Disaster Response and Recovery Practices among Oil Spill Impacted Communities in Selected States in Niger Delta Region, Nigeria

The study examined the disaster response and recovery practices among oil spill impacted communities in selected states in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study cut-across six (6) LGAs from three (3) states, that is, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Delta while questionnaire was administered among 400 respondents with return rate of 94% amounting to 375 valid questionnaires. The returned questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA for the study hypotheses. The outcome of the study indicated that abandonment of spilled site (21.3%) is the most adopted response practice while in-situ burning of oil (22.4%) and scooping of the spilled oil (22.1%) as the major recovery practices. Statistically, there was no significant difference in post-disaster practices such as disaster response (where p > 0.05, p= 0.116) and recovery (where p > 0.05, p= 0.775) across the states. In conclusion, there is need for synergy among all the multi-agency and involvement of the community in deriving long lasting post-disaster practices. Harmonizing several overlapping legislations and governance institutions was recommended.