CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

The Nigeria as an independent nation was characterized by good governance and the principle of sustainable management of human and material resources in the 60’s and 70’s, which made up governed to experience. Situation of improved social and economic condition which eras attributed to the affordable cost of energy products such as petroleum and electricity. However, in the energy 80’s and aptill date the services of government that has piloted the affairs of this great nation (Nigeria) even those that has failed to realize that energy products such as petroleum and electricity products are the mainstay the entire citizenry of the country this is evident in the level of mal-administration which ahs been recorded in the energy sector in recent times thereby making the cost of these products to be above the reach of the and users.

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and the eleventh largest producer in the World, the main stay of Nigeria economy is the petroleum sector. The Niger Delta region has an area of over twenty-eight thousand square kilometers, the Niger Delta area has as part of its features, and meandering waterways. A large part of the area consists of salt water swamp parts of the fresh water further inland have limited agricultural possibilities, the region derived the name (Niger Delta) from being situated at the mouth of the River, Niger, which could be traced back to early 15th century. Comprising the people of the region are the Ijaws (who form the largest ethnic group in the areas, the Itsekiri, Urohobos, Efiks, Ibibios and other smaller ethnic groups. Before the creation of the Nigerian state, economic activities of the Niger Delta in pre-colonial days entailed mainly export of salt and fish to its hinterlands. In the 18th century, when slave trade was at its peak, the region was West Africa’s largest slave exporting area, and this was enhanced by its nearness to the sea. Slave dealers, however, diverted the palm oil trade in the 19th century when slave trade declined. The colonial era gave birth to Nigeria, with the Niger Delta situated at the Southern-Eastern part of the country. As at 1975, three states were under the region namely Rivers, Bendel, and Cross River states, with two Igbo states, Anambra and Imo as the hinterland following the creation of more states and a redefinition of the areas to be included in the Niger Delta states were Abia, AkwaIbom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers state.the critical issue of oil pipelines vandalism and its effects on the socioeconomic development in Nigerian society. Nigeria discovered crude oil deposit in large quantity in the Niger Delta region in 1956. By 1958, Shell D‟Arcy had discovered crude oil in twelve areas in the region of which Oloibiri, Afam and Bonu were the most promising. Oil production started in Oloibiri in early 1958 with 3, 000 barrels per day (Ekpu, 2009). Since then, enormous deposits of crude petroleum oil have been found on-shore and off-shore in many parts of the Niger Delta region and father eastwards towards Ohaji and Egbema axis. By 1997, Nigeria’s proven oil reserve was put as 13.5 billion barrels. However, the estimated recoverable oil was put at 22.5 billion barrels of oil in the region from a total of 164 blocks (Inyang, 2004). In 2015, however, Nigeria was ranked as the 10th largest oil producer in the world with proven oil reserve of about 36 billion barrels, and gas reserve of about 185 Trillion Cubit Feet (TCF), among others (Johnson, 2015).

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