Nigeria

poster child for resource curse?

// INDONESIA EXXON? TRUMP 19 2 26

BALLARD LOBBY BONDI?

2 26 TRUMP SEND MIL TO SAVE XIAN BUT MUSLIMS KILLED ALSO?

sam patten cambr anal

...Both Republican candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump employed Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 election. Mueller is now scrutinizing the Trump campaign’s ties to Cambridge Analytica, whose board included Trump’s campaign CEO and former chief strategist, Steve Bannon. Bannon interviewed Patten in July 2016 for his SiriusXM radio show, Breitbart News Daily, about a group Patten represents called the Committee to Destroy ISIS. There is no evidence that Patten did any work with Cambridge Analytica or the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. But his relationship with the data firm did not end with the 2014 midterm elections. According to The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr, Patten “played a central role” in the firm’s work in Nigeria in early 2015—work that included hiring Israeli computer hackers to search for “kompromat,” or compromising information, on the candidate challenging the incumbent president at the time, Goodluck Jonathan. Patten didn’t respond to a request for comment about the Nigeria campaign.

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AN 2 26

Donald Trump's aggressive "America First" agenda has caused a "profound shift" around the world, with a new analysis reported on by The Guardian showing the extent to which more countries are siding with China as strong U.S. alliances have "crashed."

On Friday, The Guardian published a report sharing the findings of a survey by the firm, FocalData. Using the results of United Nations votes over the first year of Trump's second term as a measure of how much the nations of the world are siding with either the interests of the U.S. or China. The results, as depicted in a chart showing a map of the world, are significant, with many more countries, including once-key allies, shifting towards China, as Trump's machinations have "started to redraw the geopolitical map in favour of China."

Based on the map created with FocalData's findings, every UN country in Europe has shifted more towards China in the last year, as have the likes of Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Most of South and Central America has made the same shift, except for Peru. Africa and Asia are closer to an even split, but countries that shifted towards China are still in the majority, including major players like Japan, South Korea, India and even Russia.

Among the countries that have shifted more towards the U.S. are North Korea, South Africa, Madagascar, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

Though the shifts show some notable trends, many countries have not yet changed their overall voting allegiance. Most of Europe, for example, remains largely aligned with the U.S. despite the shift towards China. Still, the trends show a world power balance in the midst of a historic shift.

"In 2026, the world is now diplomatically closer to Beijing than it has been in recent memory," The Guardian explained. "With significant shifts in alignments taking place during the start of Trump’s second presidential term."

The report further detailed: "The total number of countries strongly aligned with the US has crashed under Trump, in contrast to China, which has maintained its allies. When comparing all of Trump’s years in the White House, including his first term, with those of his immediate predecessors – Barack Obama and Joe Biden – the number of countries strongly aligned with the US has collapsed, from 46 to just seven. The number of countries closely in China’s orbit has remained broadly constant."

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AN 11 25

Founded in Nigeria in 2002 — the year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — Boko Haram has been a frequent source of violence in that country for 23 years. The far-right jihadist group, often compared to al-Qaeda, favors overthrowing Nigeria's democratic republic and replacing it with an Islamist dictatorship governed by strict fundamentalist Shariah law — specifically, a Sunni version. Boko Haram has a long history of violent attacks on both Christians and Muslims (including Shiites as well as fellow Sunnis they consider too liberal).

U.S. President Donald Trump is now threatening military action against Boko Haram, vowing to "protect Christians." And his messaging is specifically focused on Christianity, not Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Nigeria who fear Boko Haram.

In an article published on November 4, Salon's Heather Digby Parton examines the influence that far-right white fundamentalist evangelicals and "Christian nationalists" are having on Trump's Nigeria policy. And one of them is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"Whatever the case, this appears to be based upon misinformation," Parton explains. "Nigeria is dealing with the Boko Haram extremist group, which does target Christians. But it also threatens Muslims who don't accept its radical form of Islam, as well as those who are sympathetic to the Nigerian government. Most experts and analysts reject the assertion that this is some kind of Christian genocide. Trump may have wanted to give a little something to his 'cherished Christians,' as he sometimes refers to his evangelical supporters, but Hegseth is a much more interesting case."

Parton continues, "This is, after all, a man who wrote a book called 'American Crusade,' which The Guardian described as 'depicting Islam as a natural, historic enemy of the west; presents distorted versions of Muslim doctrine in Great Replacement-style racist conspiracy theories; treats leftists and Muslims as bound together in their efforts to subvert the U.S.; and idolizes medieval crusaders."

IFrame Content

Parton warns that evangelical Hegseth embraces an extreme form of far-right Christian fundamentalism. In this book, the former Fox News host calls for "followers of Christ to take up the sword in defense of their faith."

"Hegseth is also a member of an extreme far-right sect called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches that also believes in militant Christianity," Parton warns. "It's heavily influenced by reconstructionism, a theology that religion scholar Julie Ingersoll describes as believing 'it's the job of Christians to exercise dominion over the whole world.' In short, Hegseth is a serious Christian nationalist, and there could be nothing more satisfying for him than to muster a fighting force to wage war against Muslims in a foreign land in the name of Jesus Christ."

Parton continues, "It sounds medieval, and it is…. Whether they will follow through on this is anyone's guess. At some point, one might hope that a few of the Christians who are clamoring for the U.S. to go into Nigeria with 'guns-a-blazing' might spare a thought for their fellow followers of Christ who are being terrorized every single day right here in America at the hands of an oppressive government that is deporting them to face certain persecution."

