).
Poor sanitary conditions and the inappropriate dumping of refuse are other factors of pollution in Nigeria (Ogunyemi 2017). The improper disposal of harmful industrial waste affects the landscape of some communities in Nigeria. Ogundele (2017) notes in his study on toxic waste management that some of these toxic wastes are buried in land and they normally deplete the land and destroy the vegetation, which is the habitat of many plants and animals. The discharge of untreated industrial and domestic wastes into waterways, the spewing of several tons of particulates and airborne gases into the atmosphere, and the use of newly developed chemicals without considering their potential destructive tendency to the ecosystem have occasioned many environmental disasters (Coker n. d: 1; Butler 2012). Unfortunately, the hazard of environmental
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pollution is not relenting in Nigeria; the country still faces the danger of pollution that leads to harmful effects on the environment, human and non-human creatures.