Natural Resources, Public Health and Conflicts in Romania and Nigeria

Abstract

This paper focuses on the relationship between exploitation of natural resources, conflicts, and health of the population in Romania and Nigeria. The issue to be solved is the overlap of resource conflicts with the outcomes of public health in both countries, where environmental degradation, socio-political tensions, and resource mismanagement are the factors that lead to serious issues in the field of public health. The objective is to discuss the effects of historical policies of land restitution, mining, and resource exploitation on local communities, the health of the population, and socio-economic processes. The paper is based on the Resource Curse Theory that implies that the wealth of resources tends to worsen the problems of governance and conflicts instead of contributing to prosperity. The study is qualitative in nature, and it uses case studies in Romania and Nigeria to analyze the issue and adopts a comparative approach to learn more about the overall implications of resource governance on health. The results indicate that the two nations experience extreme environmental degradation including soil pollution, water pollution, and health effects of mining and oil production that worsen the situation of the population in terms of respiratory diseases, water-borne diseases, and malnutrition. Moreover, poor governance systems, corruption, and lack of community involvement are the factors that do not allow to manage natural resources effectively, continuing the threat to health. The research findings are that sustainable management of resources and strong health systems are the key to reducing the adverse health effects of resource conflicts. The research recommended that reinforcing of the governance mechanisms in Romania and Nigeria is vital in implementing environmental regulations, mitigating health risks to populations and must uphold the necessity of the communities to access the gains of sustainable resource management.