By Edi Chukwunonye
The study examines the oil exploration and environmental degradation in Rivers State, with particular reference to Ogoniland. The resultant effect of MNCs activities has destroyed underground water, farmland, and fresh water ecosystem, killing animals and endangering human life. The unfortunate part of it all is that the Nigerian state has pitched its support with the MNCs and tries to use the instrument of force and coercion to bring the oil bearing communities to submission and acquiescence. The research work was carried out to interrogate the following research questions. Does poor implementation of government policy lead to environmental degradation? Does lack of international best practices by oil companies lead to environmental degradation? Our objectives of the study are to examine whether Poor implementation of government policy leads to environmental degradation, and to ascertain whether lack of international best practices by oil companies leads to environmental degradation. We hypothesized that poor implementation of government policy leads to environmental degradation and lack of international best practices by oil companies leads to environmental degradation. The study employed both primary and secondary sources for data collection, relied on research design and with an analysis that was both quantitative and qualitative. The study discovered that Oil companies flared Gas in Ogoniland and Oil spillages are not cleaned within the period 1-4 weeks as a result of poor implementation of government policy. The researcher recommends that federal government should speed up the process of implementing environmental policies. Federal government should include the right time for spillage clean-up in Nigerian constitution in order to ensure access to environmental justice for those whose environments are violated.