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A Positive Peace: MOSOP's vision of grass-roots justice in Ogoni and the Niger Delta and Ogoni & Shell: Why Shell must Clean Up by 2000 or Clear Out The following is a summary of two comprehensive MOSOP documents setting out the current position with respect to Ogoni, other Niger Delta communities, the Nigerian state. "Negative peace is the absence of tension... positive peace is the presence of justice" -- Dr Martin Luther King Jnr, letter from Birmingham jail, 1963. "When I travel outside Nigeria people often ask me how far away Ogoni is. I tell them it's as far as the nearest Shell service station. In a century of oil exploration the developed North of the planet has founded its way of life on petroleum, without thinking about the impact of this trade on societies in oil-producing, under-developed regions of the South. Indigenous communities like the peoples of the Niger Delta have been the worst affected. When Shell came to Ogoni in 1958 we were promised peace and prosperity. In return for $30 billion worth of oil, successive Nigerian governments and Shell have delivered poverty and pollution. When we stood up to demand our human rights to a clean environment and to choose the use of our land and its resources, we were murdered in our thousands. The petrol in the tank of your car has been paid for with our blood" - Ledum Mitee, MOSOP Acting President, December 1998. OVERVIEW: OGONI, SHELL & THE NIGERIAN STATE, DECEMBER 1998 [Summary] Last updated December 30th 1998. If referring to this document later than February 28th, 1999, please consult the MOSOP International Secretariat for any new update.
Although the human rights crisis in Ogoni has improved significantly in recent months, violence has spread across other oil-producing areas in the rest of the Niger Delta and Nigeria's oil-producing southwest coast since mid-September. According to Nigerian media reports this unrest has left 100s dead and has forced ten of thousands of people to flee from ethic disturbances, mostly caused by disputes over land and oil rights. According to community leaders this unrest is a direct result of the growing poverty in the Delta, caused by the lack of economic and social development and the unjust allocation of oil revenues. Armed protestors from other - non-Ogoni - Niger Delta communities hijacked oilrigs and flow stations in October 1998. Shell and other foreign oil companies operating or prospecting in Nigeria were forced to cut around one quarter of the country's oil exports in response to the crisis. A number of foreign oil workers kidnapped by armed Delta youths were released in late November [1]. A fire caused by an oil spill at Jesse, Delta State on October 18th 1998 has left at least 1000 dead. According to media reports most of the victims died as they tried to salvage crude oil from a burst pipe. The lack of basic medical provision for oil-producing communities, and a comment to journalists by military Head of State General Abubakar - visiting the scene - that victims would not receive compensation because they were `saboteurs' seem to have caused the death toll to rise. Burns victims feared arrest if they reported to international relief agency hospitals set up to cope with the emergency. In response to the deepening crisis in the Delta, General Abubakar has announced a development package, including a major road building program [2]. Many Delta community leaders point out that new roads will be of primary benefit to oil companies. What oil-producing communities need are basic health and educational provision, and investment in locally based economic development, Delta leaders say. General Abubakar has also re-instituted the discredited development board (OMPADEC), shut down by the previous military administration following allegations of serious corruption and mismanagement. Communities in the Niger Delta have dismissed the re-institution of OMPADEC as an inadequate stopgap measure. Although General Abubakar has committed himself to transition to democratic civilian rule and `national reconciliation' a statement that he: `[hopes] the oil-producing areas will realise the enormity of the problems of running a country as big as Nigeria and stop vandalising or sabotaging the operations of oil companies' has given rise to serious doubts that the current transition to democracy process will benefit minorities in oil-producing regions [3]. "The Ogoni and Niger Delta crisis presents the single greatest threat to the sustainability of democratic reform in Nigeria" - Ledum Mitee, MOSOP Acting President, to members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, October 9th 1998. Nigeria in `Permanent Transition' to Democracy "But apart from the freer political atmosphere, what has actually changed since General Abacha died? Supposing elections go calmly. Supposing there is no crisis. Who is to say that there won't be another military coup a year or two down the line? This is what always happens when Nigeria has elections" - Hilary Anderson, BBC Correspondent, Lagos, November 1998 [4]. Since its independence in 1960, Nigeria has been under military rule for 28 of the last 38 years. If the current transition to democracy ends with presidential elections and some form of civilian rule in March 1999, it will be the latest stage in a constantly stalled process lasting more than 13 years. The historical pattern in Nigeria has been of coups and counter coups. It has happened before. It can easily happen again. Nigeria's current military Head of State General Abubakar came to power following the death of his predecessor General Abacha in June 1998. He has promised that the military will fully and permanently relinquish their role in government [5]. A limited package of reforms - including the release of high-profile political detainees - has made it unlikely that the Commonwealth, the European Union and the international community will view sanctions as the way to encourage the military and Federal authorities to further improve their human rights record in the future. Under General Abacha, Nigeria became an international pariah state, with one of the worst records on respect for the fundamental rights of its citizens and for the rule of law. By independent