Community Understanding Of The Environmental And Socio-Economic Consequences Of Petroleum Exploitation In Ogoni Rivers State Nigeria.

The aim of this paper was to examine the community understanding of the environmental and socio-economic consequences of petroleum exploitation in Ogoni Rivers State. To achieve this aim the objectives were to determine the level of community awareness to environmental issues and how these communities understand the consequences of pollution on their environment. The survey design method was employed. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 21 oil bearing communities from the four Local Government Areas of Ogoniland. The data were collected using unstructured interviews focus group discussions oral testimonies and questionnaires. Transcriptions rewriting and coding were employed in data analysis except for the questionnaires which adopted descriptive statistical methods. Results showed that the level of community awareness to environmental issues is very high as they accessed vital information about their environment through different sources on a regular basis. The results further revealed that majority of the respondents are very knowledgeable on the environmental consequences of pollution to their environment and health but decided to stay in it and fight for freedom. The resultant effect is that the Ogoni environment has become tense and hot with a lot of bitterness and violence like a lifestyle. It is therefore recommended that with the increasing level of environmental pollution in Ogoniland the necessary laws on environmental protection should be adequately enforced against further pollution of the environment and immediate environmental remediation should be carried where pollution has occurred.