The Niger Delta is dying. Petrobusiness activities have caused severe environmental damage and climate change in its communities thus leading to massive destruction of farmlands, wild and marine lives. This has not been without dire social consequences on local communities of the Niger Delta which are doubly impoverished with attendant increase in abuse occasioned by struggle for survival. This paper interrogates issues of interest in the concrete experiences of Niger Delta communities in Nigeria in relation to environmental change. It highlights the transition of the delta to its present state and explores the social consequences of this downturn in delta communities. It argues that while the destruction of traditional means of livelihood has forced Niger Delta peoples into an environment-related poverty, deteriorating living conditions, and massive underdevelopment, environmental change in the area has led to new patterns of adaptation and survival. Both primary and secondary sources were used for the purposes of the study.

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ABSTRACT For a region that has witnessed criminality, wars and other forms of violence as well as deprivation, environmental degradation and general lack of development, the Niger Delta appears to be on the threshold of a new lease of life following the grant of presidential amnesty which has been accepted by the warring militants. The amnesty has come with a declaration by government to address the myriad of problems in the Niger Delta so that the seeming peace in the region can endure. This article is of the view that for the intervention by government to be successful, the benefiting communities should be involved in the decision-making, that is, should be involved in setting the priorities of intervention, since the prevailing conditions of each community are different. In effect, the prevailing conditions of each community should play a major role in the nature of intervention by government. The paper argues that change(s) in the lives of the people should be as attested to by the beneficiaries, and not government, and that such change(s) should cut across political, cultural, social, economic and ecological well being.