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/they-have-no-idea-what-they-have-done-terrorist-groups-in-africa-now-vowing-revenge-on-us-after-suleimani-killing/

no lnx

‘They have no idea what they have done’: Terrorist groups in Africa now vowing revenge on US after Suleimani killing

Baghdad,Iraq,January 3,2020,thousands of Iraq people participating in funeral program of Iranian general Qasim Suleiman.

Written by Matthew Chapman / Raw Story January 11, 2020

President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate Iranian general Qassim Suleimani could have far-reaching consequences that are difficult to appreciate in the short term. And one example is already being seen in Africa.

According to The Daily Beast, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a West African group of Shi’a converts formed in the wake of the Iranian revolution of 1979, has sworn vengeance against the United States for the assassination.

IMN issued a statement saying that Suleimani was an “ardent anti-imperialist who gave the United States of America and their stooges in the region sleepless nights,” and his mission against America would be “accomplished by his brothers, children, and students from resistance men and mujahideen from all the peoples of the world that reject humiliation and submission to the tyrants of this century.”

“America will pay for the killing of Soleimani,” said Ibrahim Hussien, an IMN supporter who participated in an anti-America protest in Nigeria’s capital city of Abjua on Monday. “They have no idea what they have done.”

This comes just after Somalia’s al-Shabab group killed an American serviceman and two contractors at a military installation in Northern Kenya. This attack, part of the group’s “Al-Quds Will Never Be Judaized” campaign, came just two days after the Suleimani killing. There is no clear evidence that al-Shabab is linked to Iran, but Suleimani has reportedly sent operatives to the region in the past.

Iran has historically shied away from engaging foreign rivals directly, instead opting to use proxy forces. Indeed, Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Majid Takht-Ravanchi told CNN Friday that, “We can speak on behalf of the Iranian government, we are not responsible for the actions that others might take” — a clear signal that they will not condemn violence committed against Americans by these proxies.

I’m reading elsewhere, that: Buhari (former pres Johnathan’s opposition) retained PPG, via Burson-Marsteller. PPG is Charlie Black. That’s Charlie Black of BMS&K - Manafort’s & Stone’s LP partner ?? They worked both sides? ??

cambr anal manipulation:

In April 2018 Kaiser testified before the British parliament’s ‘fake news’ inquiry. She covered a dizzying array of topics alongside Cambridge Analytica, including her friends’ cryptocurrency-powered telecommunications schemes in Mexico, and her time working with WikiLeaks’ British lawyers at Doughty Street Chambers on “prisoner of conscience” cases.

The parliamentarians wanted to know more about a group of hackers – alumni of Israeli intelligence – who she had introduced to oil-billionaire clients, and who had infiltrated the Nigerian political opposition as part of a 2015 campaign by Nix’s firm. But when it came to the inflammatory content of that campaign, Kaiser pointed the finger firmly at Sam Patten, a long-standing fixture on Cambridge Analytica’s roster of globe-trotting political strategists.

ref guk

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/21/cambridge-analytica-offered-politicians-hacked-emails-witnesses-say

Cambridge Analytica was offered politicians' hacked emails, say witnesses

This article is more than 1 year old

Hackers offered personal data about future Nigerian president and future PM of St Kitts and Nevis, sources say

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg finally addresses Cambridge Analytica scandal

Carole Cadwalladr

@carolecadwalla

Wed 21 Mar 201814.59 EDTLast modified on Tue 2 Oct 2018 05.48 EDT

A man stands in front of electoral campaign posters in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2015]

The data analytics firm that worked on the Donald Trump election campaign was offered material from Israeli hackers who had accessed the private emails of two politicians who are now heads of state, witnesses have told the Guardian.

Multiple sources have described how senior directors of Cambridge Analytica – including its chief executive, Alexander Nix – gave staff instructions to handle material provided by computer hackers in election campaigns in Nigeria and St Kitts and Nevis.

They claim there were two episodes in 2015 that alarmed members of staff and led them to refuse to handle the data, which they assumed would have been obtained illegally.

SCL Elections, Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, denied taking possession of or using hacked or stolen personal information from such individuals for any purpose in either campaign.

The revelations are the latest to focus attention on Cambridge Analytica, whose activities are being investigated in the US by the special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his inquiry into possible Russian collusion in the 2016 US presidential election.

[Quick guide

How the Cambridge Analytica story unfolded]

The firm is under pressure to explain how it came to have unauthorised access to millions of Facebook profiles. Politicians in the US and UK have accused it of giving misleading statements about its work, and the information commissioner has demanded access to the company’s databases.

In all, the Guardian and Observer has spoken to seven individuals with knowledge of Cambridge Analytica and its campaign in Nigeria in early 2015.

Hired by a Nigerian billionaire to support the re-election of Goodluck Jonathan, Cambridge Analytica was paid an estimated £2m to orchestrate a ferocious campaign against his rival, the opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan lost out to Buhari in the presidential race. There is no suggestion Jonathan knew of the covert operation.

]The evil genius of Cambridge Analytica was to exploit those we trust most

Richard Wolffe]

Staff working on the campaign say in early 2015 they metIsraeli cybersecurity contractors in Cambridge Analytica’s offices in Mayfair, London.Employees say they were told the meeting was arranged by Brittany Kaiser, a senior director at the firm.

The Guardian and Observer have been told the Israelis brought a laptop from their office in Tel Aviv and handed employees a USB stick containing what they believed were hacked personal emails.

Sources said Nix, who was suspended on Tuesday, and other senior directors told staff to search for incriminating material that could be used to damage opposition candidates, including Buhari.

