DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2019.v07i06.007

Pages: 415-434

After decades of protests and agitations against environmental degradation and human rights abuses perpetrated by Multi-national oil companies and the Nigerian government in Ogoniland, on invitation of the Federal Government, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) considered to conduct an Environmental Assessment of the Area. UNEP agreed to conduct the study to provide government and Ogoni people the foundation upon which action can be undertaken to remedy the situation. The report which was published in 2011 brought to the public domain the deplorable extent of environmental degradation that has happened to Ogoniland and the corresponding implications for affected populations over many years of oil industry operations. The report identifies eight emergency measures which from a duty of care point of view, warrant immediate action. Against the backdrop of the role of women in the rural economy and the fact that the clean-up exercise had started in earnest, the study seeks to assess the level of awareness and participation of this special category of Ogoni population in the clean-up process. Facts at the disposal of the study indicate that level of awareness is low while their involvement level in the clean-up process is abysmal. Yet, women are the engine of the rural economy.