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Sierra Club Kicks Butt at Maryland Hearing on Nigeria Sanctions Bill! On Thursday Feb. 26, the Sierra Club organized what was surely one of the most extraordinary hearings ever held on the persecution of environmentalists in Nigeria. It was in fact, the first hearing on the issue held at the state level. At the behest of the Sierra Student Coalition and the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, State Senators Dolores Kelley, Barbara Hoffman, and Martin Madden have introduced a Nigeria sanctions bill (S.354) into the Maryland State Senate modeled after South African anti-apartheid legislation passed by the Assembly in the 1980's. The bill would prohibit state contracts with Nigeria or with any state institution that does business with Nigeria. "As in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, American companies should not do business with an oppressive, murderous regime in Nigeria," said Nancy Davis, Maryland Chapter Legislative Chair for the Sierra Club. "We don’t want our dollars supporting their bloodshed." In addition to Davis, those testifying on behalf of the bill included Sierra Club Board of Directors member Michael Dorsey, Dr. Owens Wiwa (brother of slain environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa), representatives from Amnesty International, The Africa Fund and Sierra Student Coalition member extraordinaire Eric Luedtke. Luedtke presented the Committee with petitions containing the signatures of more than 900 students gathered the previous weekend who are demanding that the Maryland Assembly pass the sanctions bill. The Student Coalition has been holding petition signing events and Shell demonstrations across the state. One of most entertaining moments in the hearing came when a member of the Senate Committee rebuked the representative from the Corporate Council on Africa for his defense of "democratic" South Africa during apartheid. Clearly out of touch with harsh realities for environmentalists and democracy advocates in the African country, the representative of the oil industry could not defend his organization’s desire to profit from a country where an illegal military junta executes environmental activists. The Nigeria Sanctions issue is expected to come up again on March 25th when the Maryland House of Delegates will hold a hearing on the companion bill, H.B. 1273. Sierra Club members are encouraged to attend. The Sierra Student Coalition is asking that Maryland residents write letters to their state legislators and governor urging support for Nigeria sanctions. The name and addresses of state legislators, as well as information on the bills can be found on the web at http://mlis.state.md.us. For more information, contact Eric Luedtke at (301) 340-6081 (midas13@aol.com) or Nancy Davis (MD Sierra Legislative Chair) at (410) 263-2230. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
