In the year 1958, Crude oil was discovered in Ogoni land. Making it only the second major amongst many were oil has been found in Nigeria.




Since then, over 100 billions of dollars have been generated from oils drilled from the Ogoni land. But while the government has been able to generate money from The oil gotten there, it has left the land desolate.

During the period of 1970 to 1996, Oil worth millions of barrels have spilled over the Ogoni land, making it a major pollution site. This spillage have caused the death of most of the fishes in the Rivers surrounding the town, hence depriving the people of the community a means of livelihood as most of the indigenes of Ogoni Land are mostly fishermen. But apart from the rivers, the spillage has also rendered the land barren. And worst of all, toxic. The Ogoni people are practically living in a nuclear land mine. And you wonder, with so much being made out of Ogoni land, why little to nothing has been done to clean the Ogoni land. 1 And what can actually be done to clean the spillage in Ogoni land?. Environmental Remediation.

Simply put, Environmental Cleanup. Now there are various forms of remediation, but I’d like us to key into one major method of remediation and how this can prove vital in helping to clean up the Ogoni Land.

Bioremediation. This a simple process that involves the use of Microbes( mostly Bacteria and Fungi). This is a process that have been around for millenniums of years, mostly used in the early B.C.E by the Romans to clean up their waste water. This process was remodeled by George  Robinson. M. When he organized the first large scale microbial clean up of a oil spillage in Santa Maria, California. This microbes have the abilities to be able to break down, transform and remove hazardous substances from the soil. They do this by converting this substances into a less harmful substance and also by utilizing this substance to support their growth.

There are two main ways of carrying out Bioremediation and they include:

• In-situ Bioremediation 

• Ex-situ Bioremediation.

For a case such as the Ogoni land cleaning, the In-situ Bioremediation is most recommended based on the level of pollution involved in the land as it is a process that takes place directly on site of where contaminants are present unlike the Ex-situ Bioremediation where the contaminated properties are taking to isolated areas.

What are some key advantages to the Use of Bioremediation?

• It is environmentally Friendly. Bioremediation relies mostly on the use of natural resources present, are the process minimizes the use of harsh or hazardous chemicals. Also, it is a process that would offer no sort of disturbance to the ecosystem present in that habitat.

• It is Cost Effective: Bacteria have spontaneous growth. This key properties of their growth makes the use of bioremediation cheaper than other methods of remediation, most especially when contaminated land is of a large scale size, such as the Ogoni land. This is more reason this method of remediation should be relied on to clean up the Ogoni land.

• Long Term Effectiveness: With the Ogoni land still needed for its oil, it is important that the method of remediation used as to be able to process for a long period of time. This is another key reason why Bioremediation should be considered with regards to the cleaning up of the Ogoni land, as it is a process that can last for a long period of time as long as it is properly monitored and manage.

• Versatility: The process of Bioremediation does not only focus on one type of contaminant. It is able to break down pollutants from various sources such as petroleum hydrocarbon, Heavy metals, Solvents, pesticides and various other types of pollutant.


Now, I know you may be wondering, are there any limitations or Side Effects with regards to the use of Bioremediation.

Some common limitations that may hinder the success rate of Bioremediation include:

• Time Consumption: Due to the process involved, bioremediation takes process to achieve its aim, as it does not use an aggressive method of remediation. 

• Monitoring And Maintenance: Due to it’s long term process, Bioremediation requires serious monitoring which can be exhausting. Also, maintenance of a Bioremediation site is quite stressful as it is quite difficult to predict and control the movement of microbes due to heterogeneity. 


Overall, bioremediation is a valuable method in environmental remediation, offering a sustainable and efficient way  to addressing the issue of contamination and restoring the health of affected people of Ogoni land. When properly applied, it can yield significant results to ensuring a proper clean up of the Ogoni land.