“It made everyone feel really uncomfortable,” said one source. “They wanted people to load it into their email programs.”

People “freaked out”, another employee said. “They wanted to have nothing to do with it.”

13:04

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower: 'We spent $1m harvesting millions of Facebook profiles' – video]

One member of the campaign team told the Guardian and Observer that the material they believed had been hacked included Buhari’s medical records. “I’m 99% sure of that. Or if they didn’t have his medical records they at least had emails that referred to what was going on.”

When news of the London meeting filtered back to Cambridge Analytica staff working on the ground in Nigeria, it caused panic, the source said. Local security advisers told the firm’s team to leave the country immediately because if opposition supporters found out, they could turn on them.

“What is clear is that the security of their employees didn’t even seem to have occurred to them,” said one former employee. “It was a very serious situation and they had to evacuate immediately.”

An SCL Elections spokesperson said team members working on the Nigeria campaign remained in the country throughout the original campaigning period, and left in accordance with the company’s campaign plan.

Profile

Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica]

The Guardian has seen an email from Nix dated 26 January 2015, referring to the “Israeli team”.

It says: “Although it is outside of our remit, I have asked for an update on what the Israeli team has been working on and what they will be delivering between now and the election.”

In a second episode in early 2015, sources said the same Israeli team that had worked on the Nigeria campaign obtained private information of the St Kitts and Nevis politician Timothy Harris. At the time he was an opposition leader, and is now prime minister.

Sources have said staff did not want to handle what appeared to be stolen material. “Nobody wanted to have anything to do with it,” one employee said.

A statement from SCL Elections said: “During an election campaign, it is normal for SCL Elections to meet with vendors seeking to provide services as a subcontractor. SCL Elections did not take possession of or use any personal information from such individuals for any purposes. SCL Elections does not use ‘hacked’ or ‘stolen’ data.”

The statement added: “Members of the SCL Elections team that worked on the Nigeria campaign remained in country throughout the original campaigning period, although the election was rescheduled and SCL was not retained for the entirety of the extended campaign period.

“Team members left in accordance with the company’s campaign plan. Team members were regularly briefed about security concerns prior to and during deployment and measures were taken to ensure the team’s safety throughout.”

The revelations will add to the questions facing Cambridge Analytica and the techniques it uses to influence elections for its clients.

In the UK, the Electoral Commission and the Information Commissioner’s Office are investigating the firm for breaches of electoral and data protection law.

Topics

https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/most-of-the-world-hates-trump-but-these-3-countries-love-him

authori nigeria, so korea aND israel

..That same month, after Trump pledged to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Netanyahu compared Trump to King Cyrus the Great, from 2,500 years ago, who “proclaimed that the Jewish exiles in Babylon could come back and rebuild our Temple in Jerusalem.”

As in the case of Nigeria and South Korea, Trump’s popularity in Israelseems to be a reversal of his predecessor. Frosty personal relations plagued Obama and Netanyahu, beginning with Obama’s first major foreign policy address to the Arab world in Cairo in 2009. This culminated in Netanyahu’s visit to Congress in 2015, when he urged Congress to oppose the Iran nuclear agreement.

In 2016, prior to the rise of Trump, Israelis ranked Obama as the worst U.S. president for Israel in the last 30 years....

...But as multiple outlets reported Friday, other countries were listening. The Nigerian Army, in response, tweeted out the clip of Trump encouraging violencewith the comment: "Please Watch and Make your Deductions."

In light of a recent massacre — in which human rights activists say the Nigerian Army killed 45 peaceful protesters from the group Islamic Movement in Nigeria — this tweet was taken as a justification for state-based suppression of free speech. The Nigerian officials have denied the higher numbers of fatalities, placing the death count at six, but a Reuters reporter counted at least 20 bodies on the scene.

The use of Trump's words to justify this kind of atrocity is the continuation of a troubling trend during his time in office. His embrace of authoritarian tactics and political violence appears to have emboldened strongmen leaders around the world. Previous reporting has shown how foreign authoritarians have cited Trump's own language and behavior, including most prominently his attacks on the press, to quash dissent from their own brutal regimes.

https://www.ecowatch.com/shell-nigeria-amnesty-2513278575.html

ogoni

cleanup

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/06/02/3784086/nigeria-oil-clean-up-launched

http://www.globalpossibilities.org/eko-atlantic-climate-change-apartheid/

sea level rise

And then there's that cliché, the African dictator or minister or official. There's Teodorín Obiang.So his daddy is president for life of Equatorial Guinea, a West African nation that has exported billions of dollars of oil since the 1990s and yet has a truly appalling human rights record. The vast majority of its people are living in really miserable poverty despite an income per capita that's on a par with that of Portugal. So Obiang junior, well, he buys himself a $30 million mansion in Malibu, California. I've been up to its front gates. I can tell you it's a magnificent spread. He bought an €18 million art collection that used to belong to fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, a stack of fabulous sports cars, some costing a million dollars apiece -- oh, and a Gulfstream jet, too. Now get this: Until recently, he was earning an official monthly salary of less than 7,000 dollars.

2:08And there'sDan Etete.Well, he was the former oil minister of Nigeriaunder President Abacha,and it just so happens he's a convicted money launderer too. We've spent a great deal of timeinvestigating a $1 billion -- that's right, a $1 billion — oil deal that he was involved with, and what we found was pretty shocking, but more about that later....And in the years that I've been, and we've all been campaigning and investigating, I've repeatedly seen that what makes corruption on a global, massive scale possible, well it isn't just greed or the misuse of power or that nebulous phrase "weak governance." I mean, yes, it's all of those, but corruption, it's made possible by the actions of global facilitators.

