Social Ecology and Its Implications for Environmental Protection in the Niger Delta

The environmental crisis is affecting and afflicting the entire world. The Niger Delta region is not exempted from the crisis. Nigeria’s Niger Delta which is home to a vast abundance of oil and gas wealth has been gravely affected by the activities of oil multinational companies. Much of the environment of the Niger Delta is suffering from decades of oil exploration. While enormous wealth is taken from the region to enrich the multinational oil companies and the coffers of the Federal Government of Nigeria, not much has returned to the Niger Delta in terms of development. There is also the issue of corruption among local elites who siphon funds meant for development in the region. This paper examines if the theory of social ecology can add value to the debate on environmental protection in the Niger Delta. Through a critical analytic method, the paper unravels the issues in social ecology and argues that there are ideas from social ecology that can help foster environmental protection in the Niger Delta. The paper finds that there is massive environmental degradation, poverty, and underdevelopment in the Niger Delta. The paper concludes that while the ideology of social ecology may not be a total panacea to the problems of the Niger Delta, it can contribute to ameliorating the ecological problems in the Niger Delta in creating a sustainable Niger Delta