Abstract
Since the discovery of oil globally, nations states have never been the same. The ways of life, thinking and doing things equally changed. The transition from analogue way of doing things to digital was facilitated by oil. The present computer age, the journey to space, lifesaving machines and indeed food and energy security were made possible by oil. Oil became the engine of modern progress, development and sustainability of living and non-living creatures. However, the inconvenient truth is that oil has brought more stress to living and non-living creatures and indeed to our collective heritage and environment than any other natural resource. This is through oil pollution of the environment. Oil pollution destroys, damages and impairs living and non-living creatures, leading to their extinction or death. The pollution of the ecosystem is as a result of not only the composition of oil -which is a hydrocarbon; but as a result of the operational defect by the industry. This paper seeks to resolve how to decouple oil, environment and pollution using Nigeria as a case study. The objective is to promote a sustainable oil industry that has the carrying capacity to protect our global commons. The paper adopts a doctrinal approach by relying on existing literature and deciphering past research in order to make an informed findings and recommendations. The major finding is that it is possible to undertake the petroleum industry with minimal impacts on the environment if all relevant legal and operational cautions were factored- on- board. The paper makes some detailed recommendations.
Prof. S. C. Dike, Fiberesima Aminayanasam & Sokolo Solomon Kinfah, pp 113 – 134
