SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE: AN IMPERATIVE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE RESOURCES OF THE NIGER DELTA

P.C. Nwilo

Department of Surveying & Geoinformatics, University of Lagos, (NG)

The Niger Delta is rich in-living and non-living resources. It is the home to oil production in Nigeria. It has also the largest mangrove ecosystem in African. Several conflicts have occurred in this region as a result of environmental mismanagement due to human activities such as crude oil mining and processing, oil spills, destruction of forest resources including the mangrove ecosystem and changes in the life pattern of the inhabitants.

The Federal Government has responded by setting up the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which is aimed at improving the quality of lives of the inhabitants. The funding for the activities of the Commission comes from the contribution of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the governments of the nine states within the areas of operations of the Commission and the oil companies operating in the region. The NDDC has constructed schools, recreation centres and provided funds to the inhabitants to establish small-scale industries. These activities have reduced the restiveness in the region.

Spatial Data Infrastructure in form provision of control networks, up-to-date topographic maps, establishment of metadata for the region, sharing of information between establishments and provision of electricity and modern communication network will assist in decision making and development of the region by the Commission. The Niger Delta Environmental Survey converted 1960 1/ 25,000 analogue maps of the region as a foundation for updating of maps of the region. Oils companies operating in the region have vast digital maps, control networks and remotely sensed data of the area. Access to this information will assist the NDDC and the governments at different levels in the development of the region. Already, the oil companies are providing some semblance of access to information but a more integrated approach may be more beneficial.
It is recommended that:
(i) The NDDC develops a metadata for the region;
(ii) All maps, control network coordinates and remotely sensed images of the region acquired by the oil companies should be made available to the Federal Surveys of Nigeria as required by the law; and
(iii) Serious efforts should be made by the NDDC, the governments at all levels and the oil companies to train manpower in the management of Spatial Data Infrastructure.

These efforts will enhance decision-making and coordinated development of the Niger Delta. It will also lead to the much-needed peace in the region.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Niger Delta is the area where the main river channel of the River Niger reaches base level and branches into multiple distributaries, disposing of and distributing the discharge and sediment load. It is the result of the interaction between these river processes and the marine processes dominating the receiving basin offshore (Jelgersma et al., 1993). The shape of the Niger Delta has been described by Sexton and Murday (1994) as being similar to the Nile Delta with a profile that is curved or bowed with its convex outer margin facing the Atlantic Ocean. This curved shape has been attributed to a combination of variables, such as the drainage basin, alluvial valley, deltaic plain, receiving basin, distributive network and fluvial/marine processes that directly impact the Delta. Figure 1.0 shows the River Niger and its environs.

Figure 1.0: the Niger Delta and the Environs

1.1 The Geomorphological and Geological Setting of the Niger Delta
The Niger Delta is composed of a chain of sandy beach ridge barrier islands about 20 in number, backed by brackish mangrove swamps. Behind the swamps is an extensive flood plain that starts from around Onitsha at a height of about 20m above sea level (Allen, 1965). The barrier islands rim the sub aerial Niger Delta from the vicinity of the Benin River on the northwestern flank of the delta to the Opobo River in the east. Their lengths range from 5 to 37 kilometres and average 18 kilometres while their widths vary from a few hundred metres to 12 kilometres.

The Delta is underlain by deltaic deposits of the tertiary age up to 12,000m thick in some places. It is still building even though accelerated erosion and flooding are taking place in many places (Ebisemiju, 1985). Several authorities regard this delta as one of the world's deltas that are very vulnerable to sea level rise due to its low lying nature, natural and human induced subsidence and other human interventions in the environment (Jelgersma, 1993; IPCC, 1990; IPCC, 1992; Ibe, 1988).

The base of the sedimentary fill in the Niger Delta consists of unfossiliferrous sand stones and gravel weathered from underlying pre-Cambrian basement (Akpati, 1989). Above the course materials are marine shales, sandstones and limestones of Santonian age, whose deposition was ended in parts of the Nigerian basin by folding, faulting, and basic igneous intrusion during the Santonian age. The next cycle of deposition began with the transgression that lasted into the Maestrichtian. The present Niger delta was initiated during regression that began in early Eocene (Emery et al, 1974; Nigeria Coastal Erosion & Subsidence Tech. Report No. 1, 1991).

