Oil and water: the Bodo spills and the destruction of traditional livelihood structures in the Niger Delta

Abstract

The overwhelming majority of about 69,000 residents in Bodo, Rivers State, Nigeria, engage in subsistence fishing or farming. The mangrove forests and waterways that line Bodo Creek are an integral component of the community's traditional livelihood structures. Two separate oil spills, for which Royal Dutch Shell has now accepted liability, hit Bodo Creek in 2008. We highlight the destructive impact of the oil spills on the environment, water quality, local incomes, employment, livelihood structures and community development with a focus on fishing and its ancillary industries. The lack of oil spill clean-up also enables us to address corporate responsibility for human rights violations and the failure of corporate social responsibility to translate into meaningful action that alleviates the plight of adversely impacted local host communities in oil-producing areas.