1 This essay was presented and submitted by Anotida Chikumbu to the Department of Economic history at the University of Zimbabwe for discussion in the Advanced Seminar Series on Agrarian Developments in Independent Africa, MEH-509. ‘‘ A SOURCE OF AGONY AND ANGUISH’’ : THE IMPACT OF OIL EXTRACTION ON LIVELIHOODS AND CROP PRODUCTION IN THE NIGER DELTA. Anotida Chikumbu DPhil Candidate University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA achikumbu@umass.edu There is only so much land that can be sustainably cultivated. Nevertheless, reckless oil exploitation is homicidal in effect. Human life, flora, fauna, the air, fall at its feet and finally, the land itself dies. Ken Saro Wiwa, 1988 1. Introduction The production of oil in the Niger Delta has had mixed consequences on agriculture and crop production. Whereas MNC‟s 1 have partnered with the Nigerian government in large scale investments in social services, agricultural inputs, manpower and infrastructural development, oil extraction has led to pollution of the environment with serious threats to livelihoods in the Delta zone which constitutes the major income source for the majority of the local population inhabiting the region. In general, the assessment of many researchers into this topic acknowledges that oil extraction has unquestionably brought meaningful development to Nigeria but has left a trail of environmental pollution problems with visible physical destruction 2 . Oil extraction has virtually affected livelihood outcomes such as low productivity, reduced food security, low income and severe health hazards among farming communities 3 . This essay examines the uncertainties, paradoxes and dilemmas that confront the dysfunctional Nigerian governance institutions in administering the lucrative natural resource effectively. It argues that oil extraction has done „more harm than good‟. It attributes this recurrent phenomenon to the somewhat deceptive and insurmountable State-MNC‟s 1 In this essay, the acronym ‘MNC’s is used to refer to Multinational Oil Companies in Nigeria. 2 See also, M, Oruwari, et al, Gender, ethnicity and violence and effects on livelihoods in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria: the case of Keegbara-Dere (Ogoni) and Bolo (Okrika) in Rivers State. Journal Africa Media Review Vol.12, No.1, (2004); J, Pitkin, Oil, Oil, Everywhere: Environmental and Human Impacts of Oil Extraction in the Niger Delta" (2013). Pomona Senior Theses. Paper 88. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/88; A, Kadafa, Oil Exploration and Spillage in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Journal Civil and Environmental Research Vol 2, No.3, (2012); A, Celestine, Hydrocarbon Exploitation, Environmental Degradation and Poverty: The Niger Delta Experience. Diffuse Pollution Conference, Dublin, 2003. 3 O.C OpukrI and I.S Ibaba I.S. Oil Induced Environmental Degradation and Internal Population Displacement in the Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa,10(1) (2008)