assessment, during General Abacha's era Nigeria was the most corrupt country in the world [6]. General Abubakar has been at pains to show that Nigeria is addressing corruption, is serious about reform and wants to be fully readmitted to the international community. In December 1998 the military government said it had uncovered a $2bn fraud allegedly perpetrated by family members of the late General Sani Abacha, which was carried out under the false pretence of paying back debts owed to Russia in the construction of a giant steel factory [7]. Abacha - now deceased and unable to implicate his many cronies who remain in power - is the convenient scapegoat for the crimes and misdemeanours of Nigeria's recent past. Amongst Nigerian civil rights activists and the pro-democracy movement, there is a welcome acceptance of the change of mood since the end of the Abacha era. But there is also an informed scepticism, an assumption that real change and a significant improvement of human rights that will benefit all sections of Nigerian society is likely to begin, rather than end, with a transition to some kind of civilian rule. Nigeria's human rights record is still one of the worst in the world. 60% of the country's estimated 55 000 prisoners are awaiting trial, with some having spent more years in jail than they would have received if convicted. Thousands of prisoners are detained under draconian military decrees, which the authorities have promised to revise but have consistently failed to repeal. Violence in Ogoni and the Niger Delta - which has dramatically destabilised the Nigerian economy in recent months - has deep infrastructural causes. No party to the current transition process has made a serious commitment to address the basic economic injustice, the flaws in both the administration of the Federal state and the system of allocation of oil revenues that underlies the instability in oil and mineral producing regions. The UN Rapporteur on human rights in Nigeria Mr. Solil Sorabjee was granted access to Nigeria in late November 1998. ''The human rights situation in Nigeria has improved under the country's new military regime, but more needs to be done,'' Sorabjee told journalists [8]. Ledum Mitee, Acting President of MOSOP and other rights groups from the Niger Delta met the Special Rapporteur on November 26th in Port Harcourt [9]. Returning to Lagos, Mr. Sorabajee called for an independent inquiry into Delta communities' accounts of widespread environmental damage in Nigeria caused by international oil companies. He reiterated his call for Shell and MOSOP to work together on an independent environmental impact assessment and advocated a neutral agency appointed by the Nigerian government to settle environmental disputes. Mr. Sorabajee told the Lagos Guardian on November 30th that he was `perplexed' by the fact that in many cases the oil companies unilaterally decided whether to give compensation, or how much. "This independent agency should assess the situation since the activists say there is damage to the environment and Shell says no," Mr. Sorabjee was quoted as saying [10]. In October 1998 the Commonwealth readmitted Nigeria in all but name (Nigeria's suspension cannot be revoked until the next meeting of Commonwealth leaders in 1999). Nigeria was suspended as a direct result of the extra-judicial murder of MOSOP President Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders in November 1995. As or writing the bodies of the Ogoni 9 have not been released to their grieving families for proper burial. The European Union has pursued a more balanced approach, revoking limited sanctions already in place but supporting grass-roots democratic initiatives - including MOSOP - and the election process, through vote monitoring. The military authorities are beginning to respond to MOSOP's demands and pressure from the international community to address the human rights crisis in Ogoni:
[The] Nigerian military has created a complex web of military decrees focused on silencing dissent, guaranteeing immunity by crippling the courts and negating constitutional provisions protecting fundamental human rights. As long as any of these laws remain in effect, all Nigerians, including those recently released remain at risk. More importantly there cannot be a free and open process to develop a genuine transition process back to democratic rule" - Amnesty International, July 1998 [11] Despite a lessening of tension in Ogoni, MOSOP believes that the current reform process has yet to address the overall infrastructure of systematic human rights abuses in Nigeria, the Niger Delta and Ogoni. There is also an intensification of military presence in the Delta currently underway, anominous sign of the military's long term ambitions in the region following transition to some form of democracy in 1999. The formation of a Naval Special Security Task Force to police the Delta and to `protect oil installations against vandalisation' was announced on December 25th 1998 [47]. This announcement clearly indicates that the military intend to consolidate their political control over oil producing areas - and the country's main source of income - in preparation for a shift of political power to civilian administration of Nigeria. The announced formation of the Task Force forms part of a pattern of subtle realignment of military force in the Delta. The authorities' consistent refusal to comply with the demands of the Ogoni people and the international community to disband RVSISTF is also evidence of this realignment and rationalisation of force [12]. RVSISTF still occupies and terrorises the Ogoni under the new name of Operation Flush, still under the direct command of Major Obi Umahi but with a wider remit to crack down on protest throughout the Delta. The military have used recent unrest in the Niger Delta as a pretext to reinforce their overall control of the area, a worrying development in a country where control of the source of oil is the route to personal enrichment and real political power. The formation of the Task Force and the creation of Operation Flush should be seen as strong evidence that transition to democracy and the transfer of power to civilians is already being seriously undermined. The Nigerian military have long felt that