LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF OIL EXPLORATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT OF HOST COMMUNITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

It is incontrovertible that oil, christened “black gold”, fuels the global economy. Due to the enormous financial resources that can accrue from this product, the discovery of oil in any location, particularly developing countries, is greeted with great excitement. Although the discovery of oil creates a sense of hope and expectation that the revenue would lead to the development of host communities in particular, and countries as a whole, in most cases, this dream has remained illusory as the exploration of the oil resources has led to the destruction of local host communities in oil-producing developing countries. In the face of this hopelessness, access to environmental justice becomes an indispensable beacon of hope to offer both reprieve and reparation to the citizens, as well as deterrence to the violators. Sadly however, as this research will reveal, accessing environmental justice, even as a last resort, is not an easy ride. The paper aimed at analyzing the impact of oil exploration on the environment of host communities in Nigeria. The doctrinal research methodology was employed to achieve the aim of this paper. The finding of the paper revealed that oil exploration activities do not only have health, environmental and social implications but they reduce life expectancy. This paper therefore recommended that the executive and other relevant agencies should rise to the occasion to enforce all environmental laws to ensure that there is environmental justice in host communities in Nigeria.