4:50So let's go back to some of those people I talked about earlier. Now, they're all people we've investigated, and they're all people who couldn't do what they do alone. Take Obiang junior. Well, he didn't end up with high-end art and luxury houses without help. He did business with global banks. A bank in Paris held accounts of companies controlled by him, one of which was used to buy the art, and American banks, well, they funneled 73 million dollars into the States,some of which was used to buy that California mansion. And he didn't do all of this in his own name either. He used shell companies. He used one to buy the property, and another, which was in somebody else's name, to pay the huge bills it cost to run the place.

5:35And then there's Dan Etete. Well, when he was oil minister, he awarded an oil block now worth over a billion dollars to a company that, guess what, yeah, he was the hidden owner of. Now, it was then much later traded on with the kind assistance of the Nigerian government -- now I have to be careful what I say here — to subsidiaries of Shell and the Italian Eni, two of the biggest oil companies around.

6:05So the reality is, is that the engine of corruption, well, it exists far beyond the shores of countries like Equatorial Guinea or Nigeria or Turkmenistan. This engine, well, it's driven by our international banking system, by the problem of anonymous shell companies, and by the secrecy that we have afforded big oil, gas and mining operations, and, most of all, by the failure of our politicians to back up their rhetoric and do something really meaningful and systemic to tackle this stuff.

6:36Now let's take the banks first. Well, it's not going to come as any surprise for me to tell you that banks accept dirty money, but they prioritize their profits in other destructive ways too. For example, in Sarawak, Malaysia. Now this region, it has just five percent of its forests left intact. Five percent. So how did that happen? Well, because an elite and its facilitators have been making millions of dollars from supporting logging on an industrial scale for many years. So we sent an undercover investigator in to secretly film meetings with members of the ruling elite, and the resulting footage, well, it made some people very angry, and you can see that on YouTube,but it proved what we had long suspected, because it showed how the state's chief minister,despite his later denials, used his control over land and forest licenses to enrich himself and his family. And HSBC, well, we know that HSBC bankrolled the region's largest logging companiesthat were responsible for some of that destruction in Sarawak and elsewhere. The bank violated its own sustainability policies in the process, but it earned around 130 million dollars. Now shortly after our exposé, very shortly after our exposé earlier this year, the bank announced a policy review on this. And is this progress? Maybe, but we're going to be keeping a very close eye on that case....

case goes to Hague http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/shell-pollution-lawsuit-nigeria-africa_n_1956931.html?ref=topbar

ken saro wiwaorg 300K? 3/5 of ogoni ppl in nonviolent protest ~ shell; jailed and tortured 9 mos before hanged

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=htF5XElMyGI

http://wn.com/ken_saro-wiwa_his_last_interview,_part_ii?upload_time=all_time&orderby=rating

exxon in nigeria http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/7/exxonmobils_dirty_secrets_from_indonesia_to

guerillas attacking offshore platforms; b2 2008 was asked if US mil could help

stratfor/mongoven BS on ken saro-wiwa

This article was first published as "Race-baiting Strategy Helps Keep Shell Pumping in Nigeria"in PR Watch, Volume 3, No. 2, Second Quarter 1996. It original article was authored by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton and is used here with permission. As with all SourceWatch articles, feel free to edit and revise.

Shell Oil and Nigeria's military dictatorship are using a black-against-black "divide and confuse" PR strategy to deflect criticism following Nigeria's executions of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other environmental and human rights activists.

Their approach resembles the "Neptune Strategy" developed a decade ago by Jack Mongoven's former PR firm to defend Shell's dealings in South Africa.

Following the hanging of Saro-Wiwa in November of last year, Shell and Nigeria each launched separate massive PR campaigns claiming that they are participating in a "transition to democracy" in Nigeria.

Nigeria's $10.7 million campaign employed eight U.S. PR firms whose work included production of a 297-page book and a three-part TV documentary, plus advertisements targeting Washington policymakers. The regime funded a "fact-finding" junket of black journalists who visited Nigeria and reported back with accolades for Nigeria's ruler, General Sani Abacha. Abacha's government also bought glossy, multi-page color insert ads in black newspapers, claiming that criticisms of Nigeria are racist, "double standard treatment of Black African Nations by the United States government. If Jewish Americans can stand up for Israel we can stand up for Africa."

These efforts to enlist black support for a dictatorship that oppresses blacks are reminiscent of the 1987 "Neptune Strategy" used to counter a boycott against Shell's business dealings in apartheid South Africa.

The Neptune Strategy was developed by Pagan International, whose partners included Jack Mongoven, Alvin Biscoe and Ronald Duchin. Pagan International organized and subsidized a group composed of black clergy called the Coalition on Southern Africa (COSA), which countered calls for Shell to divest its South African holdings by talking instead of ambitious plans to promote education and training of South African blacks and develop black-black business links between South Africa and the United States. In reality, COSA was a deceptive paper front group with no resources to carry out these goals.

It's the Economy, Stupid

Following the recent executions in Nigeria, Shell has turned again to the argument that its African business activities are creating economic progress for black Africans. Its PR campaign has included full-page ads in European, American and South African newspapers, claiming that thousands of Nigerians would lose job opportunities if the company abandons its plans there to build a $4 billion liquified natural gas plant.

Shell is in fact Nigeria's largest foreign investor, earning over $312 million a year in profits from its oil operations. Ken Saro-Wiwa was the most vocal advocate for Nigeria's Ogoni tribespeople, who claim that Shell's activities are destroying their communities.

