GULF OIL SPILL: HOW EVERYONE CAN HELP

The continued environmental catastrophe of a similar oil spill in the Niger Delta seems to receive little attention - yesterday's news maybe... or maybe it is the who and where that is more significant.

Perhaps the relative lack of attention is partly due to the spills in the Niger Delta being an ongoing news story, and partly due to the mainstream media finding it easy to blame the militants, instead of looking at the history of Shell's behavior that created those militants.

Here's some of the recent news:

Shell reports record oil spillages in Nigeria

Army moving to curb oil theft in Nigeria

Nigerian security officials say former militants frustrated by delays in a government amnesty program are once again stealing oil in the Niger Delta.

Nigeria's army says it is on a search and destroy mission to rid the Niger Delta of illegal oil refineries used by former militants who are tired of waiting for the jobs promised as part of a government amnesty program.

Theft and sabotage in the Niger Delta last year cut oil production to record lows with Angola threatening to overtake Nigeria as Africa's largest oil producer. Nigeria's navy this year stopped a Greek tanker loaded with 800 metric tons of stolen oil.

Nigerian oil exports are slowly growing again, in part because of the relative peace that followed early successes in the amnesty program.

But the program lost momentum in the prolonged medical absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua. With its future in doubt, Nigerian security forces are using gun-boats and helicopters to raid illegal refineries across the Niger Delta. ...

Nigerian Editorial, posted May 4, 2010:
Niger Delta: Beyond Shell's apology

After about two decades of denial, Royal Dutch Shell Company has decided to do a U-turn, and come clean by tendering an apology to the Niger Delta people, and by extension, all Nigerians that its activities in the Niger Delta caused environmental degradation and fuelled human rights abuses in the region. The Vice President of Shell's newly established Ethical Affairs Committee - Bradford Houppe made this admittance on behalf of his company. In his words, "we never knew that we were bringing them impoverishment, conflict, abuse, and deprivation. Now we know". He continued, "Shell acknowledges that it is responsible for large scale oil spills, waste dumping and gas flaring. ... Our failure to deal with these spills swiftly and the lack of effective clean-up greatly exacerbate their human rights and environmental impact... and that is wrong, it is just really wrong".

There is a coincidence in the timing of the disclosure. It came at a time when a Niger Delta man is at the helms of affairs in Nigeria. Could the disclosure be a strategic corporate calculation by Shell to end the impasse with the militant groups? The thinking may be that with a creek man in the saddle an apology may strengthen his hands to placate the militant groups, work with the non-militant forces and secure peace in the region? Would a 'son of the soil" not be a better person to deal with the problem, than far distant leaders, who hardly know where the shoe pinches, and only formulate policies from Abuja? Can the move be interpreted as part of the goodwill of the international community to boost the Jonathan regime?

Jonathan has tasted the good, the bad, and ugly of the Niger Delta crusade. He has benefited from it with the staunch support from the Niger Delta groups that 'their man' must not be stampeded by anybody and be allowed to rule in Abuja as acting president. The fear of the Niger Delta forces is the beginning of political wisdom for ethnic irredentists who might have wanted to torpedo Jonathan's rule! On the ugly side, Jonathan has also been a victim of his own people. His home had once been attacked and vandalized and his family harassed by these same local militant forces. Jonathan from all sides therefore carries a big burden in tackling the Niger Delta problem once and for all!

Shell's apology is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. It constitutes a tacit commitment to do things differently, and be a good corporate citizen. If Shell keeps its words, it might have succeeded in laying a good example for other commercial predators in the delta region, and help clean up the mess that the region has become. Bradford in what appears to be an unusual behavior of corporate chiefs disclosed, quite honestly, why his company carried on with such impunity. He noted, "We thought these people didn't know what was good for them". For once, it is good to know the mindset of corporate giants like Shell, and why they do what they are doing or did!

But can Bradford be really serious? Could Shell have been ignorant that the Niger delta people knew what was good for them? Even if we assume that they did not know, was Shell comfortable applying different standards to different people around the World? Perhaps, the answer lies in the irresponsibility of the Nigerian state and its managers. Bradford said this much. Again quoting him, "they never, not in the slightest, held us to account for all the wrongs we did... so, without taking back any of our apologies, by all means: blame them too!"

So, the full picture is that the Nigerian state and the oil giants were in bed against the Nigerian people. Bradford Houppe deserves an integrity price for confirming what has been the position of most scholars, activists and even the militants on the Niger Delta crisis. Whether these two powerful bedfellows are ready to commit to change will determine how and when peace would fully return to the Niger Delta region.

Shell's apology is good, but perhaps, a little too late, too small, for the damage that has occurred in the delta region. Human lives have been lost; communities have been wiped off through brutal and inhuman state military invasion to protect oil interests principally for the oil companies; inter-communal conflicts and destruction have become incessant as groups and communities are manipulated and turned against each other; livelihoods have been destroyed; the moral fabric of the Delta society has been badly ruptured and debased with women's prostitution constituting a way of life in the absence of gainful employment; and the region militarised in which young men and women repose faith in the gun as a bargaining tool and means of easy livelihood just like the Somali pirates, rather than pursuing a professional career. Everything that could go wrong went wrong in the Delta region!

It is difficult to forget that one of Nigeria's brightest creative minds - Ken Saro Wiwa lost his life in the Niger Delta struggle. Saro-Wiwa created the comedy show "Bassey and Company" in the 1980s and 1990s. He internationalised the Niger Delta Struggle in a peaceful non-violent way, but had to be stopped.

Yet, we are told by Braford Houppe that, "We thought these people didn't know what was good for them".

The Niger Delta people from Isaac Boro to Saro Wiwa and to the current perverted militants, all knew what they wanted! Their tactics may differ depending on the context and circumstances, but they have always been quite clear of their goals and agenda!

The stakes and vested interests in oil and petro-dollar were too high to budge to any local resistance. What the dominant forces did, deliberately, was to ride roughshod on the delta region in securing their financial interests. Ignorance was not part of it; money as the capitalists say has no colour or friend! ...

In case we missed it, welcome to the Grail! :)