The soils underlying the Niger delta are generally characterised as soft, highly compressible, organic and inorganic silty clays overlying fine sands at great depths (Nig. Coastal Erosion and Subsidence. Tech. Report no.1, 1991). These soil characteristics make the Niger delta highly susceptible to subsidence. Although no conclusive studies or research have been carried out to determine the degree of subsidence, increased flooding and inundation of the barrier islands and swamps seem to indicate that the rate of subsidence is appreciable. A preloading survey of the liquified natural gas site in Bonny tends to support the idea that the delta is still undergoing natural subsidence. Allen (1965) sees the Delta as an area of long continued subsidence which has attracted stream drainage over millions of years and represents an interplay between the powerful, sediment laden Niger and almost equally powerful forces of the Atlantic Ocean into which it empties. Other forces such as damming, oil, gas and water extraction have also recently come into play in the determination of the physical configuration of the Delta. For example, the construction of dams across the River Niger has led to a reduction in the volume of sediment getting to the coast. This reduction has invariably led to increased erosion problems along the coastline.

1.2 The Natural Resources
The Niger Delta is very rich in natural resources. The biological resources of the Niger Delta Coastal Environment are made up of the flora and fauna. The flora consists of phytoplankton and macrophytes, while the fauna is made up of zooplanktons, macro benthos and invertebrates/vertebrates. Major zooplankton groups present include copepods, calanoids, amphipods, and bivalve larvae, brachyuran larvae. Dense macrophytic communities occur in many of the water bodies' especially non-flowing waters. The Nigeria mangrove ecosystem is the third largest in the world, the largest in Africa and occupies about 10,000 square kilometres. Apart from the mangrove ecosystem, the Niger Delta coastal environment has a natural separation of its forest types that include: heavy forest, light forest, lowland forest and freshwater swamp forest. The distribution pattern is based on the hydrology of area. Economic trees found in these areas are mainly timbers for export and other farming activities.

The offshore region and the coastal environment of he Niger Delta supports a very rich shrimp fishery due to the heavy load of rich organic debris brought down by the various river. About 7,884 metric tones of shrimps are caught annually form Nigeria coastal waters (Federal Department of Fisheries, 1995). Gabs occur abundantly on the mudflats of the mangroves in the Niger Delta.

Nigeria is the sixth highest exporter of crude oil in the world. Oil production provides over 80% of Nigeria's foreign exchange. In the Niger Delta environment, traps of geological features that accumulate and retain hydrocarbons are most common. These areas are therefore very rich in both crude oil and natural gas. Although, crude oil used to provide over 80% of foreign exchange, natural gas production is coming on very strongly and may in future provide more revenue than crude oil as Nigeria has a lot more natural gas reserves than oil. The distribution of these hydrocarbons is very complex and forms what is known as provinces (NDES, 1997).

1.3 Niger Delta Environmental Survey
The Niger Delta Environmental Survey (NDES) was conceived as an independent survey in early 1995 to obtain an authoritative and comprehensive information base on the state of the Niger Delta environment that could be used for management and decision support (Amakiri, 1997; Nwilo, 2003). It is managed by a steering Committee and a secretariat, headed by an Executive Secretary. The mission of the NDES is in concert with communities and other stakeholders to undertake a comprehensive environmental survey of the Niger Delta; establish the causes of ecological and socio -economic changes over time. The ultimate goal of the NDES is to improve the quality of life of the people and achieve sustainable development in the region.

Part of the success story of the Niger Delta Environmental Survey is the digital conversion of 1960 1/ 25,000 analogue maps of the region. This provides a foundation for updating of maps of the region. Oils companies operating in the region have vast digital maps, control networks and remotely sensed data of the area. These maps could be of immense benefits in up dating maps of the region.

1.4 Social Setting in the Niger Delta
The Niger Delta has in the past forty years being faced with a myriad of social and environmental problems. The major reason for this has been the discovery of oil in the region. The Niger was prior to advent of oil in Nigeria a major food basket. It was rich in yam and cassava production and fishing. Environmental problems associated with oil production have destroyed all this. Flaring of associated gases, oil spills, dredging activities for movement of oil rigs, deforestation and coastal erosion have all contributed in the destruction of the environment. Due to the situation, the inhabitants have instead of depending on farming and fishing as their main source of livelihood have become casual labourers. Youths roam about without any skills and look forward funds from compensations due to damages to the environment.

The high level of environmental problems has led to several social upheavals in the region. The trial and sentencing to death of one of the leading social critics, Mr. Ken Saro Wiwa had its root in the environmental problems of the Niger delta. These are a few of the problems confronting the Niger Delta.