Defending Shell's failure to prevent the executions of Saro-Wiwa and the others, the company's ads criticized "campaigning groups" who "say we should[ not?] intervene in the political process in Nigeria. But even if we could, we should never do so. Politics is the business of governments and politicians."

These arguments drew sharp criticism from Ken Saro-Wiwa's younger brother, Dr. Owens Wiwa. "Shell is involved in Nigerian politics up to their neck," he said. "If they had threatened to withdraw from Nigeria unless Ken was released, he would have been alive today. There is no question of that."

Owens Wiwa described his own meetings with Brian Anderson, head of Shell's Nigerian operations. According to Owens Wiwa, Anderson offered to use his influence to help Saro-Wiwa if international environmental groups would stop their protests against the company. Owens Wiwa said Anderson promised "to get Ken and the others freed if we stopped the protest campaign abroad. I was very shocked. Even if I had wanted to, I didn't have the power to control the international environmental protests."

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nigeria

Nigeria, located in the west part of Africa, is the continent's most populous country, with 130 million people. It is also the continent's largest oil producer and one of the largest oil producers in the world. A century of British colonial rule ended in 1960 and Nigeria now has an elected government but over the past few decades there have been a lot of military coups. ^[1] ^[2]

[hide]

Tobacco industry information about Nigeria

The Cigarette Market in Nigeria - Qualitative Consumer Behavior and Brand Status Study(BAT, 1991) Describes youth market for cigarettes in Nigeria

The tobacco industry, and specifically British American Tobacco (BAT), promotes a variety of "corporate social responsibility" programs in Nigeria which seem to create and reinforce government support for its activities within the country. On March 13, 2009, the Lagos Daily Independent reported that Senator Kamorudeen Adedibu, Chairman of Nigeria's Senate Committee on Industries, had praised BAT's "2008 Farmers' Productivity Day/Award Ceremony," and taken the occasion to warn that Nigeria's proposed national tobacco bill would lead to 400,000 Nigerians getting thrown out of their jobs. He described the bill as a "misplaced priority." He also commended BAT Nigeria for its corporate social responsibility initiatives, which he claimed helped create wealth in the rural areas of the state. He described the company as a "shining example to other private sector operators" in Nigeria.^[3]

Oil

The Oil Wars

In September 2008, the Niger Delta's most prominent militant group, MEND or the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, declared an "oil war", warning all oil workers to evacuate the delta immediately. MEND’s move was a response to a major army offensive against the rebels. “We have declared an oil war in response to the unprovoked aerial and marine attacks on our positions by the armed forces of Nigeria," said Jomo Gbomo, Mend's spokesman. “We are asking that oil companies evacuate their staff from their field facilities because the brief is not to capture hostages but to bring these structures to the ground.” ^[4]

Give the Land Back to the Locals

In what was a truly symbolic victory for the people of the Niger Delta, the oil giant Shell was ordered to hand over the huge Bonny oil terminal to the local population.

Although details only became public in October 2008, a high court in Rivers State ruled in July that the site of the Bonny lifting terminal belonged to the local community, not the oil giant.

The Bonny site is hugely significant to Shell’s operations. It has storage capacity for over 12 million barrels of crude, and is equipped with a helicopter landing pad, a facility capable of loading super tankers, an indoor berthing facility to take six ocean-going tankers, an expatriate club and residential quarters.

But local residents, including the elders of Bonny, accused Shell of getting the certificate of ownership from the state government illegally. They filed suit accusing Shell of secretly obtaining a certificate of occupancy on the property from the Rivers state government.

They argued that under the July 1958 agreement between the two parties, Shell was only a tenant on the land while the Bonny people remained the landlord. The court agreed much to the delight of local community groups and the rebel groups such as Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, of which giving back land is a key demand..

Not surprisingly Shell has appealed. “The ruling was given some months ago but we have appealed,” Shell’s spokesman in Nigeria, Precious Okolobo. Moreover most observers believe that it will not affect the oil export operations as Shell will just ignore it. ^[5]

Justice Begins at Home

In May 1998, 121 unarmed youths from the 42 communities of Ilajeland in the Niger Delta decided to join the waves of protests against the oil companies sweeping the region.

Whereas many of the previous protests had been against Shell, the oil company operating in their area was Chevron. They got into boats and canoes and set off to occupy Chevron’s Parebe platform that was miles off-shore.

Their demands were modest according to one of the leading activists in the Niger Delta. “Don’t pollute my water don’t destroy our mangrove forest, don’t devastate our ecology. Come and listen to us come and talk to our elders” .

What happened next has been subject to fierce controversy ever since, but after the youths boarded a barge it led to a stand-off for four days. Then one morning, flying low in the African sky, three helicopters arrived being flown by Chevron pilots, but full of the Nigerian Military, Navy and the Mobile Police Force. In the ensuing chaos, four youths were killed, 30 more youths were wounded, most with gunshot. Those that went to help the dying were shot too.

It later transpired that Chevron had specifically called for the Mobile Police. According to Human Rights Watch, no attempt had been made by Chevron “to prevent abusive actions by the security forces in advance of the confrontation. Nor did it state that concern had been expressed to the authorities over the incident or that any steps would be taken to avoid similar incidents in future.” One of the helicopters had a Chevron security person on board who “apparently did nothing” to stop the shooting. In the eyes of the communities, another company now had blood on its hands. ^[6]

The events on that fateful day have now ended up a decade later in a court-room in San Francisco, with 19 Nigerians seeking unspecified compensatory damages for medical care, loss of wages and pain and suffering for the victims and families of the deceased and wounded.

