The Resources of the Niger Delta
a low population density compared with other parts of Southern Nigeria. However, close investigation shows that the amount of dry land upon which people can actually settle and farm is limited so that effectively the Niger Delta has the same population densities and pressures as the rest of Southern Nigeria.
A map appearing in a recent World Bank report (Defining an Environmental; Development strategy for the Niger Delta, 1995) shows a population density of 1.95 persons per hectare in Rivers State (now Rivers and Bayelsa States) compared to 6.18 and 7.12 for neighbouring Imo/Abia and Akwa Ibom States respectively. (Compared with Burundi at 2.9, Rwanda 3.5, India 2.1, Belgium 3.3, France 1.0).
This suggests that there is no population pressure in the Niger Delta. However the population densities of Ogoni undoubtedly match those of neighbouring Akwa Ibom, while other parts of the LEM ecozone and some of the Sand-barrier islands may not be far behind. Moreover, rural population densities on the limited islands of dry land in the Fresh-water ecozone appear to be equally high.
The situation is made worse because most of the Brackish-water ecozone (about 20% of the Niger Delta) is impossible to live on. The twin townships of Ogbolumabiri and Bassambiri (see map 11.) which make up Nembe are a good example. They are packed onto two islands largely made up of sand-fill and surrounded by mangrove forests that might as well be the sea; agricultural land is a few tens of hectares so that apart from for local shellfish all the food has to be imported.
Reclamation Dry land is created in the Fresh and Brackish-water ecozones, by sand-filling especially for urban expansion. For instance, Port Harcourt, Warri, Nembe, Ogbia and Brass, are largely built on sand-fill. This is not a modern phenomenon: nineteenth century European visitors to Warri commented on the spacious town, built on sand-fill. Smaller communities create land also: much of modern Sangana (discussed in detail in Chapter 19) is built on the sand dredged from the Sangana canal.
Also, throughout the mangrove forests, tiny settlements perch on Chicoco soil platforms dug out of the swamps, and reinforced with periwinkle and palm kernel shells. Similar reclamation occurs in the unofficial waterside settlement of the larger cities such as at Nembe Waterside in Port Harcourt where houses have to be raised up, and footpaths built on causeways, in order to remain dry during the long wet season. Such large settlements on Chicoco soil are not healthy because the water which dominates them is little better than sewage.
11.3 WATER
Water is the dominant feature of the Niger Delta. It is the sink into which the water of most of West Africa flows; and its estuaries are the drainage holes through which this water must pass. The condition of the water determines the condition of the Niger Delta and by studying the water and the life of the water we can obtain an idea about what is happening throughout the Niger/Benue river system.
The nature of Water, and Pollution
Without water there is no life, and access to drinking water is the prime factor in human settlement.
The irony of the Niger Delta is that while water dominates the physical environment, decent drinking water is hard to find: in the Brackish-water and Sandbarrier Island ecozones, the scarcity of drinking water has always determined the pattern of settlement. However in the Fresh-water and LEM ecozones, the availability of drinking
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