December
1995
Editorial:
You Can Be Sure of Shell
By Martin Rowe
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By now, most people in the
world will have heard of Ken Saro-Wira. This November 10, he and
another
eight members of the Ogoni people of Nigeria were hung after a trial
that by any standards was a travesty. Most people will know of Ken
Saro-Wira
because of the almost unprecedented international outcry that has attended
his and his comrades’ execution: suspension of Nigeria from
the Commonwealth, official condemnations by Nelson Mandela ("a
heinous act"), Bill Clinton, and John Major ("judicial
murder"),
and public outrage that, after ignoring a general election which they
were widely reputed to have lost and numerous counts of human rights
abuses, mass corruption and embezzlement, the military dictatorship
of General Sam Abacha has slapped the international community in
the face
again.
One voice has, however, been silent amid the clamor of international
fury. Shell Oil. Shell has been in Nigeria for sixty years, the last
thirty-seven of which have been spent drilling in the Niger delta, the
most populous region of which is inhabited by the Ogoni people who live
on a mere 404 acres of the highly complex ecosystem. In spite of Shell’s
statements to the contrary, it is clear they have been less than careful
concerning the environment. From 1982 to 1992, in 27 separate incidents,
Shell managed to spill 1.6 million gallons of oil from its Nigerian
operations. In addition, excess gas from the drilling is "flared"
in the region, causing damage to lungs and destroying wildlife. Furthermore,
poor pipeline placement and unlined toxic waste pits abound. The result
is widespread ecological destruction.
It was to fight this toxification of their environment that Ken Saro-Wira
formed the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and
began his nonviolent campaign to protest the destruction of the Ogoni
people and their lands. As usually happens, however, they were not listened
to and threatened. The situation escalated to acts of sabotage, which
in turn led to Shell calling in the police authorities, who then systematically
went on a rampage which, in the end, led to the arrest of Saro-Wira
on murder charges (he was widely believed to be innocent of all charges)
and, finally, to his execution.
Whatever Shell’s complaints of the destruction of private property,
threats to their workers, and their highly "principled" non-interference
in the political processes of Nigeria; whatever their pleas for clemency
in the decision of the kangaroo Nigerian court; whatever their claims
that they have served the Nigerian people way by building schools and
offering employment — the bowl of ignorance they have washed their
hands in here are rimmed with the indelible line of oil. Shell has a
huge stake in Nigeria; some of the cabinet members are Shell alumni;
Shell maintains control over more than half of the commercially viable
oil-bearing land in Nigeria. If Shell is not complicit, then why is
it silent? Because oil is all over the place, lining their pockets,
powering their machines, sealing their silence.
One thing is at least noteworthy about this
case. It is the second incident in only a short time when Shell —
I am thinking of the attempts to sink an oil platform above Scotland
which was scuttled by a damning Greenpeace report — has been called
to task by the international community. Yet again, the company’s
claims to independence have been revealed as disingenuous. In Britain,
the Conservative government was revealed as backing Shell, only to have
to back down. In Nigeria, Shell’s continued silence speaks barrels
about how deeply involved Shell is in being maintained by, and therefore
maintaining, the status quo.
During the 1970s and 1980s there ran an ad claiming that you could be
sure of Shell. Sure of what? Of complicity, moral vacuity, of not even
a statement of deep regret? Sure of what? Of indiscriminate pollution,
of a racist neglect of the indigenous lands of a native people? Sure
of what? Of sudden silence as Ken Saro-Wira and the others were showtrialed
to death? You can be sure of Shell. Yeah, right.
You can still make a difference. For a start, boycott Shell. Write to
Phillip J. Carroll, CEO, Shell Oil Corporation, Houston, TX. Write to
the Nigerian embassy asking for the release of the eighteen Ogoni as
well as the democratically elected President, Moshood Abiola. Join organizations
putting pressure on the International Finance Corporation to cancel
its $2.9 billion loan to the Nigerian government for a natural gas plant.
For more information, call Laura Livoti at 212-226-7171.
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