After a four-week trial, in its closing arguments, Chevron denied directing the Nigerian soldiers and said it had acted in self defence.

“The decision to shoot in self-defense was made by the military,” Robert Mittelstaedt, an attorney for Chevron, said in closing arguments. “Not only did we not think anything wrong would happen, we certainly didn’t intend for anything to happen.”

But lawyers acting for the Nigerians showed evidence at the trial that Chevron knew that the Nigerian military and the Mobile Police, nicknamed “Kill and Go,” to be “uncontrollable” and prone to violence. “The Kill and Go were among the most vicious military operations in the world,” said Dan Stormer, an attorney for the Nigerians. “Chevron paid, fed, housed and maintained the military, including the Kill and Go, to have security in Nigeria.”

Stormer added: “They don’t want to be held accountable now but you, through our system of justice, get to hold them accountable.” The jury can award punitive damages against Chevron for recklessness. ^[7]

A verdict against Chevron would be the first against a U.S. corporation for actions abroad under a law, passed by the first Congress in 1789, that allows foreigners to seek damages for violations of international human rights. ^[8]

Government Panel Recommends that 25 % of Oil Revenue Goes to Delta

The issue of how much oil money goes to the local communities has been a central issue for the people of the Niger Delta for decades. The issue of “resource control” was a central pillar of the Ogoni Bills of Rights, signed by the Ogoni leaders in 1990, as well as the Kaiama Declaration, signed by the Ijaw community in December 1998. It has been discussed repeatedly over the last decade. Slowly but surely the amount of money that goes to the Delta has risen from 1.5 per cent to 13 per cent. But it is not enough to stop the violence and abject poverty.

In December 2008, a panel set up by the Nigerian government recommended that Nigeria should divert a quarter of its oil revenues to people of the Niger Delta. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the region, inaugurated a 40-man panel in September of former ministers, activists and academics to consider ways forward. The panel’s chairman was Ledum Mitee, the leader of MOSOP, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, who was put on trial with Ken Saro-Wiwa, but was freed. It became known as the Mittee Committee.

Mitee’s Committee main recommendation in its three-volume report was that oil rich states in the region be paid 25 per cent of oil revenues. The Committee also called on the authorities to release Henry Okah, leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the leading militant group, or at least give him a free and fair trial.

Finally it recommended a disarming process for youths involved in militancy through creating a credible Decommissioning, Disarmament and Rehabilitation (DDR) process and the establishment of a Youth Employment Scheme that would employ at least 2,000 youths in each local government of the Niger Delta States.

“The lack of political will on the part of federal and state governments has been responsible for the escalation of the Niger Delta crisis,” Mitee said before presenting the conclusions to President Umaru Yar’Adua.

In response, President Yar’Adua said: “I want to therefore assure you that this report will be examined by government and we will examine our recommendations and I have no doubt in my mind that your work will form one of those great efforts that will ultimately help this country to find a permanent solution to the problems in the Niger Delta.” ^[9]; ^[10]

Media

The BBC says of the country's media:

Nigeria's media scene is one of the most vibrant in Africa. State-run radio and TV services reach virtually all parts of the country and operate at a federal and regional level. All 36 states run their own radio stations, and most of them operate TV services.Media freedom improved under President Obasanjo, but restrictive decrees remain in force. Citing high levels of violence, the media rights body Reporters Without Borders has said Nigerian journalists operate amid a "prevailing culture of brutality".^[2]

Lobbying and public relations by Nigeria in the U.S.

KRL International LLC, a Washington, DC based lobbying and public relations firm, filed papers in 2007 under the Foreign Agents Registration Act for its work on behalf of Nigeria. The nature of the work was stated as:

Outreach to US Administration, US Congress, NGOs and media institutions to ensure that the reform agenda of Nigeria is understood by US public.

KRL answered "yes" to the question of "would political activities be involved?".^[11][12]

Jim Lobe of Inter Press Service wrote in 2001 of the lobbying activity in the U.S. by African governments:

African governments are paying millions of dollars to lobbyists in hopes of influencing Washington's policy, according to an examination of US government files. Oil-producing nations -- especially, Nigeria, Angola,Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea -- are paying the biggest fees by far, but others, especially those with which Washington has difficult relations, are not holding back the cash.Lobbying became a fixture of Washington by the late 19th century as private companies and commercial associations felt it increasingly necessary to influence the federal government. Foreign governments, despite having fully staffed embassies here, have used lobbyists to press their points of view for several decades now.The government of Nigeria, which was known for spreading a lot of cash around numerous high-priced lobbyists here during military rule, apparently has since decided on one major representative, GoodWorks International. The firm's chairman, Andrew Young, served as president Jimmy Carter's UN ambassador and later as mayor of Atlanta. Besides his position at GoodWorks, Young acts as president of the National Council of Churches."GoodWorks can work to reverse Nigeria's negative image through effective representation of Nigeria's interests in the US," reads the firm's contract, which was filed last August. It states that GoodWorks, which is based in Atlanta and has no Washington office, is to receive 500,000 dollars as an initial retainer and 60,000 as monthly retainers thereafter, not to exceed a total of 1,500,000 (dollars) for the first year of service only.^[13]

