The Impact of the Emerging Oil Industry in Nigeria on Human Rights in The Country Research Paper

Introduction

Nigeria is a country, situated in West Africa, along with Benin, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and other 13 countries. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, with 140 million people living in it. Because of the population and location, Nigeria is very rich with resources: both human and natural. The natural resources that can be found on the grounds of Nigeria include crude oil, bitumen, gold, limestone. Apart from the natural resources and the suitable lands for agriculture industry for producing palm oil, cocoa, groundnuts, hides, and skins, Nigeria is famous for such industries as textiles, cement and construction materials, food processing, fertilizer, steel. (Bellema Ihua et al., 224) However, despite the richness of the resources that have a lot of potential, “most of these resources have been largely neglected due to over-dependence on crude oil; while the country’s history has been chequered with several challenges such as coup d’e´tats, civil war, despotic military regimes, mal-administration, corruption, and infrastructural inadequacy.” (Bellema Ihua et al., 224) Instead, all of the focus has been brought towards the crude oil industry. Nigeria has been the leader of the oil market in the sub-Saharan region, until relatively recently, and stayed on the seventh position of producing oil in the world. Bellema Ihua et al. (224) state that the production of crude oil “accounts for about 95 percent of Nigeria’s export revenue earnings, 76 percent of government revenue and about a third of her gross domestic product (GDP).” Despite the visible advantages that the country has from the great level of development of the oil industry, some factors, such as socio-economic, have not been developed at all. Currently, the economic situation in the country is quite concerning – in 2006, Nigeria has been ranked 158th poorest country in the world, among the 177 countries in general. It is stated that “70 percent of Nigerians live in absolute poverty, of less than $1 per day.” (Bellema Ihua et al., 224)

What is more, the focus on producing oil leads to the violation of human rights, which has already been an issue in Nigeria before. The ruling elite is not interested in human rights and democratization of Nigeria, ad many people, being outraged with such behavior, have struck multiple protests, which, unfortunately, led to “violations of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in the form of extra-judicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and unlawful restrictions on their rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.” (Oluduro, 160) As Nigeria can possibly become more economically stable from the oil business, the human rights issue can go up even rapidly.

Modernization Theory in the Context of the Nigerian Oil Industry

Modernization theory has the most substantial effect among all of the social sciences currently, and states that the development in the economic sphere, will bring “large changes in values from material survival values to post-materialist quality of life concerns” (Stockmer & Sundstrom, 696), more specifically, “citizens will increasingly embrace cosmopolitan and post-materialist values such as environmental protection, self-expression, and gender equality.” (Stockmer & Sundstrom, 696) In the context of Nigeria, the economic boom has already been experienced with the oil industry, yet it cannot be stated that the citizens have changed their values drastically. From the perspective of the modernization theory, the development of the oil industry boosts the economic development of Nigeria and triggers profound changes in society, but the development of civil rights and protection of human rights based on the development of democratic institutions fails to catch up with the socioeconomic progress of Nigeria. In 1999, when the country has returned to the democratic rule, raising the expectations of citizens that their human rights will be more valued. However, almost 20 years later, the issue still exists, which means that despite the change of the regime, the government is not in a rush to change the attitude towards the people, who serve the country. Multinational oil companies (MNCs) are considered to be the root of the problem. They benefit hugely from the oil industry, and therefore, are not interested in changing the state of being. They are in charge of all of the operations that are related to the oil production, “state ownership of oil and its greater share in oil profits, the managerial and technical skills are completely in the hands of the oil MNCs” (Oluduro, 162) and therefore, they are responsible for the decisions that have a direct impact on human rights.

The management of the marketing and distributive sector of the oil industry remains heavily underdeveloped, which leads to severe violations of human rights. This also resulted in “deepening impoverishment, leading to labor conflict, strike action, and mass discontent, which threaten political stability and aggravate massive disillusionment.” (Akinola & Wissink, 2) Multinational oil companies have full control over the business in the country, and the government seems to fail every time they try to eliminate the issue somehow. To achieve institutional efficiency, the government has created many institutions, along with agencies. However, “these agencies have failed to successfully perform their monitoring, regulatory and oversight functions.” (Akinola & Wissink, 2)

