OWNERSHIP RIGHTS AND RESPONSIPJ.MTIES: IMPLICATION FOR GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF PETROLEUM IN NIGERIA**

It is beyond dispute that Nigeria272 is a petroleum yielding country,273 the value of her exports is roximately S142.52 billion Dollars (USD) and the estimate of the proven crude oil reserves is approximately 37.14 billion barrels according to the Department of Petroleum Resources.27'* Another notorious fact is the reality of massive environmental degradation in the host communities as a result of reckless petroleum exploitation from the operator companies that do business therein, of which the Nigerian government through her agency the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is involved. It is rather curious that despite the fact that the Nigerian Government is both a major player in the petroleum business as well as a regulator of the said industry yet pollution reigns supreme. Therefore this paper will examine the implication of Government’s ownership rights of petroleum to determine the extent of her responsibilities towards environmental degradation in the Niger Delta Region