TY - JOUR
T1 - Implementing contaminated land remediation in Nigeria
T2 - Insights from the Ogoni remediation project
AU - Sam, Kabari
AU - Zabbey, Nenibarini
AU - Onyena, Amarachi Paschaline
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) for providing support for this research. The authors appreciate Prof. Scott Pegg for painstakingly editing the manuscript. We also appreciate the efforts of the anonymous reviewers for their contributions towards the quality of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/4/1
Y1 - 2022/4/1
N2 - Environmental contamination by hydrocarbons has negative effects on human health and other receptors including air, water and land resources. Following a United Nations Environment Programme report in 2011 which concluded that remediation strategies adopted in Nigeria did not meet international best practice, the Nigerian Government is attempting to develop a fit for purpose model of managing oil-contaminated land and wetlands. It has established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to coordinate the environmental remediation and the restoration of livelihoods of local communities in the Niger Delta, starting with Ogoniland. HYPREP has been implementing the remediation process for more than five years with limited expected sustainable outcomes. It is now 11 years following UNEP's recommendations for environmental and livelihood restoration in the region. The challenges of effective land remediation and restoration of traditional livelihoods are explored in the context of the Niger Delta, Nigeria's hub of oil and gas production. The preliminary appraisal indicates that HYPREP operations are bureaucratic, suffering from capacity gaps and a weak stakeholder engagement strategy. Other extant challenges include the slow implementation of recommended emergency measures, corruption and the absence of infrastructure for hazardous materials management. Additionally, HYPREP has not optimized quality assurance by engaging internationally accredited laboratories for chemical analysis of environmental samples. Opportunities exist for HYPREP to learn lessons from other regimes for effective contaminated land management. Roles for different stakeholders working towards sustainable contaminated land management in Ogoniland and the wider Niger Delta are outlined. These recommendations would benefit regions with similar contexts and contaminated land issues.
AB - Environmental contamination by hydrocarbons has negative effects on human health and other receptors including air, water and land resources. Following a United Nations Environment Programme report in 2011 which concluded that remediation strategies adopted in Nigeria did not meet international best practice, the Nigerian Government is attempting to develop a fit for purpose model of managing oil-contaminated land and wetlands. It has established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to coordinate the environmental remediation and the restoration of livelihoods of local communities in the Niger Delta, starting with Ogoniland. HYPREP has been implementing the remediation process for more than five years with limited expected sustainable outcomes. It is now 11 years following UNEP's recommendations for environmental and livelihood restoration in the region. The challenges of effective land remediation and restoration of traditional livelihoods are explored in the context of the Niger Delta, Nigeria's hub of oil and gas production. The preliminary appraisal indicates that HYPREP operations are bureaucratic, suffering from capacity gaps and a weak stakeholder engagement strategy. Other extant challenges include the slow implementation of recommended emergency measures, corruption and the absence of infrastructure for hazardous materials management. Additionally, HYPREP has not optimized quality assurance by engaging internationally accredited laboratories for chemical analysis of environmental samples. Opportunities exist for HYPREP to learn lessons from other regimes for effective contaminated land management. Roles for different stakeholders working towards sustainable contaminated land management in Ogoniland and the wider Niger Delta are outlined. These recommendations would benefit regions with similar contexts and contaminated land issues.
KW - Emergency measures
KW - Nigeria
KW - Oil spills
KW - Oil theft
KW - Re-pollution
KW - Stakeholder participation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124914672&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106051
DO - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106051
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124914672
SN - 0264-8377
VL - 115
JO - Land Use Policy
JF - Land Use Policy
M1 - 106051
ER -