2.0 THE IMPORTANCE FOR SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE

The Spatial Data Infrastructure is fundamental to the development of a National Geospatial Data Infrastructure (NGDI). It is a special component of the NGDI that provide the framework on which all the other components play meaningful roles. It provides the necessary framework for adding values. Other roles that the spatial data infrastructure play include:

(i) Provision of necessary framework for mapping and environment monitoring.
(ii) Reduces the risk of loss of life, cargo and other properties and environment damages in the ocean, seas and rivers.
(iii) Provides the necessary framework for improved response to marine spills of oil and other hazardous wastes.
(iv) Provides the necessary frame for the support of full use of space-based techniques.
(v) Provides the foundation upon which more detailed and/or sophisticated datasets and related application are based.
(vi) Functions as the basic building blocks upon which all other application is dependent.
(vii) Are of critical importance in the design and delivery of essential public services and benefits.
(viii) Are of critical importance in facilitating national innovation and economic opportunities.
(ix) They are of universal relevance in society.
(x) Their availability and access assist in avoiding duplication of efforts by different agencies and end users in producing the same datasets.
(xi) Provide the necessary standards for integration of other similar networks (Nwilo, 2003).

3.0 SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE NIGER DELTA

Oil exploration and exploitation activities in the Niger Delta have brought enormous wealth to Nigeria but have damaged the Niger Delta environment and destroyed the social fabrics of the inhabitants. Traditionally, the inhabitants are farmers, fishermen
Development of spatial data infrastructure resources is heavily dependent upon land related activities. Typical examples include a networks of survey coordinates, waterways, road and railway networks within the prospecting area, electricity supply, communication facilities, farming, fishing, forestry, transport, tourism, communities to be displaced or evolved, planning of services for the communities, etc and specialised human resources are all interdependent. Effective utilisation of these infrastructures for developmental purposes is dependent on the availability of spatial information. Spatial Data Infrastructure provides a base or structure of practices and relationships among data producers and users that facilitate data sharing and use. It is also a set of actions and new ways of accessing, sharing and using geographic data that enables far more comprehensive analysis of data to help decision-makers chose the best course of action.

According to ANZLIC (1996), land and geographic information or spatial information describes information that can be related to a position on the earth's surface whether that on land, sea or in the air. Minerals, vegetation, soil, assets location, property ownership, air quality and population distribution are all examples of spatial information. There are few areas of the economy, which do not rely either directly or indirectly on this kind of information for planning, maintaining or rationalising activities. The Niger Delta is not an exception.

Every organisation could collect the spatial information that it needs at the national, regional and local level, but this will lead to costly duplication of data and inconsistency. It also results in data that cannot be integrated with other data and used as a basis for spatial modelling and analysis to produce value added information. In other words, excessive cost, inefficiencies, confusion and decision making based on poor information.

The goals of spatial infrastructure are the reduction in duplication of efforts among agencies; improvement of quality and reduction of costs related to geographic information. Furthermore, it makes geographic data more accessible to the public, increases the benefits of using available data and establishes key partnership with countries, academia and the private sector, leading to increased data availability (FGDC, 2001).

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) functions as the facilitator and accelerator of infrastructure because of the financial implications of the systematic collection, maintenance, and dissemination of geographic data. ANZLIC (1996) gives the advantages of developing a spatial data infrastructure as:
° Stimulation of growth and diversity of the information services market.
° Public access to government information, which remains essential to ensuring government accountability.
° Understanding the importance of having good, consistent information readily available, and
° Understanding the need to manage our information in a consistent, known manner so that it can be used for a variety of purposes.

It is the responsibility of the Commission to ensure an even development of the region through the provision of roads, boat landings, electricity, water supplies, incentives for small-scale industries and empowerment of the populace through skill training and development. Government at different levels in Nigeria and the oil producing companies fund the Commission, with the greatest percentage coming from the Federal government. Details about the level of funding by each of the funding organisations are provided for in the act establishing the Commission.

The status of spatial data infrastructure in the Niger Delta can be said to be rather poor. In terms of the geodetic coordinate systems coverage, the Federal Surveys Department has not covered the region effectively with primary controls. The oil companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Cooperation of Nigeria, ChevronTexaco AGIP Oil. Oil and Mobil Producing Limited provide most of the geodetic control networks in the region. The situation is attributable to the difficult terrain of the Niger Delta. Most of the controls provided through the traditional survey methods are based on local origin. The advent of satellite techniques have assisted in provision of more geodetic controls and harmonisation of horizontal control datums but the absence of a national geoid for Nigeria has hampered the realisation of the full potentials of the benefits of the satellite methods. The author and some of his colleagues recently completed a project on the development of a local geoid in the Niger Delta for Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. This is for a small area of the Niger Delta but essentially to assist the company harmonise her geodetic control network and in particular the height information. The research group is currently working on a similar proposal for the entire country. This is in response to one of the observations made during the National Workshop in February 2003 on the establishment of a National Geospatial Data Infrastructure for Nigeria. The absence of a national geoid was seen during the workshop as a major draw back to the realisation of the full potentials of the satellite methods of control establishment in Nigeria.

