Category: Nigeria

Introduction

Energy injustices are prevalent throughout Nigeria, especially in the oil industry. Women are a susceptible group towards these injustices and have an extreme disadvantage when it comes to being exposed to harmful chemicals from oil production. This case study will examine how the oil industry affects women’s basic rights as well as women’s reproductive rights. The energy justice framework presents eight different energy values that should be taken into consideration during the production of energy, as well as during the consumption process. These values are availability, affordability, due process (human rights), information, sustainability, intergenerational equity, intragenerational equity and responsibility. While each of these principles are extremely important the three that are the most relevant to women’s rights in Nigeria are responsibility, intragenerational equity and due process. Responsibility means that governments and companies need to take responsibility for negative externalities brought on by energy production. This means taking steps towards solving environmental damage or the creation of social problems within a country (Sovacool 370). Intragenerational equity means that people have the right to access energy services fairly. This means that the energy should not leave certain people with polluted water air or other environmentally harmed goods that would harm people’s basic wellbeing (Sovacool 370). Finally, due process means that the production of energy should not harm people’s basic human rights. This means that communities should be able to be involved in basic decision-making in projects that will affect them (Sovacool 368).

Background

While oil exploitation has brought large amounts of wealth to Nigeria, it has come at the expense of negative externalities on the population, especially women. Oil spills as well as waste and water discharge from the oil refineries have caused severe health problems, loss of biodiversity as well as sociocultural issues. Many oil companies report oil spills as theft. When this occurs, people in the area do not receive any compensation for the damages that occur (Amnesty International 5). Women have felt the greatest impact from oil spills and gas flaring because the women farm and fish so they are exposed to more environmental hazards. This type of exposure puts women at risk both in terms of health, but also for indirect factors (Oluduro 774). In addition to being exposed to fumes and waste, Nigerians are drinking from well water that has been contaminated with carcinogens. In some cases water was brought into these communities, but the rate at which it is brought in is erratic and sometimes is not any cleaner than the water out of their wells (Fox News). The lack of clean water as well the long term exposure to chemicals from the oil production has increased the chance of miscarriage, stillbirth as well as increasing the women’s blood pressure which can starve the fetus of oxygen (Oluduro 775).

While the oil production has immediate consequences on the health and wellbeing of women, it also has indirect consequences on women. One indirect consequence has been an increase in sexual assault. Soldiers that come into the area to prevent outbreaks of riots have been known to sexually assault women who participate in the protests. In one province of the Niger Delta as many as 40 rapes are being reported each day (Oluduro 781). This type of sexual behavior increases the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and STDs in the region. In addition to this there has been a huge sociocultural impact on women. Many women are forced into becoming sex workers because the amount of oil has killed off a large amount of the agriculture in the area, eliminating one of the main sources of work for women. This creates a stigma on women, which can be very hard to over come in the community. In addition this is effecting women’s health because it is eliminating medicinal plants in the area used by local doctors. About 60-80% of Nigerian plan and animal species are in the Niger Delta, so the oil byproducts lead to a huge loss of Nigerian biodiversity (Oluduro 784).

Responsibility

Responsibility has played a huge role in the continuation of these practices on women. Even though more than 40 rapes are being reported per day, the government has not acknowledged that they are occurring. Even though the government has not admitted to rape, they cannot deny it either because there have been national stories on some of the victims. A main reason for this lack of responsibility taken on these injustices to women’s rights is a lack of female representation in the government. Without a female to speak on behalf of the women’s needs, the government will continue to ignore the problems that women face. This plays a huge role in the injustices against women in the area because if the government continues to ignore the problem, the oil companies as well as soldiers that come into the region will think their actions are ok.

Intragenerational Equity

This plays an important role because is it fair that the women in Nigeria have to suffer in order for other people in the international community to receive oil? Nigeria will need to create a solution to leave the women in a better situation to be able to export oil into the international community. While this will be expensive and time consuming, it is not fair to leave this population with such negative externalities from the extraction of oil.

Due Process

Every person should have access to basic human rights as declared by the Universal declaration of 1948. Clearly this is a violation of women’s basic human rights. Once again, the government will need to acknowledge the violations that are occurring because of oil extraction before any progress is made. Women should be included in talks about the oil extraction so that they can address their concerns about what is happening as a result of this process. If women are able to participate in the decision making this will greatly improve their livelihoods.