activities perceived to be damaging to the nation's economy fall within their jurisdiction. Decree 1 of 1984 - the first decree to be made by the military officers who overthrew civilian President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari in 1983 - was the first instrument of a complex web of military decrees and quasi-legal institutions establishing a parallel system of law in Nigeria, with military tribunals to try certain offences including illegal sales of petroleum. This parallel system of military laws remains in place, despite demands from Nigerian opposition groups and the international community for their immediate repeal. Certain decrees are designed specifically to crack down on minority groups and peaceful protestors like the Ogoni. By Decree 29 of 1993 calling for minority rights, ethnic autonomy - or even questioning the definition of regional boundaries as defined by the military - is an offence punishable by death.
Ogoni, Shell and the Nigerian state: Building a Positive Peace The current military Head of State - and many professional politicians participating in the forthcoming elections in Nigeria - have stated their commitment to addressing the problems of minorities in oil-producing areas like the Ogoni. However, unless real pressure intensifies on oil companies, on the military and on Nigeria's political elite the practical reality of life for ordinary Ogoni people is that they can expect their exclusion from any process of change and reform - economic or political - to continue indefinitely. Despite five years of brutal oppression in which thousands have died and tens of thousands more have suffered serious abuses of their fundamental rights, MOSOP is back in business. MOSOP is working with other Delta communities to focus their campaign, forging a coalition of non-violent political action, and effectively articulating the aspirations of some of the most underprivileged peoples in Africa. MOSOP is now leading a campaign of non-violent political action with other Delta communities. MOSOP convened the first meeting of Delta leaders in Port Harcourt on December 15th 1998, with the full support of the key governments and the diplomatic community in Lagos and Abuja. The meeting agreed to hold a full conference of the ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta at the end of January 1999. The December 15th meeting of Delta leaders resolved that "our only hope lies on our ability to secure for posterity appropriate level of independence to control our environment and resources" [13]. MOSOP is building on its successful international campaign - with strong links to the international NGO community and world governments - to make sure there are no more Ogoni tragedies. The Ogoni crisis has illustrated to the world that without regulation and international pressure, the needs of Big Oil for profit can never be balanced with the human rights of people in oil-producing areas. The struggle continues for the rights of all indigenous peoples threatened by pollution and facing abuses of their human rights, simply for demanding economic justice and a clean environment. A negative peace: the absence of tension in Ogoni "I hope the oil-producing areas will realise the enormity of the problems of running a country as big as Nigeria and stop vandalising or sabotaging the operations of oil companies" - military Head of State General Abubakar to Newsweek, September 21st 1998. Many politicians in Nigeria are calling on the peoples of the Niger Delta to be patient. More economic development, better roads and more international trade will result in a `trickle down' of prosperity to the Delta, they argue. As another advocate of non-violent confrontation with those who `paternalistically believe they can set the timetable for another man's freedom' Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr. observed from Birmingham jail in 1963: "negative peace is the absence of tension... positive peace is the presence of justice". There is currently a fragile, negative peace in Ogoni, caused by a partial military withdrawal that has allowed the Ogoni people to reorganise as MOSOP, to gather in huge numbers, to demand their rights and to protest Shell's plans to return. Despite welcome reforms, the military authorities do not understand the deepening crisis in the Delta. They do not hear the legitimate protests of oil-producing communities. Their handling of the Jesse fire in October and the current plans to intensify the military presence in the Delta proves that. The Ogoni people's struggle has lasted for more than 38 years. MOSOP takes a long view, knowing from traumatic first hand experience the lesson of history in Nigeria: in any period of transition regress is as possible as political progress. The foundations of lasting peace and respect for human rights in Nigeria must be built at the grassroots. The vision of grassroots democracy and justice contained in MOSOP's charter document `the Ogoni Bill of Rights' remains a blueprint for peace that the Ogoni people are passionately determined to make real. Planned mergers of Exxon and Mobil in the USA, BP and Amoco and other oil giants - including a rumored merger of Shell and Chevron - presents the immediate prospect of bigger global oil monopolies with a greater political influence. The international importance of the Ogoni struggle - as a vanguard movement for the rights of indigenous communities affected by the irresponsible conduct of Big Oil and other transnationals - has never been greater. A positive peace: MOSOP's vision of grass-roots justice in Ogoni, the Niger Delta and globally The importance of grass-roots democratic movements to creating the foundations of broader, deeper democracy and international stability is now well understood. MOSOP is currently the paramount example of how pressure for respect for human rights and basic economic justice from the grassroots is complimentary to the democratic struggle. The foundations of respect for a whole range of human rights and international standards of conduct, protected by the Universal Declaration and other covenants - including trade union and labour rights, environmental rights, women's rights and standards of corporate accountability - are also built at the grassroots.
