Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Nigerian Development, Environmental Degradation, and Corporate
Power
Figure 3.1 provides a map of the geography of Nigeria. The Niger River
Delta region is located on the west coast of the country and contains
urbanized port cities that grew rapidly during the slave trade era. That
commerce deeply altered the existing sociopolitical structure of Africa's
west coast as it worked to consolidate Britain's colonial control over the
area by the 1910s (Gordon 2003). A number of authors have provided
excellent histories of the Delta, including the varied impacts of oil explo-
ration and the social movements that arose to address them (Naanen
1995; Ibrahim 2000; Boele, Fabig, and Wheeler 2001; Wheeler et al.
2001; Osha 2006). We cannot do justice here to the complex evolution
of the region. Instead, we address several key concerns that lend context
to our primary interest in theory building for governance and environ-
mental justice.
Oil production in the Delta began in 1958 nearly concurrent
with Nigeria's national independence from Britain in 1960. Thereafter,
rapid corporate expansion in the region paralleled federal governmental
Niger
Chad
Nigeria
Benin
Abuja
e
Lagos
Niger
Delta
Cameroon
Gulf of Guinea
Figure 3.1
Nigeria and the Niger River Delta