Moving Forward

Looking forward, there are a few things the government can do in order to help improve the situation for women in Nigeria. One is to improve the quality of the healthcare system. This system is currently underfunded and many women cannot receive the quality of treatment necessary (Oluduro 784). For women to have their voice heard, it is imperative that women start to play a larger role in the government. As long as there is minimal female participation there will not be any improvement to the situation because nobody will speak on their behalf (Oluduro 785). Not only should women increase presence in the government, but there also needs to be an increase in NGO’s speaking on behalf of women’s rights. This would provide female empowerment in different levels of society as well as provide a nonbiased organization that would be able to hold the government accountable for its actions (Oluduro 787). Oil production is necessary for the economy of Nigeria, but there are steps the country can take for the process to have fewer negative externalities on the population.

 

Bibliography

“Bad Information: Oil Spill investigations in the Niger Delta.” Amnesty International         (2013): 5-13. Web.

 

“Failure to clean Niger Delta oil pollution still devastating people’s health: Amnesty.”      Fox News (2014). Web.

 

Oluduro, Olubayo, Ebenezer Durojaye. “The implications of oil pollution for the  enjoyment of sexual and reproductive rights of women in Niger Delta area of Nigeria.” The International Journal of Human Rights 17, 7-8 (2013): 772-795.        Web.

 

Sovacool, Benjamin K., and Michael H. Dworkin. Global Energy Justice: Problems,          Principles, and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2014. Print.

 

Nigeria Poster Information

 

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE

           

Introduction

            Despite being a resource abundant country, Nigeria has a serious issue of energy poverty. In 2009, 58% of the country was without access to modern energy services (Sovacool 226). Energy poverty can be considered a deprivation in relation to diminishing impoverished peoples’ “choices to access certain material goods, assets, capabilities, freedoms and opportunities” (Pachauri 2084). The frameworks of availability, intragenerational equity, and sustainability identify current Nigerian energy injustices. However, there are feasible renewable energy sources that could help improve and reduce these energy injustices, especially in rural communities, which have the least access to modern energy sources.

Energy Background

Nigeria is one of the top members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and natural resource extraction is a mainstay of the Nigerian economy (Mohammed 258). However, an alarming number of Nigerians are without access to electricity. This disparity between resource richness and access is seen most acutely in rural regions of Nigeria. Only 11% of the rural Nigerian population has access to electricity as compared to the national rate of 42% (Mohammed 259). This has led to a heavy reliance on more primitive energy sources that have severe health and societal ramifications, including indoor air pollution, lack of refrigeration and medical care, and injuries incurred during fuel wood collection (Sovacool 228). The lack of access is due to poor energy grid systems and infrastructure. Rural communities are mostly located in more difficult terrains connected by bad roads and are often far away from connection points on utility grids (Shaaban 74). Continuing reliance on non-renewable energy sources is not sustainable as Nigeria’s fossil fuels are estimated to run out by the year 2050 (Shaaban 73).

Considering Nigeria’s inefficient use of its natural resources and their predicted depletion, alternate energy sources must be considered. In fact, Nigeria’s National Energy Policy (NEP) set a goal to provide accessible electricity to three-quarters of its population by 2020 and to broaden its energy options. Therefore, there is political precedent and governmental support to pursue energy sources such as renewable energies to improve electricity accessibility (Shaaban 79).

Renewable Energy Feasibility

Above ground in Nigeria there are several abundant renewable resources that have been otherwise untapped that can provide opportunities for energy justice. Many renewable energy sources are advantageous in that they can be purposefully created on a small-scale so that they do not have to connect to an electric grid, can be isolated, and use energy resources more efficiently (Sovacool 246).

Biomass

            Biomass power sources come from agriculture, forests, municipal and animal wastes at a collective reserve estimate of 8×10² MJ (Shabaan 77). Considering that 80% of Nigeria’s landscape is cultivatable, agricultural residue, most especially from its cereal crops, is a feasible renewable energy source to pursue (Mohammed 260). Forest biomass is currently being used unsustainably due to rural individuals dependence on fuel woods for their most basic energy needs (Mohammed 261). Municipal waste conversion is best suited for Nigerian cities such as Lagos, whereas animal waste is more applicable for rural communities, especially in the northeast and northwestern parts of the countries that depend on livestock based farming. (Mohammed 262).

Wind

This is least feasible renewable energy source in Nigeria, as its potential is considered to be weak to moderate by scientists. Wind energy projects in rural communities have been failures so far due to lack of governmental support, financial shortages, and workers’ lack of systems knowledge (Mohammed 264). In the highly populated southern part of the nation the wind speeds are weak, except for in the coastal and offshore locations where vis-à-vis oil extraction occurs (e.g. Niger Delta) and will always be prioritized higher for economic purposes (Shabaan 77).

