Impact of the Oil Industry
‘The Delta is on the boil. Youths are taking over rigs, flow stations and instillations every day. Intercommunal cleavages are threatening to submerge the region. The flare of the resources generated from the crude oil has heated up the social, economic and political environment to an unbearable degree.’
Background
Attention to oil industry-community relations in Nigeria was initially highlighted in November 1995 when Royal Dutch/Shell was at the centre of local and world-wide criticism following the execution of Ogoni environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa alongside eight other activists, by the notoriously corrupt and brutal regime of the late military dictator Sani Abacha. Ken Saro-Wiwa was the leader of an organisation called the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which demanded that Shell take responsibility for the massive environmental devastation inflicted upon their homeland and denounced the injustices that Shell had inflicted upon the Ogoni people. Shell denied playing any role in the murder of these innocent men, despite the fact that Shell weilded significant influence over the Abacha's military dictatorship.
Living with the Oil Industry
Virtually every oil producing community has experienced an incident along the following lines. Community members stage a protest demanding compensation for oil company activities.In response to the protests, members of the mobile police or other security sources come to the scene, the security forces carry out indiscriminate beatings, arrests and detentions, the protest is then abandoned. There have been numerous occasions on which the mobile police, the regular police or the army have beaten, detained or even killed those involved in protests, peaceful or otherwise, or individuals who have called for compensation for oil damage, whether youths, women or traditional leaders. In order to try and appease the members of host communities the oil companies have undertaken the execution of numerous community development activities. These projects often include the tarring of roads, granting of scholarships, provision of water tanks and generators and the building of health and vocational centres. However, for some voices, the fact that these projects are established for the people but never with the people, suggests that they are merely a major part of the public relations gimmicks adopted by the oil companies in the Delta.
The Struggle for Survival
Host communities have at various times sought to be compensated for the side effects suffered as a result of oil prospecting activities. Their demands have not always been on the damages done to their environment alone, but also for the standard of living they have, the absence of health facilities, of schools and such infrastructures as paved roads, electricity and running water. Numerous oil spills have devastated the water supply and fishing ponds. Raffia palms, yam and cassava that are the communities mainstay, have all been poisoned. Without alternatives, the people are forced to drink contaminated water, many of them become ill and some of them, especially children, die. The oil industry, therefore, exists in direct contradiction to its local inhabitants. While the management of these companies enjoy good living conditions, members of their host communities face a day-to-day struggle to survive.