Decades before oil stole the heart of Nigeria's economy, revenue for the country was majorly from agriculture. There was the groundnut pyramid of Kano, Cocoa plantations of the South West and the oil palm vegetation of the South East. My intention is not to bore you with economic statistics but to highlight those economic plants and the glorious sight of their storage or processing plants have become a topic for history classes.

Positive attracts negative, little wonder bee associates with honey. Same way, crude oil came with its inherent problems problems that today appear to outweigh their benefits. The Niger Delta region and parts of Portharcourt must have rejoiced when oil was discovered in their lands, aware of the millions it would make them and the nation. Sadly, they are singing a different song today. Their lands have become grossly polluted by oil spill that they can no longer birth green leaves. They now depend on the food that comes from other parts of the country for survival, and as the law of demand and supply would have it, these foods come highly inflated.

Likewise, those in riverine areas whose source of livelihood is primarily fishing are threatened. Oil which is less dense than water forms a film over the water surface, cutting off oxygen from the water. This renders the water unfit for drinking and makes it unable to support aquatic life. Fishes are gradually becoming extinct in the Niger Delta waters either died or migrated. Died because not only is the oxygen insufficient, the oil also coats their gills when they come to the surface inhibiting proper gaseous exchange.

A great challenge with oil spill is that they are very difficult to mop. It often requires tons of chemicals which also possess a great health hazard or employing the services of oil eating microbes. The latter is less favoured by organizations in charge of mopping up oil spills because it is time consuming. To the best of my knowledge however, none of the methods have been extensively applied to clean up the mess in the Niger Delta.