The Niger Delta is made of several creeks Kris Crossing one another. Road networks are near absent with the exception of the mainland portion of the delta region-covering town like Warri, Port Harcourt, Ughelli and Patani. Other aspects of the national spatial data infrastructure such as communication, trained manpower, Internet access and data sharing suffer similar fate. Even information on the waterways that are in abundance has not been managed in such a way that they are easily accessible to interested parties. Provision Information on the waterways is supposed to be the responsibility of the National Inland Waterways Authority but due to funding and inadequate manpower, the available data with the authority is in analogue format and not up to date. The oil companies operating in the region have from time to time carried out bathymetric surveys of the waterways strictly for the operational purposes. There is no law currently in place, which compels the companies to submit such data/information to a Central Government Agency such as the National Inland Waterways Authority. The law establishing the National Inland Waterways Authority provides for all the companies such including the oil companies that use the waterways to pay some fees to the Authority but was silent on the submission of survey data/information on the waterways.

In the case of communication, it can be said that the telephone density in Nigeria is poor but certainly one of the best in Africa. The recent introduction of digital mobile telephone services and the licensing of the second national telephone carrier have seriously improved the teledensity in Nigeria. But, due to poverty in region coupled with the nature of the terrain, the rural nature of most of the towns and inter communal crisis, the density of teledensity is worse than what is the general trend in the country.

4.0 IMPERATIVES OF SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE NIGER DELTA

Any attempt to establish an effective Spatial Data Infrastructure, must ensure that all the stakeholders and their roles are identified. In our situation, most of the stakeholders may not even know that they have a role to play. In that case, there is a need for sensitisation of the Nigerian populace on the need for a Spatial Data Infrastructure and highlight the various roles that various stakeholders have to play. Communication is central to data transfers and networking. Unless there is an efficient communication system, a lot of the expected deliverables from the Spatial Data Infrastructure cannot be realised. So, there is a need for an efficient communication system.

Necessary manpower in different areas is another issue that is important. In Nigeria, there is abundant manpower at different levels but most of these trained personnel do not even know that they have a role to play. Several of them need a new orientation and retraining to bring then line with the current focus. Also, now that nation is serious about Spatial Data Infrastructure, we would need to assign responsibilities to some of the stakeholders especially those responsible for provision of the fundamental datasets. These responsibilities have to be backed up with some level of funded to ensure that these responsibilities are realised.

5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Recommendations
It is recommended that:
(i) The NDDC develops a metadata of Geospatial data for the Niger Delta region, which will form a part of the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure for Nigeria;
(ii) All maps, control network coordinates and remotely sensed images of the region acquired by the oil companies should be made available to the Federal Surveys of Nigeria as required by the law; and
(iii) Serious efforts should be made by the NDDC, the governments at all levels and the oil companies to train manpower in the management of Spatial Data Infrastructure.
These efforts will enhance decision-making and coordinated development of the Niger Delta. It will also lead to the much-needed peace in the region.

5.2 Conclusions
The Niger Delta is a region with several barrier islands and creeks cris crossing one another. It is home of oil and gas production in Nigeria and also has over 10,000 square kilometres of mangrove forests. The region has faced a lot of environmental degradation due to oil and gas exploration, deforestation, coastal erosion and is one of the deltas of the world which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 1992) predicted will be adversely affected by sea level change due to its low lying topography and subsidence.

Spatial data infrastructure in the region is near absent. The Federal Government has not covered the region with adequate primary geodetic controls due to the fact that the terrain is difficult and so the traditional methods of controls used in establishment of controls in Nigeria were rather difficult to use in the region. The oil companies operating in the region were mainly responsible for establishing primary controls in some cases using triangulation methods by applying towers. Quite a number of the controls are based on local datum but the satellite techniques is now being used to harmonise the datums. Communication is unavailable due to the general poverty in the region, difficulty of the terrain and the fact that the communities are rather rural. Road networks are available in what could be regarded as the mainland part of the region.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has responded to the poor development of the region by establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which is charged with the even development of the region.

References