Resources

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_in_the_Niger_Delta

Nigeria, after nearly four decades of oil production, had by the early 1980s become almost completely dependent on petroleum extraction economically, generating 25% of its GDPC (this has since risen to 60% as of 2008). Despite the vast wealth created by petroleum, the benefits have been slow to trickle down to the majority of the population, who since the 1960s have increasingly been forced to abandon their traditional agricultural practices. Annual production of both cash and food crops dropped significantly in the latter decades of 20th century, cocoa production dropped by 43% (Nigeria was the world's largest cocoa exporter in 1960), rubber dropped by 29%, cotton by 65%, and groundnuts by 64%.^[7] In spite of the large number of skilled, well-paid Nigerians who have been employed by the oil corporations, the majority of Nigerians and most especially the people of the Niger Delta states and the far north have become poorer since the 1960s.^[8]

The Delta region has a steadily growing population estimated to be over 30 million people as of 2005, accounting for more than 23% of Nigeria's total population. The population density is also among the highest in the world with 265 people per square kilometre, according to the Niger Delta Development Commission. This population is expanding at a rapid 3% per year and the oil capital, Port Harcourt, along with other large towns are growing quickly. Poverty and urbanization in Nigeria are on the rise, and official corruption is considered a fact of life. The resultant scenario is one in which there is urbanization but no accompanying economic growth to provide jobs. This has led to a section of the growing populace assisting in destroying the ecosystem that they require to sustain themselves.^[7]

Ogoniland

Ogoniland is a 404-square-mile (1,050 km²) region in the southeast of the Niger Delta basin. Economically viable petroleum was discovered in Ogoniland in 1957, just one year after the discovery of Nigeria's first commercial petroleum deposit, with Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron Corporation setting up shop throughout the next two decades. The Ogoni people, a minority ethnic group of about half a million people who call Ogoniland home, and other ethnic groups in the region attest that during this time, the government began forcing them to abandon their land to oil companies without consultation, and offering negligible compensation. This is further supported by a 1979 constitutional addition which afforded the federal government full ownership and rights to all Nigerian territory and also decided that all compensation for land would "be based on the value of the crops on the land at the time of its acquisition, not on the value of the land itself." The Nigerian government could now distribute the land to oil companies as it deemed fit.^[9]

The 1970s and 1980s saw the government's empty promises of benefits for the Niger Delta peoples fall through, with the Ogoni growing increasingly dissatisfied and their environmental, social, and economic apparatus rapidly deteriorating. The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) was formed in 1992. MOSOP, spearheaded by Ogoni playwright and author Ken Saro-Wiwa, became the major campaigning organization representing the Ogoni people in their struggle for ethnic and environmental rights. Its primary targets, and at times adversaries, have been the Nigerian government and Royal Dutch Shell.

The Ogonis threatened to embark on mass action to disrupt their operation if the companies failed to comply. By this act, the Ogoni shifted the focus of their actions from an unresponsive federal government to the oil companies engaged in their own region. The rationale for this assignment of responsibility were the benefits accrued by the oil companies from extracting the natural wealth of the Ogoni homeland, and neglect from central government.Beginning in December 1992, the conflict between Ogonis and the oil infrastructure escalated to a level of greater seriousness and intensity on both sides. Both parties began carrying out acts of violence and MOSOP issued an ultimatum to the oil companies (Shell, Chevron, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) which demanded some $10 billion in accumulated royalties, damages and compensation, and "immediate stoppage of environmental degradation", and negotiations for mutual agreement on all future drilling.^[10]

The government responded by banning public gatherings and declaring that disturbances of oil production were acts of treason. Oil extraction from the territory had slowed to a trickle of 10,000 barrels per day (1,600 m^3/d) (.5% of the national total).

Military repression escalated in May 1994. On May 21, soldiers and mobile policemen appeared in most Ogoni villages. On that day, four Ogoni chiefs (all on the conservative side of a schism within MOSOP over strategy) were brutally murdered. Saro-Wiwa, head of the opposing faction, had been denied entry to Ogoniland on the day of the murders, but he was detained in connection with the killings. The occupying forces, led by Major Paul Okuntimo of Rivers State Internal Security, claimed to be 'searching for those directly responsible for the killings of the four Ogonis.' However, witnesses say that they engaged in terror operations against the general Ogoni population. Amnesty International characterized the policy as deliberate terrorism. By mid-June, the security forces had razed 30 villages, detained 600 people and killed at least 40. This figure eventually rose to 2,000 civilian deaths and the displacement of around 100,000 internal refugees.^[11][12]

In May 1994, nine activists from the movement who would become known as 'The Ogoni Nine', among them Ken Saro-Wiwa, were arrested and accused of incitement to murder following the deaths of four Ogoni elders. Saro-Wiwa and his comrades denied the charges, but were imprisoned for over a year before being found guilty and sentenced to death by a specially convened tribunal, hand-selected by General Sani Abacha, on 10 November 1995. The activists were denied due process and upon being found guilty, were hanged by the Nigerian state.^[13]

The executions were met with an immediate international response. The trial was widely criticised by human rights organisations and the governments of other states, who condemned the Nigerian government's long history of detaining their critics, mainly pro-democracy and other political activists. The Commonwealth of Nations, which had also plead for clemency, suspended Nigeria's membership in response. The United States, the United Kingdom, and the EU all implemented sanctions, but not on petroleum (Nigeria's main export).

