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Environmental risks associated with developing oil sands in southwestern N igeria
Author(s) -
Chindo Murtala
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
singapore journal of tropical geography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1467-9493
pISSN - 0129-7619
DOI - 10.1111/sjtg.12091
Subject(s) - oil sands , prosperity , revenue , business , petroleum , petroleum industry , resource (disambiguation) , government (linguistics) , sustainable development , natural resource , reputation , natural resource economics , environmental protection , environmental planning , environmental resource management , environmental science , geography , economic growth , political science , environmental engineering , economics , asphalt , finance , paleontology , computer network , linguistics , philosophy , cartography , computer science , law , biology
N igeria is in the advanced development stages of extracting its oil sands resources to boost national revenue and economic prosperity, like other countries in S ub‐ S aharan A frica including the R epublic of C ongo and M adagascar. Compared to resource‐rich developed countries like C anada and America, the consequences of oil sands extraction is likely to be disastrous in countries like N igeria that have a poor reputation for managing resources (as is the case with the petroleum sector). Using a mixed‐method approach—focus group discussions, interviews and observations—this paper addresses environmental concerns about oil sands extraction in N igeria. Overall, the communities perceived oil sands development negatively, because of fears of loss of communal lands, biodiversity, water availability and quality, and pollution. They were angry with the previous administrations over the lack of communication, and were deprived of socio‐economic opportunities and pollution from prolonged delays in oil sands extraction. The way forward is to form sustainable partnerships between the government, communities, industry and other stakeholders to achieve responsible oil sands development—environmentally friendly development that meets climate obligations, addresses cumulative impacts, and acts in the best interest of host communities and N igerians.