Water Pollution in Nigeria By: Sidney Santiccioli, Thomas Gollenberg and Kevin Zwolinski

Geography ●Population :173.6 Million ●GDP: Billion ●Located in Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon ●Gained independence from Britain in 1960 and joined the United Nations ●1999 a new constitution was adopted and a transition to a civilian government was completed ●Today one of the main issues the government faces is the corruption that occurs in their petroleum based economy ●Natural Resources: Natural gas, tin, iron, ore, coal ●Environmental issues : soil degradation, rapid deforestation, air and water pollution, oil pollution ( air, water, and soil) ● Nigeria is the leading producer in oil, but 50% of their population still live in povert y

Water Pollution in Nigeria ●With the consent of the Nigerian government, Royal Dutch Shell began operations in the Niger Delta in 1985, and has had a history of oil spills and environmental damage in the “Ogani Lands.” ●Losses of fish, mangrove forests, and huge amounts of farmland have occurred ●The Ogani people, both economically and physically dependent on the river, have been horribly marginalized. ●Many of the Ogani people have had to resort to oil pipeline piracy and illegal refining to make ends meet, further exacerbating pollution the problem and at some points leading to violence. ●It could take 25 to 30 years, with an initial investment of $1 billion just for the first five years, to clean up pollution from more than 50 years of oil operations in the Niger Delta.

Homemade Crude Oil Refining

Possible Solutions ●Litter traps from Bandalong International and Phoenix investments Nigeria, for solid waste ●Inflatable “river booms” to minimize spill area, from Inkas Environmental ●Soil cleansing solutions ●Grassroots Participation and Management of Rural Water-Related Environmental Problems

Government Solutions ●Larger anti-piracy task force ●Modernization of rural river communities to deter future piracy ●Accountability on the part of government and Shell officials ●Penalties enforced by multinationals home country

Q & A

Sources bid/3857/Default.aspx clean-up-un