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Oil Spill Preparedness, Institutional Capacity and Socioeconomic Stability as Predictors of Community Resilience in High-Risk Oil- Producing Communities of Delta State, Nigeria

Esemuede Taye Gideon, and Christopher Onosemuode

Abstract

Although environmental quality and livelihoods are continually harmed and community recovery is hampered by recurrent oil spills in Delta State, there is a lack of evidence on the cumulative effects of preparedness, institutional capacity, and socioeconomic stability on resilience. This study investigated these as predictors of community resilience in high-risk oil-producing communities in Delta State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional, analytical, and community-based design was adopted. Using a multi-stage sampling technique, 9 communities were sampled, and a structured questionnaire was developed from a validated instrument and subsequently administered to 423 eligible adults in the communities. Five-point Likert-scale items and composite scales were used to assess oil-spill preparedness, institutional preparedness, socioeconomic stability, and community resilience. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA (Tukey HSD), Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were conducted at a 0.05 level of significance. Scores for community resilience (3.22±0.81), institutional readiness (3.06±0.79), and oil-spill readiness (3.05±0.87) were in the moderate category, whereas the score for socioeconomic stability was low (2.11±0.73). Results showed a strong correlation between resilience and preparedness (r=0.746, p< 0.01), institutional preparedness (r=0.718, p< 0.01), and socioeconomic stability (r=0.701, p< 0.01). Resilience to sink the regression model was significant, F(3,419) = 301.84, p<0.001, accounting for 67.9% of the variance in resilience. Oil- spill preparedness emerged as the most powerful predictor (β=0.438), followed by institutional preparedness (β=0.319) and socioeconomic stability (β=0.285). The study distills the following set of policy recommendations: institutionalized preparedness in response to the threat of sustainable resilience; responsive governance; a transparent compensation mechanism; environmental remediation and livelihood protection; solidarity among the people; and concrete support for those who are highly exposed.

Keywords

Oil-spill preparedness; institutional capacity; socioeconomic stability; community resilience; petroleum-producing communities; Delta State. IJEMT

References

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