Niger Delta is the location, which serves as the richest place for oil production in Nigeria. It has been long associated with the production of oil. However, everyone seems to forget the fact that Niger Delta is considered to be the most populated region in Nigeria, with “an estimated population of 31million people who are mainly farmers, fishers, and traders.” (Taleb, 358) People, who live in this territory, are considered to be indigenous, therefore, a minority under international law. Due to that, they should benefit from “their ancestral lands and the natural resources exploited on their land.” (Oluduro, 163) The indigenous people usually have a powerful bond with the place, where their ancestors have lived for hundreds of years. “In the Niger Delta of Nigeria, the Ogonis for instance, look to their land as the source of their culture: their connection with the land is so close that they worship the land as a god.” (Taleb, 366) However, instead of having the benefit, they have their laws violated. The oil industry is considered to be the most common reason for the environmental problems, and as oil production being Nigeria’s main focus, the amount of damage is undeniably big. Theoretically, there are only positive impacts that oil industry rings to host communities, including the minimum negative effect on the environment. (Taleb, 360) However, “exploitation of oil wealth by political elites and oil companies with disregard for environmental degradation has ensured that the Delta stands as a monument to the failure of the modern African nation-state to care for its people.” (Taleb, 360) Not only people, living in Niger Delta have lost their basic rights of land ownership, but they have also lost their rights for health. “Individuals in affected communities who lament about health problems such as respiratory and dermatological disorders seem to have lost their fundamental rights of access to nutrition, healthiness, fresh water, and capacity to gainful employment.” (Merem et al., 3) The degradation of the environment by the oil factories has resulted in people being homeless and people losing the sources of food, as the oil spills have destroyed vegetation, fish ponds, and main water supplies. What is more, the people have reported having serious health issues, during to having to live too close to the oil factories. The air, as well as the water, is full of the hydrocarbon, which can lead to developing cancer; the excessive amount of chemicals in the water, which is constantly being used can lead to skin redness, oedema dermatitis, and rashes and blisters; inhaling chemicals can lead to “red, watery and itchy eyes; coughing; throat irritation; shortness of breath; head ache and confusion.” (Taleb, 364)

There is not doubt that all of the before mentioned issues violate the law, denying the rights of people, who live in Nigeria. Specifically, the issues that come with oil industry violate the right for life, which is guaranteed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under section 33(1), by exposing people to the dangerous chemicals, and constantly decreasing the life expectancy; the right to be protected by the government by having improved environment and safe water, air and land, which is stated under section 20 of the Constitution; the right “to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment” (Taleb, 367), which is stated under article 23(1) in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by destroying the habitat of the indigenous people, whose preferable way of leaving is agricultural; the right “to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health” (Taleb, 367), which is stated in the article 16(1) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the right to “a satisfactory general environment favourable to their development” (Taleb, 367), which is stated in the article 24 of the same document.

Dependency Theory in the Context of the Nigerian Oil Industry

Dependency theories are the phenomenon, which have been known since the 1960s, “as a critique of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) perspective and the views of the Latin American communist parties, which saw Latin America’s impoverishment as the result of too little capitalist development and continuing feudal backwardness.” (Dietz, 751) Dependency theory has been applied to the third world countries for many years. With Asia, Africa, and Latin America being the main regions of focus, Nigeria has not been an exception. Third world countries are characterized as being “economically poor and technologically backward and largely characterized by under-developed structures, high maternal mortality, high child mortality, lower mass literacy, largely rural population” (Jackson, 205), and despite being among the main oil suppliers in the world, unfortunately, Nigeria fits the description. Nigeria has a very wide gap between social welfare and economic growth. The dependency on the theory means the country’s inability to control the production, and therefore have to be supported by the economy of the foreign country. (Jackson, 205)

Nigeria is one of the leading oil producers in Africa and among the ten biggest oil producers in the world. However, despite the known advantages of being involved in the oil industry, Nigerian economy has suffered from various issues, such as “galloping inflation, unequal foreign exchange rate exasperated by devalued currency and persistent dependence on importation, widespread unemployment, and dilapidated infrastructures.” (Jackson, 208) Nigerian dependency on the economy of the foreign countries can be traced back to the times of colonialism. Britain was one of the countries that controlled the economy of Nigeria, favoring the production “of cash crops and other raw materials like tin, columbine, gold, for British industries and importation of manufactured goods.” (Jackson, 209) Over the years, the country has been dependent on other countries, while having the resources to develop its economy, and, unfortunately, the situation continues to be that way currently.

Nigeria faces the problem of dependency because of the lack of “regional and/or sectorial complementarity and reciprocity.” (Jackson, 210) The meaning of this statement lies in having various regions that are responsible for different sectors of the production, “this kind of interdependence will ensure sectorial reciprocity of exchanges characterized with a forward and backward linkages in production.” (Jackson, 210) Due to historical background, Nigeria was always forced to produce specific goods for the European market. Therefore, the situation remains unchanged now. Nigeria tends to produce what is currently needed on the foreign market, while the domestic market is being left unmanaged.

The presented facts show that Nigeria is not currently able to manage the oil production on its territory. Therefore, the more developed countries take the advantage over it and control the majority of the processes, which are related to it. The Nigerian government is not able to harness the energy, determine the priorities, identify the problems, a device the strategy, and find own solutions to the existing problems. (Awah, 14669) The parallel of the dependency can be seen in the local context of Nigeria. While the country itself is dependent on the economic decisions of the foreign states, the Nigerian government seems to be dependent on the Nigerian elite, who own the Multinational oil companies. It has been already discussed that since the MNCs are in charge of the oil production, they are the ones, who are responsible for any and every decision in this sector.

