New approach for environmental restoration in Ogoniland: A proposed framework

Abstract

Oil and gas companies' operations in Ogoniland in Nigeria for over 50 years had caused serious catastrophic economic and environmental harm in the affected communities. Drinking water in more than 10 communities is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, which posit a serious threat to their public health. The objective of this paper is to propose the use of the economic deterrence model as a panacea for the restoration of Ogoniland. The surface water throughout the creeks in and surrounding Ogoniland contains hydrocarbons. When an oil spill occurs on land, fires often break out killing vegetation and creating a crust over the land, making remediation or re-vegetation difficult. The methodology of this study would be quantitative research method if validated, at the current level a thorough search of the following databases; United Nations (UN) database, World Bank database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) database, Transparency International database, Human Rights Watch Reports, African Union (AU) Reports, Scopus database, Web of Science, Emerald, Google Scholar, among others were conducted to come up with the relevant and related literature on the subject matter. The economic deterrence approach nexus with effective enforcement of environmental regulation could be one of the best restoration approaches to the endemic social, political, and economic problems of Ogoniland. Hence, a framework using this approach is proposed in this study. Validation of this framework can serve as a policy tool available to the government, to restore contaminated land and other environmental challenges caused by oil and gas companies’ operations. Finally, the study is designed to guide policymakers, especially in developing countries to explore the model to achieve the desired environmental policy.