Niger Delta as an Exploited Region: Survival Strategies of IJAW Oil Producing Communities, C 1960S – 2000

This paper explores survival strategies employed by Ijaw communities to cope with environmental change and the impact of oil exploration in the Niger Delta region. The study mainly examines how the Ijaw people engaged in fishing and farming for more income, migration in a safe environment, scooping of fuel from leaking pipelines, and litigation for compensation payment by individuals and the whole community. In line with the focus of the paper on the experiences of the Ijaw people during the discovery of oil in 1956 and the major environmental changes that followed, it analyzed the impact of these survival strategies on the citizens, the oil industry and the Nigerian economy. The authors argue that despite the steps taken by the Ijaw people to survive the pollution from oil spills and gas flaring, their problems still continued. Migration to urban areas did not necessarily solve the problems of the displaced Ijaw groups. The study therefore concludes that due to pollution and environmental degradation, Ijaw migrants who settled in Sapele, Warri, and Port-Harcourt continued their struggle for survival, as they became more exposed to dangers and threats to their lives, even in the post-2000 era.