Solar

            Solar energy is likely the most feasible renewable energy source for remote rural communities that are disconnected from the national grid, as it can be highly efficient as a small-scale source. Solar energy is also highly abundant due to the amount radiated to the nation’s surface, in fact “the total energy demand of the nation could be met if only .1% of the total solar energy radiant on Nigeria’s land mass is converted at an efficiency of 1%” (Shabaan 76).

Hydropower

            Between the two types of hydropower, small and large, the former is best suited for supporting rural communities, as it is the least environmentally destructive, requires lower civil works, is conducive to Nigerian geography, and its power generation complements rural micro-economies livelihoods by helping with flood prevention, irrigation, and fishery (Shabaan 76).

 

Availability

Availability is an energy justice framework that examines the accessibility and reliability of electricity (Sovacool 367). Currently, Nigeria fails in the respect of accessibility as less than a majority of its citizens have access to electricity in the first place (Mohammed 259). Furthermore, the electricity that it does provide in unreliable due to faulty grid infrastructure and blackouts that cost the economy a billions dollars each year (Sovacool 228). By utilizing renewable energy sources to provide cleaner, efficient electricity the accessibility of electricity will be increased dramatically, especially within rural communities (Sovacool 246). Renewable energies are also more reliant as they provide infinite, uninterrupted energy flow. Furthermore, if these renewable energy projects are small scale they will circumvent the larger problem of a lacking efficient national grid by creating their own. Granted this is not completely solving the overall energy injustice of availability, but it does take great strides in improving rural communities accessibility to electricity and providing more reliable energy alternatives than woodstoves and diesel generators (Shaaban 74). This issue of providing better energy sources for rural areas transitions well into the next energy framework of intragenerational justice.

 

Intragenerational

            Intragenerational justice addresses the distribution of energy in regards that every person has the right to energy access (Sovacool 367). Presently, the energy access distribution is skewed in the opposite favor of rural Nigerians due to ineffective grid infrastructure, which is an energy injustice. Harnessing renewable energy sources, specifically solar, small hydropower, and agricultural and animal biomass, would help establish modern energy accessibility in remote Nigeria and increase the percentage of rural Nigerians with electricity access to be closer to their city-dwelling counterparts. This framework is addressed in Nigeria’s National Energy Plan, by promoting the importance and support for increasing energy accessibility for all Nigerians and finding reliable sources for rural communities (Shaaban 79).

 

Sustainability

            The justice framework of sustainability means that resources must not be depleted completely nor harm the environment in their extraction. Nigeria’s current reliance on fossil fuels is not sustainable due to their aforementioned exhaustion by 2050 and their many environmentally damaging consequences, such as oil spills. Oil spills in Nigeria are especially common and are not only blaringly damaging to the environment and surrounding ecosystems, but they also lead to serious human health problems (Amnesty International). Renewable energy sources are covetable both for their infiniteness and their cleanliness, such as no CO₂ emissions. Another sustainability injustice is the 70% of fuel consumption stemming from fuel wood alone. This dependency can be lessened by access to affordable other fuel sources via increased utilization of renewable energies; stricter forest protection policies; and educational awareness about the negative effects of deforestation (Mohammed 261).

Conclusion

Nigeria is on the precipice of decline due to its energy poverty and consequential energy injustices of availability, intragenerational access, and sustainability. However, the plentiful renewable energy sources of Nigeria have the capacity to provide increased modern energy access. Rural communities that have been disproportionally disadvantaged thus far could be most especially impacted. Effective market-based policies are crucial for the development and investment of renewable energies. Cultural challenges such as level of awareness and educational backgrounds must be addressed so that Nigerians can promote such renewable energy development themselves. It is critical to understand that this case study highlights current conflictions with energy justice frameworks but identifies a feasible pathway, via renewable energy sources, towards improving energy justice in Nigeria.

 

 

Bibliography

 

Bad Information: Oil Spills in Niger Delta. Amnesty International, 5-13.

Mohammed, Y., Mustafa, M., Bashir, N., & Mokhtar, A. (2013). Renewable energy resources for distributed power generation in Nigeria: A review of the potential. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, (22), 257-268.

Pachauri, S., Mueller, A., Kemmler, A., & Spreng, D. (2004). On Measuring Energy Poverty in Indian Households. World Development, 2083-2104.

 Shaaban, M., & Petinrin, J. (2013). Renewable energy potentials in Nigeria: Meeting rural energy needs. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, (29), 72-84.

Sovacool, B., & Dworkin, M. (2014). Global energy justice: Problems, principles, and practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.