Nigeria: Behind the Greenwash
December 1999, Earth First! Journal

Shell is hastily trying to remake its image to that of a clean, safe, people-friendly and consumer-oriented corporation. Shell asks consumers: "What do you think?" about its environmental pledges, human rights promises and claims of commitment to eco-friendly energy sources. But Shell is really asking what you think of its image, empty promises and ad campaigns; if the public knew what Shell was doing to communities in Nigeria, the United States and is planning to do in Chad and Cameroon, we would see that Shell is not what it pretends to be.

In September, nine US activists visited the Niger Delta, Nigeria's oil region, to witness the impact of multinational oil corporations on the land and people. We went to communities suffering from pollution caused by nearby facilities operated by Shell, Mobil, Elf (French) and Agip (Italian). We met a man who watched as Chevron helicopters ferried soldiers to the scene of a peaceful protest on Chevron's Parabe platform in May 1998; the soldiers proceeded to shoot and kill two of the protesters (see EF!J, September-October, 1998). We met a women's group in Egi who told us their protests against Elf had been disrupted by people paid by Elf to attack the group.

On November 10, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni human rights activists were hanged for telling the world about what Shell did to the land and people of Ogoni, an ethnic group in the Niger Delta. Four years later, Shell continues to spill, pollute, flare and deceive in Nigeria.

Oil company pollution like oil spills, leaking pipelines and gas flaring harm the environment and wildlife of the Niger Delta. Shell's "clean-ups" are appalling: in Otuegwe, an underground Shell pipeline spilled as much as 800,000 barrels of oil in the area in 1998. This past summer a visiting activist met people who had been hired by Shell to clean up the spill using towels and buckets.

Shell's indignities to the people of Nigeria are not limited to oil spills and acid rain. A community in Umuebulu explained how Shell acquired land in their community, promising to build living facilities for employees but instead dug a large pit and began dumping noxious, presumably toxic waste. Nearby residents are experiencing skin rashes and other health problems they blame on the dump.

The effects of this pollution on local populations is shocking. Oil spills spread and acid rain damages food, crops, plants and animals vital to local people's survival. Time after time the delegation heard stories of reduced fishing stocks and cassava production after oil exploration began.

Many communities ask Shell and other oil corporations to clean up their pollution and compensate those who suffer from resulting health problems, unemployment and loss of food sources. In ad campaigns and promotional literature, Mobil, Shell and Chevron claim to be responsible businesses in Nigeria. For example, Shell's web site lists numerous ways it has helped develop the Niger Delta, but visiting the actual places indicates that Shell's portrayal is misleading.

In the Ogoni community of Gokana, a hospital Shell claims to be supporting was in shambles. The water bore hole and tank Shell mentions never worked, according to the doctor and nurse. The patients have to drink from an open well. And the doctor explained that the drugs Shell provides for sale to patients are more expensive than the ones already available elsewhere.

Shell lists the community of Iko as one of its "spearhead communities" for development. Yet in Iko there is no electricity, fish supplies are greatly reduced, and the storage facility built by Shell has never operated.

Environmental racism in the United States
There is a perception in the United States that such disregard for people and the environment only happens far away. But environmental racism is alive and deadly here as well. Two American activists living near Shell and Chevron facilities who participated in the delegation were surprised by the similarities between their daily lives in the US and those in Nigeria. Their communities share the offensive smells, "booms" coming from flares that shake nearby houses and corporate maneuvers to escape responsibility, such as dragging lawsuits out for years. These communities have another trait in common: organized resistance to the multinational oil corporations that are endangering them.

In Norco, Louisiana, a predominantly African-American town renamed after the now-defunct New Orleans Refining Company, Margie Richard works valiantly to force the two Shell operations sandwiching the town to clean up their act. Living across the street from a Shell plant, Margie knows all too well the cost when a greedy corporation holds almighty profits above the safety and health of surrounding communities. Henry Clark, director of the West County Toxics Coalition in North Richmond, California, lives near a Chevron refinery and is working to end toxic emissions and other threats to his community.

Welfare for Exxon, Shell and Elf: the World Bank steps in
In Chad and Cameroon, Nigeria's neighbors, the World Bank is considering funding an oil pipeline operated by three of the world's largest oil corporations: Exxon, Shell and Elf. Not only does this pipeline pose a threat to the people in its path, but if the World Bank funds it, it will be a frightening example of corporate welfare using money from the US and other countries.

There are many concerns about the pipeline. There is no assessment of the social and environmental impact to all areas that might be affected. Local communities have not been told about the risks to forested areas and the many rivers the pipeline would cross. The companies have not released an oil spill management plan.

Additionally, given the track record of Shell and Elf in Nigeria, as well as the history of human rights abuses and corruption in Chad and Cameroon, another nightmare like that in the Niger Delta seems likely. In an unexpected decision, Reuters reported on November 10 that Shell and Elf have pulled out of the pipeline project and have left Chad, the World Bank and Exxon hanging.

Shell, Chevron, Mobil and Exxon cannot continue getting away with putting profits before people. Many are standing up to remember the dead and fight for the living. As ties grow between communities fighting for environmental justice and corporate accountability around the world, they come closer to reining in corporations like Shell.

To get involved contact Lawrence Summers, head of the US Treasury and tell him the Treasury should recommend a moratorium on the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline to the World Bank; Department of Treasury, Secretary Lawrence Summers, 1500 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington DC 20220; (202) 622-2000.

Monica Wilson is campaign coordinator for Essential Action's Boycott Shell/Free Nigeria campaign. Essential Action, PO Box 19405, Washington, DC 20036, USA.

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