NIGERIAN YOUTH CHALLENGE OIL COMPANY AND GOVERNMENT - Oread Daily
It has been reported today that more than twenty persons were shot
and wounded last weekend in Nigeria when soldiers opened fire on
youth trying to seize an oil flow station at Ojobo, Burutu local
government area of Delta State. Youth leaders from the troubled town
issued a statement alleging that over 20 of their kinsmen have been
gunned down by soldiers on the orders of Shell.
The youth had been at loggerheads with the Shell Petroleum
Development Company (SPDC) over the oil multi-national's community
relations policies and practices. The youths and others in the
community said the Anglo Dutch oil firm (Shell) and its agents were
not fair to the community considering the amount of oil drilled from
their land and rivers. Despite their communities accounting for the
bulk of Nigeria's daily output of some 2.5 million barrels, most of
the residents of the region live in crippling poverty.
Elders of the community were said to have been meeting with
representatives of Shell and a contracting firm, Parker Drilling
with a view to "resolving" the differences in a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU). However, many younger members of the area took
exception to the oil company's position in the negotiations.
Shell's corporate external relations manager, Don Boham, confirmed
the incident but explained that the shooting occurred on the rig
which the youths forcefully occupied. "They occupied the rig
belonging to Parker Drilling and demanded immediate commencement of
community development projects, a review of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) as well as direct dealing with service
contractors to review work contract for six of their members," said
Boham.
There have been frequent clashes between youths agitating for more
welfare packages for their communities from oil companies and
members of the Joint Task Force which is made up of members of the
armed forces and which was set up by government to guarantee
security of operations by the firm.
The youths have time and again accused government of neglecting
their communities which suffer degradation and environmental damage
as a result of oil drilling while the people who live in the area
lack basic amenities and employment opportunities.
To drive their points home, the youths have resorted to taking
expatriates working at drilling sites as hostages and occupying rigs.
Earlier this month, Amnesty international (AI) released a
report "Nigeria: Are Human Rights in the Pipeline?" which said that
the Nigerian government had failed to protect human rights during
oil exploration and production is fuelling human rights abuses in
the Niger Delta. The 59-page report examines practices of several
transnational corporations (TNCs) including the Shell Petroleum
Development Corporation (SPDC) and the Nigerian Agip Oil Corporation
(NAOC). It presents three case studies illustrating how TNCs made
decisions for various projects without consulting members of the
community -- who then faced dire environmental consequences, the
seizure of their land without adequate compensation, or violence or
intimidation as a means of assuring their silence.
The report considers the rights to seek, receive and impart
information from and about TNC environmental assessments; the right
to an adequate standard of living; the right to live free of
contaminated water, toxic wastes and the adverse affects of oil
spills; and the right to an effective legal remedy and redress. In
Nigeria asserting these rights, or even simply living in the region,
can lead to ill-treatment by security forces, or even death.
AI's calculations, based on local and international media reports,
show that the number of people killed in the Delta, Rivers and
Bayelsa States in 2004, including incidents in late August, could be
as many as 670, and that as many as 1,000 were killed in the Niger
Delta in 2003. While some deaths were due to intra- or inter-
communal violence and the proliferation of illegal small arms, many
can be attributed to excessive force on the part of state security
forces – forces those TNCs utilize to protect company employees and
resources.
The report acknowledges that TNCs have not been a strictly negative
force in the region. As a result of the government's failure to
provide essential services, such as heath, education and access to
drinking water, oil companies have funded a wide variety of
corporate social responsibility projects. However, while voluntary
and often philanthropic, AI has concluded that these activities have
at times been designed more to ward off potential political risks to
TNC operations. Regardless of motive, such activities are often
carried out without consideration of environmental or social impact,
creating an environment ripe for community conflict and subsequent
human rights abuses, when only those closest to the companies
benefit.
"Ensuring universal access to basic social amenities remains the
responsibility of the Nigerian State," explained Salil Tripathi,
Economic Relations Researcher for AI. "The responsibility of
transnational corporations lies in ensuring that the areas they have
voluntarily accepted to service are adequately provided for and are
provided without discrimination."
The United States is the largest export market for Nigerian oil.
Amnesty International believes that Nigeria, as Africa's leading oil
producer, has a responsibility to set standards that can be applied
throughout the region. Sources: News24 (South Africa), This Day
(Lagos), CBC, CorpWatch
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