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Nigeria Moves Forward, Oil Company Stands Still Mark the Anniversary of Execution of Environmentalists by Sending a Letter to Shell Three years have passed since the brutal military regime of Nigerian General Sani Abacha hanged writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni men for doing what Sierra Club members do every day -- organizing people to protect the environment. Following Abacha’s death in June, Nigeria has begun to move forward, releasing political prisoners from detention and allowing exiles to return home. Unfortunately for the Ogoni, the leaders of Shell remain recalcitrant. Despite a worldwide campaign calling attention to the company’s collusion with the Abacha regime, reports from former employees turned whistle-blowers and statements from the United Nations calling for independent environmental surveys, Shell officials have refused to accept responsibility for their pollution in Nigeria’s delta. Fisheries and farmland remain contaminated from oil spills, communities that still do not have running water, electricity or schools, yearn to be adequately compensated for land that was seized for oil drilling. Though the company last year announced with great fanfare a newfound corporate ethic of caring for human rights and caring for the environment, there has been little if any evidence of this new policy beyond the corporate rhetoric. On November 10th, environmentalists will pay tribute to Ken Saro-Wiwa by staging demonstrations at Shell facilities around the world, just as they have done every November 10th since the Ogoni were hanged. Shell will more than likely continue to ignore these actions because in the scheme of things they can afford to. When you are one of the richest companies in the world and when consumers continue to buy your product (despite environmentalists boycotts) thumbing your nose at the rest of the world isn’t so expensive. This year, however, Shell would be wise to pay attention...if not to us, the to the once exiled Ogoni leaders who have returned home. The Ogoni are giving Shell an ultimatum: clean up or clear out. Permanently. On November 10th in Ogoniland environmentalists will stage a rally to highlight Shell’s double standard -- of utilizing higher operating standards in the US and Europe than in Africa. It’s the first environmental rally that’s been allowed in Nigeria since Saro-Wiwa’s execution. Their message to Shell is this: either clean up the mess you’ve made completely by January 4, 2000, or leave this region of Africa’s most productive oil fields, forever. Former Shell Nigeria General Manager Nnameka Achebe told Harper's magazine in 1996 that "for a commercial company trying to make investments, you need a stable environment. Dictatorships can give you that." Well, despite the company’s interests, democracy is returning to Nigeria. It’s time Shell accepted responsibility for its actions, if not for the environment, then for something they do understand -- future profit. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Write to the President of Shell Oil Company, Jack Little, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, TX 77252; fax (713) 241-4044, tel. (800) 248-4257, e-mail webmaster@shellus.com. Tell Little that you will support the Sierra Club boycott of Shell products until it accepts responsibility for its actions in Nigeria. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
