Impacts of Limestone Exploitation on the Socio-economic Development of Okpella, Nigeria

Abstract

Limestone and other solid minerals exploitation have been a major activity at Okpella and its environs. This has tremendously contributed to the economic development of the host community, and on the other side poses a great danger to the health and the well-being of Okpella due to the continuous release of carbon emission, suspended particulate matter, and defying noise pollution from the mining and hauling equipment. However, long extraction of limestone has been attributed to land degradation as responded by 43.6% of the sampled population, whereas 19.2%, 14.6%, and 12.7% agreed to the use of heavy-duty equipment, land clearing, tailing dams, and application of toxic materials as responsible for land degradation and devaluation. Conversely, 39.4% of the respondents indicated that the exploration of limestone and other solid minerals could be attributed to cough, 22.5% to catarrh, and 13.2% to malaria. In conclusion, it is obvious that limestone exploration is beneficial to the socio-economic development of the host community but detrimental to their human and environmental health.