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Abstract
Since the discovery of oil in Nigeria, in the Niger Delta in the 1950s and its Commercialization in 1958, oil exploration and exploitation has been ongoing in Nigeria. The region has huge oil and gas reserves, and ranks the sixth world’s largest exporter Of crude oil and ranked as the third world’s largest producer of palm oil after Malaysia And Indonesia. Oil from the Niger Delta region accounts for more than 90% of Nigeria’s Exports and about 80% of the government’s revenue, from as far back as December 1981. In these present times the overall contribution of the oil sector to the national Economy grew from 84% in 2000 and 95% in 2002 to about 96.7% in 2003. As of 2006, there were eleven (11) oil companies operating one hundred and fifty- nine (159) oilfields and one thousand four hundred and eighty-one (1,481) wells in the Niger Delta in Nigeria (The Guardian 2006). Human activities and those of oil exploration and Exploitation raise a number of issues such as depletion of biodiversity, coastal and Riverbank erosion, flooding, oil spillage, gas flaring, noise pollution, sewage and Wastewater pollution, land degradation and soil fertility loss and deforestation, which are all major environmental issues. Due to a lack of awareness by the public there is no evident awareness of the disregard of both government and individual activities on the areas in society affected by oil spillage. This paper seeks to highlight visually, some of the existing situations of the environments affected by this incessant disregard of man’s environment and public property with the Ogoni Land community in Rivers State of the Niger Delta as an area of reference. This work is to be used as a point of reference for visual awareness for oil spill disregard in the areas affected and also to depict the use and combination of both oil and acrylic on canvas. A useful combination for the practicing artist
