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Royal Dutch / Shell in Nigeria (by Lindsay Schiavone)

The year 1892 brought the English-based company, Shell, to the world with a tanker shipping 4 000 tonnes of kerosene to two destinations: Singapore and Bangkok. Then 1896 brought forth the Netherlands-based company, Royal Dutch, which had oil fields expanding in Asia along with its own army of tankers. Shell and Royal Dutch merged in 1907, forming the official union named the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, whose collaboration gave birth to more oil extraction and company locations in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

The 1950s and 1960s allowed the company to prosper, with oil exports and sales skyrocketing, which was later supported by the astronomical oil and gas findings just off the coast of Scotland in the 1970s. In the 1980s, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group continued to evolve through the installation of new technology, and improving company products and services. Currently, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s main business is that of gas and oil. They remain a prolific company in the urban world’s fast paced consumption and demand for their products.

However, many fail to acknowledge that the Royal Dutch/Shell Group being a prolific company has come by the crude treatment of Nigeria; an act causing environmental retardation, which has further resulted in widely spread illness and induced homelessness. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s Nigeria base is one of the largest oil producers.  The dictatorial Nigerian Government receives 40% of its money from the corporation. The South Eastern region of Nigeria, the Niger Delta, compensates for 80% of the country’s oil extraction. This profuse production act has severely affected the Ogoni people, one of many minorities of the region. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group began oil extraction in the Niger Delta in 1958; since then the Ogoni people have had pipelines spread across their farms and property. From the corporation’s careless expansion came oil spills, 40% of which occurred in the Niger Delta, resulting in further water contamination, extermination of animals and plants, and deteriorating health of many people.

The Ogoni people are barren of clean water, have sparse electricity, telephones, health care, and absolutely no compensation is provided for farmers or fishers who suffered from the devastating environmental conditions brought about by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group.  The Nigerian land has been battered with oil, aquatic ecosystems have been fractured, and foul acid rain has severely stung what was at one time a beautiful land. This situation left the Ogoni people in economic distress, since they thrived on farming and fishing. As if this was not enough, the gas flaring (burning of natural gas) in Nigeria has released masses of carbon dioxide and methane into the air, which holds their oil fields responsible for more global warming than the sum of all the remaining oil fields around the world combined.

Furthermore, the Nigerian Dr. Owens Wiwa has seen a higher population with bronchial asthma (difficulty in breathing), gastro-enteritis (inflammation of the stomach lining), and cancer: only the oil industry is to blame for this. In addition to the Nigerian peoples’ deteriorating health, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group had forced many people to flee from the Shell police and military.  Many have been injured from this collaboration; Dr. Owens Wiwa has aided hundreds, although thousands of refugees remain to receive justice.

Although people of the Niger Delta have been dealt a series of despairing incidents, the Ogoni people still gathered up their remaining faith and willpower to seek justice for their people, while still maintaining their non-violent piece of mind. This was brought about by a group named MOSOP (Movement for Survival of the Ogoni People) based in the Niger Delta. In 1990, MOSOP made the bold move of creating the Ogoni Bill of Rights, which outlined their requests of the government and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group in an attempt to rejuvenate the lives of the Ogoni people.  The Ogoni Bill of Rights included the following pleas: the sanitizing of oil spills; less flaring of gas; compensation for the land people lost; and a share of the wealth from the Royal Dutch/Shell products coming from their land. MOSOP was not granted their bill, but they remained far from discouraged; 60% of the Ogoni population came together on January 4th, 1993 and under the direction of MOSOP, they partook in the Ogoni Day demonstration. This was a demonstration of peace.

However, peaceful pleas did not register with the cruel nature of the military or the police working for the Royal Dutch/Shell Group.  Nine leaders of MOSOP, including Ken Saro-Wiwa (brother of Dr. Owens Wiwa), came together to declare that the Royal Dutch/Shell Group was no longer welcome in the land of the Ogoni people, while still maintaining their non-violence. These nine Ogonis were only striving for a better environment and economic security for the people of Nigeria; nonetheless, they were hanged on November 10th, 1995 by the judgement of the government and a company wanting to diminish the movements fighting for basic human rights. Even more shocking is the fact that two witnesses who testified against Ken Saro-Wiwa were bribed with financial security to do so by the Nigerian military and Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

Since this unforgettable incident, MOSOP has stayed together and remains in Nigeria, with multiple MOSOP bases set around the world. Many Ogoni people still participate in peaceful demonstrations every year. However, there are constant arrests made against MOSOP members in Nigeria and those who openly demonstrate their support of Ken Saro-Wiwa.

As Canadians, we can only imagine the deprivations of clean water, financial security or help, and freedom of speech.  As persons living in a securely democratic society, the least we can do is become aware of world issues such as Nigeria’s situation, so that one can make the right turns to aid others around the world. Through this, perhaps the wrong-doing corporations can come to a close, allowing the affected countries to rekindle a humanitarian government, their environment, and most importantly, their own lives as free individuals.

Sources

Gladstone. “Nigerian Doctor Continues to Fight Against Environmental Injustice in Exile.” The Coalition Against Environmental Racism. 10 October 2004. <http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~caer/owens_wiwa.html>.

Greenberg, Jonathan R. “Ken Saro-Wiwa, 1941-1995.” 2 April 2004. 10 October 2004. <http://www.thecore.nus.edu/post/sarowiwa/sarowiwabio.html>.

“Shell in Nigeria: What are the issues?” Boycott Shell Essential Action. June 2001. 10 October 2004. <http://www.essentialaction.org/shell/issues.html>.

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies. 10 October 2004. <http://www.shell.com/>.

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