What is more, the government seems to fail to control this elite, and not take any actions if they violate human rights. Mossman (n.p.) states that “domestic companies in Nigeria now control more of the country’s oil and gas resources than ever before, and they are poised to deliver economic gains that Nigeria has always wanted but never had.” From such a perspective, it is clear why the Nigerian economy is so underdeveloped, despite the rich oil resources. While the government tries to handle the economic situation in the country by seeking support from the highly developed countries, the oil industry elite manages the majority of the resources, enriching themselves daily. It has been already mentioned that because of the dependency on the foreign countries, Nigeria primarily exports the oil. At the same time, the country lacks oil for its own, internal use. With the fact that there are local companies, who control the majority of the oil sector, and who are not controlled by the government, it is likely that there is a big amount of illegal operation that has a huge negative impact on the economy, which, respectively, has an impact on the people, who live in the country. As the government is not controlling the domestic companies, they tend to find a way to improve their lives in the Nigerian economy. In his article,  Mossman (n.p.) states that “local companies are innovative” and if “they cannot use pipelines or roads, they will try ships and trains.” Therefore, it seems that the main problem of the Nigerian economy from the perspective of the dependency theory is the inability of the government to manage all of the economic aspects.

Conclusion

Nigeria is the largest West African country, which has a population of 140 million people. What is more, due to Nigeria’s location, the country is rich for different resources. For instance, Niger Delta is considered to be one of the broadest range of biodiversity. “The Niger Delta has one of the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth and is a vital organ in the planet’s ecosystem.” (Taleb, 359) With the “a reputable intellectual class” (Bellema Ihua et al., 224) and a wide range of the natural resources, Nigeria was able to reach the place in the list of the biggest oil producers in the world. Being one of the leaders in the oil industry in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria has “about 36 billion barrels of crude oil reserve and 19.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas.” (Bellema Ihua et al., 224) However, despite the oil industry being one of the most costly beneficial industries in the world, the economy in the country is far from stable. Nigeria is considered to be among the poorest countries in the world, taking the 158th place out of total 177.

In this paper, the economic situation in Nigeria has been reviewed in the context of two social studies theories: modernization theory and dependency theory. The issue, regardless of which the question was stated, was as follows: the development of the oil industry in Nigeria leads to the violation of the human rights of the citizens. From the point of view of modernization theory, the increase of economic development leads to an increase in social development. However, in the case of Nigeria, there is a massive gap between those factors. On the other hand, there is an explicit dependency of the Nigerian economy on the economy of more developed foreign countries, which also leads to the denial of the human rights, and with that, dependency theory is supported. It has been found out that the impacts of the oil industry in Nigeria violate the right for life, the right for the safe living environment, the right to work freely and by choice and the right to be protected by the government.

Works Cited

Akinola, Adeoye O., & Wissink, Henry. “Public Sector Performance in the Nigerian Downstream Oil Sector: A Critical Reflection.” Journal of Asian and African Studies, 2017 vol.53, no.3, pp. 476–490. doi:10.1177/0021909617692139

Awah, Irene Mary. “Dependency Theory and A Strategy for National Development in Nigeria.” International Journal of Current Research, 2015, Vol. 7, no.4, pp.14669-14674.

Bellema Ihua, Ugwushi, Abiodun Olabowale, Olatunde, Nnanna Eloji, Kamdi, & Ajayi, Chris. “Entrepreneurial implications of Nigeria’s oil industry local content policy.” Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2011, vol.5, no.3, pp. 223–241. doi:10.1108/17506201111156698

Dietz, James L. “Dependency Theory: A Review Article.” Journal of Economic Issues, 1980, vol.14, no. 3, pp. 751–758. doi:10.1080/00213624.1980.11503774

Jackson, Jack, T. C. B. “Dependency and Third World Underdevelopment: Examining Production-Consumption Disarticulation in Nigeria.” An International Multi-disciplinary Journal, 2016, Vol. 10, no.5, pp. 204-223.

Merem, E. C., Twumasi, Y., Wesley, J., Isokpehi, P., M. Shenge, M., S. Fageir, S., Crisler, M.,Romorno, C., Hines, A., Hirse, G., Ochai, S., Leggett,S., Nwagboso, E. “Assessing Ecosystem Liabilities of Oil and Gas Activities in Southern Nigeria.” Public Health Research, 2017, vol.7, no.1, pp. 3-26. doi:10.5923/j.phr.20170701.02

Mossman, Matt. “How Nigeria’s Oil Industry Went Local.” Foreign Affairs, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/nigeria/2017-11-29/how-nigerias-oil-industry-went-local

Oluduro, Olubayo. “Oil exploitation and human rights violations in Nigeria’s oil-producing communities.” Afrika Focus, 2012, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 160-166.

Stockemer, Daniel, & Sundström, Askel. “Modernization Theory: How to Measure and Operationalize it When Gauging Variation in Women’s Representation?” Social Indicators Research, 125(2), 2014, pp. 695–712. doi:10.1007/s11205-014-0844-y

Taleb, Wafaa. “Environment-related Human Rights Violations in the Niger Delta in Nigeria.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND CULTURAL STUDIES, 2017, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 355-375

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

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