Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

There is very little or no treatment of either
liquid or solid wastes before disposal.
Disposal methods remain very rudimentary
and do little to reduce the attendant health
risks. Raw sewage water runs into wells and
rivers. Some communities use floating
toilets, which are specially constructed on
rivers or creeks. The user fee charged by
the community is meant for maintenance
of the comfort stations. While this facility
meets the basic needs of the people, it
represents another source of water
pollution (Olawoye et al. 2003).
Solid wastes are also indiscriminately
disposed of in most communities. One of
the focus group participants said, “There
are no formal solid waste management
practices. What holds is the dispatch of
refuse in the bush at the backyard and in
Box 3.8: Waste Treatment and Disposal
Throughout the Niger Delta region, no special treatment is given to waste generated by most of the people. There is no
formal recycling beyond scavenger activity or treatment plants for publicly generated waste. All the States operate
unlined open dumps. The only exceptions being large multinational Oil Companies, particularly Shell Petroleum
Development and ExxonMobil that have privately developed engineered Sanitary Landfills. Some private organizations
such as Coca-Cola Bottling Company Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc engage in some form of
primary sewage treatment of some of their effluent discharges.
Waste is dumped indiscriminately across the Niger Delta. Throughout the region, there were no working public incinerators.
The operational incinerators and Thermal Disruption Units (TDUs) service the Oil and Gas industry and are used for
the disposal of hydrocarbon-contaminated wastes. The final disposal of solid wastes in the Niger Delta takes place in the
form of open dumping, accompanied by burying, burning and, more frequently, disposal into water bodies. The survey
shows that about 55% of the refuse collected in the Niger Delta States naturally ends up being burnt. Most dumpsites
are illegal. They constitute major risks and are health hazards.
Source: NDDC Regional Master Plan Final Report: Waste Management Sector, p.64-65.
Impacts on Culture, Traditions and
Authority Structures
The major socio-political results of the
changes in the Niger Delta have included
the disintegration of societal values and the
loss of traditional authority structures. In
earlier times, youth were typically at the
bottom of the hierarchy. Today, however,
traditional rulers and elders in the various
communities have lost control over the
youths. They have worked out their own,
largely unsustainable ways of reaching and
dealing with the oil companies,
governments at all levels, and national and
international organizations. The influx of
‘stranger’ elements from other parts of the
country and abroad has further diluted local
NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
case of edible wastes like cassava, yam and
plantain peels, they are left for goats and
like animals to feed from. Other forms of
wastes are either buried or left to rot away.”
The ubiquitous nature of the oil industry,
particularly in the rural areas, means that
the waste management problem in the Niger
Delta is not primarily an urban dilemma,
as in other parts of Nigeria; it is also a
problem of the rural areas. The whole
region is thus at risk not only from the
contamination of domestic water supplies
by liquid and solid wastes, but also from
waste dumps that become breeding grounds
for diseases. It is not surprising that malaria
and diarrhoea are the two top diseases
afflicting households in the region.
cultures and safeguards. A whole new class
of middlemen controls the sale and
distribution of goods, down to the village
level.
For the environment and natural resources,
this means that traditional arrangements for
resource use and land management have
virtually broken down. Clan rulers, village
elders and family heads can no longer be
relied upon to enforce traditional practices,
which has negative consequences for the
environment. Sustainable resource and
environmental management will require
local people to once more become active
participants in using and overseeing local
resources, including as partners with
development agencies.
Traditional local
arrangements for
resource use have broken
down. Sustainable
management will
require local people to
once again become
actively involved.
A concerted effort has
been made to rehabilitate
nature reserves, but this
can only be sustained by
making local people the
chief beneficiaries of
conservation programmes
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