Nigeria's oil is the world's oil. Ogoni's problems are the world's problems. There is a real and historic opportunity in the next year to create the foundations of justice at the grassroots in Ogoni, to build a positive peace in Nigeria, in Africa and in the developing South of our planet. MOSOP's vision is of a lasting environmental legacy for the planet, a new relationship between communities in the developed North and communities in one of the most underdeveloped regions in the South, based on justice, mutual understanding and support. After a century of oil and exploitation, making this vision real will be a new start for our planet in time for advent of a new millennium. FOOTNOTES [1] BBC report, November 17th 1998, Nigerian oil hostages freed, Lagos. [2] BBC report, November 19th 1998, Nigerian ruler promises aid for troubled delta region, Lagos. [3] Newsweek, September 21st 1998 `We Need Each Other, interview with General Abubakar', USA, page 85. [4] Anderson, Hilary November 26th 1998 `Parting thoughts from Nigeria' BBC, Lagos. [5] General Abubakar has stated that `coup-making has ceased to be fashionable' in Nigeria. BBC, December 2nd 1998 `Nigeria's leader says military will not rule', Lagos. [6] A 1997 report by the Berlin-based organisation Transparency International listed Nigeria as the most corrupt nation in the world. [7] BBC, December 2nd 1998 ` Nigeria alleges huge Abacha fraud', Lagos. [8] PANA News Agency, December 2nd 1998, UN Urges Nigeria To Do More On Human Rights, Lagos. [9] ND HERO, November 27th 1998, Niger Delta Groups Meet with UN Special Rapporteur, Port Harcourt. [10] Dow Jones Newswires, November 30th 1998, U.N Envoy Urges Probe of Damage Caused by Oil Companies in Nigeria, Lagos. [11] Amnesty International, July 1998, Issues Brief on Nigeria ` Nigeria at the Cross Roads: The Role for the International Community'. [12] According to a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) report on December 25th, the Nigerian military authorities are creating the Task Force. This announcement was credited to the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Jubril Anyinah during a courtesy call on the Military Administrator of Rivers State, Group Captain Sam Ewang. [13] On September 8th 1998 - following the release of 20 Ogoni political prisoners who had been held illegally for more than four years - the UK Foreign Minister Tony Lloyd said: `we [the UK government] have lobbied tirelessly for their release and for that of all political prisoners in Nigeria [...] We hope that this will also lead to the early withdrawal of the internal security task force from Ogoniland'. [14] Ethnic Minorities of the Niger Delta (EMND), December 15th 1998, communique issued at the pre-conference seminar of minorities of the Niger Delta, Port Harcourt. (c) Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), 1998. Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), "Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues" - Ken Saro-Wiwa, the gallows, November 10th 1995. 'Ogoni is a land of half a million people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Since 1958, oil companies such as Shell have exploited Ogoni's oil wealth, while the Ogoni people have suffered economic deprivation, the environmental devastation of our land and the discriminatory policies of successive Nigerian governments'. 'The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People demands economic justice, human rights - including the right to choose the use of our land and its resources - and to a future free of violence. MOSOP is the democratic voice of the Ogoni people'. Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) Nigeria, 27 Odu Street,
Ogbunabali, Port Harcourt, Nigeria: MOSOP International secretariat: e-mail: mosop@gn.apc.org Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
