Globalization and Governance: Impact on Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria’s Niger-Delta Region - TI Journals

Globalisation Good Governance Corruption Failed State Environmental Sustainability With the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 1958 in the Niger-Delta region came intense oil exploration within the region. Consequently, various Multi-National Oil Companies (MNOCs) commenced oil exploitation in the region. Steadily, cases of pollution, resulting from oil spillages, increased as the quantities of oil production increased over time. Almost 50 years of exploration has resulted in widespread environmental degradation in the form of land, surface and ground water pollution. This has affected the region’s livelihood capacity from farming to fishing, which reflects in endemic and systemic poverty among the communities within the region. This study focuses on establishing the impact that globalization and governance have brought to bear on communities in Ogoniland, in the Niger-Delta region. The study area consists of 6 traditional kingdoms, all within 4 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Rivers state. The study suggests that bad governance and corruption, rather than globalization, is responsible for the poor state of underdevelopment in Ogoniland. There is a near-absence of infrastructure and amenities with a rapidly degrading environment due to pollution from oil spillages and unsustainable oil exploration activities. It is recommended that multi-disciplinary actions be adopted in order to reverse the observed trend. These could be achieved by measures such as: good, responsible governance that abhors corruption in the disbursement of oil wealth; deployment of early warning systems for oil spill detection and cleaning technologies; appropriate compensation in areas affected by oil spillage; and improved Corporate Social Responsibilities by MNOCs.