News of a further clamp down in Ogoni should come as no surprise to observers and activists used to the cynical disregard for the environment and human rights acted out by transnationals and the governments they support. It is business as usual for those in power, despite the murder of 2,000 Ogonis by the Shell Oil-backed Nigerian military regime and the internationally condemned executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight colleagues. Another 21 Ogonis are being held in prison on the same false charges that led to the murder of Saro-Wiwa, and the conditions in Ogoni have worsened. Shell now plans to resume its piracy of oil in Ogoni against the wishes of the people, and the Abacha regime is plotting to succeed itself in a stillborn transition to democracy.
Shell's Political Influence
The laws under which Shell operates in Nigeria are unjust and brutally repressive: Military decrees have stripped people of their fundamental rights to freedom of speech and assembly. With its history of supplying fuel to the army of apartheid South Africa, Shell is certainly no stranger to working hand-in-hand with repressive regimes wherever and whenever it can profit. According to N. A. Achebe from Shell, "For a commercial company trying to make investments, you need a stable government. Dictatorships can give you that." And Shell provides the throne for any regime it can do business with: The company currently supports the Abacha regime through economic guidance and investment. Shell managers have even worked in key government positions: Ernest Shonekan, now head of the Shell-backed economic development project for Nigeria, "Vision 2010," was president of the country in 1993. To date, Shell has accrued $30 billion from its investment in brutal regimes and its theft of resources in Nigeria.
The Ogoni's struggle for environmental and human rights was precipitated by the poverty of the oil-producing regions and Shell's devastating pollution. Oil provides over 80 percent of the illegal military regime's income, and Shell is responsible for half of that. Yet those who live above this source of wealth are amongst the poorest in Nigeria.
Environmentally, Shell operates under a clear policy of racist double standards. In contrast to its performance in areas where white, Western shareholders live, the company has for 40 years plundered the oil from the Niger Delta and left a trail of neglect and indifference.
Rusting high-pressure pipelines crisscross villages and farmlands, and countless oil spills and blowouts are left unchecked. The land, rivers and lakes are polluted with oil. Gas flaring contributes massively to global warming, and the construction of flow stations has led to severe respiratory and other health problems. Exploratory work devastates rainforest, mangrove and wetland habitat, threatening the biodiversity of the Niger Delta. It is now virtually impossible for Ogoni farmers and fishers to lead their traditional, sustainable lives.
Three hundred thousand Ogonis rallied peacefully against Shell on Ogoni Day on January 4, 1993. The company was declared persona non grata and forced to stop all oil production in Ogoni. By 1994 a confidential internal memo by the head of the new Internal Security Task Force, Major Okuntimo, called for a "ruthless military operation" to ensure that "smooth economic activities" could commence. Okuntimo launched a genocidal attack against the Ogoni that left a total of 2,000 dead and up to 100,000 as internal refugees. Hundreds have since fled Nigeria to refugee camps across west Africa. The people's mobilisation threatened the profits of Shell and angered the regime, which views resistance as a major threat to its income and security, particularly if other minorities emulate the Ogonis. Thus the catalyst for this peaceful and effective grassroots resistance, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and its president had to be stopped.
Peaceful protests of oil installations were crushed by the paramilitary Mobile Police Force whose presence Shell repeatedly requested. After years of denial Shell was forced last year to admit having imported weapons and to paying the military in Ogoni. The company has, in fact, financed military operations throughout the region and supplied vehicles, boats and a helicopter to transport soldiers who have raided villages. Killings, beatings, rapes, large-scale looting, arbitrary arrests and torture are commonplace. The company even has its own armed police force, the Shell Police, who themselves are responsible for numerous human rights abuses.
Huge rallies on Ogoni Day in 1996, 1997 and 1998 showed that the Ogoni's spirit has not been broken. Yet Shell's collusion with the military continues. Against its own promise not to resume operations in Ogoni without the full support of the people, the company is preparing to reenter Ogoni for full oil operations.
For this to succeed the communities must be split: Pro-Shell/pro-government organisations have been set up; local chiefs have been bribed to tow the company line and some even forced at gun point to sign invitations requesting Shell to come back. The company is also trying to split the non-governmental organizations watchdogging abuses in Nigeria, particularly those in Europe, by funding or "consulting" certain groups. It has succeeded in co-opting those who want money or are naive about the corporate agenda and Shell's unwillingness to change. Shell's new, improved public relations machine is working busily on many fronts to repair the company's image and greenwash the dirt away. In the West, Shell officials have been touring with their supporters from Nigeria. Journalists from Europe have been taken on Shell trips and fed propaganda about the company's commitment to reconciliation. Other journalists seem to fear legal action and are effectively censored from reporting the truth.
Across the rest of the Niger Delta, recent occupations of flow stations and hostage-takings have disrupted oil production by Shell and Chevron. At one point, Shell was almost forced out of some Ijaw areas. Ethnic conflict between the Ijaws and Itsekiris, encouraged by Shell/government manipulation of tribal differences and of the local political situation resulted in the deaths of dozens of people in clashes. As the violence died down, however, a new peaceful movement for environmental and human rights, Chicoco, began to form. Shell now faces growing Delta-wide opposition to its environmental racism.
The Nigerian oil workers' unions also have great potential to bring about major change. They have a radical history of solidarity with anti-apartheid movements in South Africa and initiated a huge nationwide strike in 1994, the demands of which were similar to elements in the Ogoni Bill of Rights. Nigerian oil workers occupy a strategic position in the Nigerian economy, and they are becoming more conscious of this. A union official in Lagos says the unions will "articulate a comprehensive agenda to challenge military dictatorship in Nigeria," and that Shell "could easily become the target of very serious political action" in the future.
Meanwhile, other pro-democracy activists, both internally and externally, are building firm foundations for the organised structures of resistance needed to successfully replace the regime with some form of democratic representation. The new Nigerian-based United Action for Democracy is evidence of this positive development.
At Shell's annual shareholders meeting in 1996, the board and major shareholders rejected a motion from a number of concerned investors calling for greater corporate responsibility. The directors were offended that their competence in, and desire for, monitoring environmental and human rights was questioned. As Cor Herkstroter, group managing director, said, "There's already someone responsible for this - it's me!" And indeed, Shell is being sued by the family of Saro-Wiwa and the Centre for Constitutional Rights for conspiracy to "violently and ruthlessly suppress any opposition" to its operations in the Niger Delta. The prosecution alleges that the executions of the Ogoni nine were carried out with the "knowledge, consent and/or support" of the company.
Despite its propaganda campaign, Shell's environmental and human-rights abuses are not slowing. This January environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey was arrested and jailed briefly for a second time for unexplained reasons. He described such persecution as "one of the inconveniences that activists have to go through in Nigeria... I was locked up in a place designed for 12 people. I was number 87, and at times we were up to 100... It shows how fragile our freedom is in Nigeria - no one is really free. You are only free in installments."
The Ogoni issue is a test of our response to the growing militarisation of commerce and corporate-sponsored attacks on environmental and human-rights activists worldwide. The test demands that we step up our organisational ability and activity. Effective networking and international solidarity with indigenous groups at the sharp end of the corporate stick are paramount.
Contact DELTA at Box Z, 13 Biddulph Street, Leicester LE2 1BH, UK; +44 116 255 3223; e-mail: lynx@gn.apc.org; www.oneworld.org/delta.