(AG / 23-08-10)  Receiving a similar attention to the one of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is something that people Ijaw, Ogoni or Urhobos can only dream of. But for the inhabitants of the Niger Delta, in Nigeria, the oil spill is something of the daily routine.

Only from 2006 over 3,000 oil spill were registered in the Niger Delta, recently informed Idris Musa, director of the authority in charge of managing oil accidents, NOSDRA.

Most of these spills happened in facilities of international oil companies. “This frequency is worrying”, said Musa and threatened to impose sanctions.

Nigerian environmental experts estimate that since the beginning of oil exploitation in the region in the late 1950s, over 1.5 million tons of crude oil flowed to the Niger Delta.

Nigeria became rich thanks to oil, but for the estimated 31 million people living in the Niger Delta the “black gold” became a curse. Farmers and fishermen have not benefited at all from the income from oil exploitation.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) wrote in a report that Niger Delta is marked by government neglect, poverty, unemployment and conflicts. It lacks both a functioning infrastructure and good health and education systems.

Many people are forced to drink polluted water and cook and wash with it. “Sometimes we have to row four hours to get to a place where the river is not so polluted. Some fish we catch smell of oil," said a fisherman in the Niger Delta to the experts of the human rights organization Amnesty International, which published a year ago a report on the effects of oil pollution for the inhabitants of the Niger Delta.

“More than 60 per cent of people in the region depend on the natural environment for their livelihood,” said Audrey Gaughran “Yet, pollution by the oil industry is destroying the vital resource on which they depend.”

Many oil extraction facilities are older than 40 years, are poorly maintained and, therefore, it is more likely that they cause spills.

Nigeria has laws and regulations regarding the industrial waste disposal but these laws and regulations are poorly enforced. The corruption is widely spread and the people of the Niger Delta are minorities that have had almost no influence in politics so far.

Many had their hopes pinned on the new President Goodluck Jonathan, who somehow inherited the position after the death of Umaru Yar'Adua, who suffered a long illness.

During the government of Yar'Adua a Ministry for Niger Delta was created for the first time, which has to encourage the development of the region, rich in oil. But apparently, it was not the concern for the environment that prompted the decision. In fact, it was due to a decline in state income due to rebel attacks against oil facilities in the area.

In just two years, the oil exploitation fell 20 per cent, which meant a blow to the country's public budget.

The attacks with explosives against pipelines not only hindered the flow of oil to the port of Lagos, but also increased the pollution in the delta, and also the theft of oil from oil pipelines, with which the people of the delta try to get at least of part of the valuable loot.