By Damiete Braide
In a year marked by intensified calls for environmental accountability in the petroleum sector, Olawale Makanjuola, an engineer has emerged as a standout figure for his exemplary work in preventing groundwater and surface water contamination during well testing operations in the Niger Delta.
Serving as a Well Test Engineer at Eunisell Limited, Makanjuola was instrumental in deploying and supervising produced water treatment systems across onshore and marginal oil fields in key oil-producing states including Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Edo. His fieldwork involved high-stakes coordination of multiphase flow measurement, separator performance analysis, formation evaluation, and real-time data acquisition, all while ensuring strict adherence to Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) discharge limits and Federal Ministry of Environment guidelines.
What sets Makanjuola apart, however, is not merely technical execution, but the environmental foresight and community-centered engineering protocols he brought to every project. Recognizing the risks of hydrocarbon infiltration into shallow aquifers, he championed the use of real-time contamination modeling and automated effluent monitoring systems. These innovations significantly reduced the likelihood of brine migration, oil sheen discharge, and benzene-leaching into vulnerable freshwater tables and agricultural water sources.
“His work effectively protected downstream users of water, particularly rural farming communities dependent on stream-fed irrigation and borehole drinking water,” noted a senior official at the Nigerian Environmental Society (NES). “He didn’t just test wells—he built safeguards for livelihoods.”
Makanjuola’s interventions are credited with preventing thousands of liters of potentially toxic produced water from entering Nigeria’s fragile wetland ecosystems. His implementation of mobile water quality testing units and secondary containment strategies during early production testing became a model for contractors seeking to harmonize oilfield productivity with ecological responsibility.
Field operators under his supervision reported over 60% improvement in produced water compliance rates, and environmental audits confirmed zero unauthorized discharge events in locations he oversaw, an achievement rarely matched in the volatile terrain of swamp and transition zone wells.
Beyond compliance, his work has brought tangible benefits to farming communities, including: Sustained soil fertility by preventing chloride and hydrocarbon intrusion, Reduced incidence of waterborne illness linked to petrochemical exposure, Preservation of fish stocks and aquatic vegetation in creeks historically threatened by produced water mismanagement.
Now pursuing advanced research in membrane-based water purification, Makanjuola remains committed to engineering solutions that intersect energy development, environmental justice, and sustainable infrastructure.
“Clean energy is not only about renewables,” he said.
“It’s about cleaner extraction, cleaner water, and cleaner communities and that starts right at the wellhead.”