Shell claims it asked the Nigerian government for clemency towards those found guilty^[citation ^needed], but its request was refused. However, a 2001 Greenpeace report found that "two witnesses that accused them [Saro-Wiwa and the other activists] later admitted that Shell and the military had bribed them with promises of money and jobs at Shell. Shell admitted having given money to the Nigerian military, who brutally tried to silence the voices which claimed justice".^[14]

As of 2006, the situation in Ogoniland has eased significantly, assisted by the transition to democratic rule in 1999. However, no attempts have been made by the government or an international body to bring about justice by investigating and prosecuting those involved in the violence and property destruction that have occurred in Ogoniland,^[15] although a class action lawsuit has been brought against Shell by individual plaintiffs in the US.^[16]

Nigeria is a Federal Republic modelled after the United States, with executive power exercised by the president and with overtones of the Westminster System model in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the bicameral legislature. The current president of Nigeria is Goodluck Jonathan, who succeeded Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to the office in 2010. The president presides as both Head of State and head of the national executive and is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two four-year terms.

The president's power is checked by a Senate and a House of Representatives, which are combined in a bicameral body called the National Assembly. The Senate is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from the capital region of Abuja; members are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. The House contains 360 seats and the number of seats per state is determined by population.

Ethnocentrism, tribalism, religious persecution, and prebendalism have played a visible role in Nigerian politics both prior and subsequent to independence in 1960. Kin-selective altruism has made its way into Nigerian politics and has spurned various attempts by tribalists to concentrate Federal power to a particular region of their interests.^[42] Nationalism has also led to active secessionist movements such as MASSOB, Nationalist movements such as Oodua Peoples Congress, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and a civil war. Nigeria's three largest ethnic groups (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) have maintained historical preeminence in Nigerian politics; competition amongst these three groups has fuelled corruption and graft.^[43]

Because of the above issues, Nigeria's current political parties are pan-national and irreligious in character (though this does not preclude the continuing preeminence of the dominant ethnicities).^[43][44] The major political parties at present include the ruling People's Democratic Party of Nigeria which maintains 223 seats in the House and 76 in the Senate (61.9% and 69.7% respectively); the opposition All Nigeria People's Party under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari has 96 House seats and 27 in the Senate (26.6% and 24.7%). There are also about twenty other minor opposition parties registered. The immediate past president, Olusegun Obasanjo, acknowledged fraud and other electoral "lapses" but said the result reflected opinion polls. In a national television address he added that if Nigerians did not like the victory of his handpicked successor they would have an opportunity to vote again in four years.^[45]

...

Media representation

Documentary

Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, an audio documentary produced by Amy Goodman first aired in 1998 on Democracy Now!
Sweet Crude, a documentary film produced and directed by Sandy Cioffi about Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta
Poison Fire, a documentary exposing oil and gas abuses in Nigeria, featuring Friends of the Earth Nigeria volunteers, which premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

The case of Ogoniland (1992-1995)

See also: Ken Saro-Wiwa

The 1970s and 1980s saw the government's empty promises of benefits for the Niger Delta peoples fall through, with the Ogoni growing increasing dissatisfied and their environmental, social, and economic apparatus rapidly deteriorating. The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) was formed in 1992. MOSOP, spearheaded by Ogoni playwright and author Ken Saro-Wiwa, became the major campaigning organization representing the Ogoni people in their struggle for ethnic and environmental rights. Its primary targets, and at times adversaries, have been the Nigerian government and Royal Dutch Shell.

Ogoni Flag created by Ken Saro-Wiwa

Beginning in December 1992, the conflict between Ogonis and the oil infrastructure escalated to a level of greater seriousness and intensity on both sides. Both parties began carrying out acts of violence and MOSOP issued an ultimatum to the oil companies (Shell, Chevron, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) which demanded some $10 billion in accumulated royalties, damages and compensation, and "immediate stoppage of environmental degradation", and negotiations for mutual agreement on all future drilling.^{[^^5]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_in_the_Niger_Delta#cite_note-4)

As of 2006, the situation in Ogoniland has eased significantly, assisted by the transition to democratic rule in 1999. However, no attempts have been made by the government or an international body to bring about justice by investigating and prosecuting those involved in the violence and property destruction that have occurred in Ogoniland,^{[^^9]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_in_the_Niger_Delta#cite_note-HRW02-8) although a class action lawsuit has been brought against Shell by individual plaintiffs in the US.^{[^^10]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_in_the_Niger_Delta#cite_note-CSRN02-9)

^-----

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/oil-industry-has-brought-poverty-and-pollution-to-niger-delta-20090630

“Oil companies have been exploiting Nigeria’s weak regulatory system for too long,” said Audrey Gaughran of Amnesty International. “They do not adequately prevent environmental damage and they frequently fail to properly address the devastating impact that their bad practice has on people’s lives.”

The Niger Delta is one of the world’s 10 most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems and is home to some 31 million people. It is also the location of massive oil deposits, which have been extracted for decades by the government of Nigeria and by multinational oil companies.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) describes the region as suffering from “administrative neglect, crumbling social infrastructure and services, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth and squalor, and endemic conflict.” This poverty, and its contrast with the wealth generated by oil, has become one of the world’s starkest and most disturbing examples of the “resource curse”.

Oil has generated an estimated US$600 billion since the 1960s. Despite this, many people in the oil-producing areas have to drink, cook with and wash in polluted water, and eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins.

“More than 60 per cent of people in the region depend on the natural environment for their livelihood,” said Audrey Gaughran “Yet, pollution by the oil industry is destroying the vital resource on which they depend.”

Oil pollution kills fish, their food sources and fish larvae, and damages the ability of fish to reproduce, causing both immediate damage and long-term harm to fish stocks. Oil pollution also damages fishing equipment. 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell

...

The farther we travelled, the more nauseous it became. Soon we were swimming in pools of light Nigerian crude, the best-quality oil in the world. One of the many hundreds of 40-year-old pipelines that crisscross the Niger delta had corroded and spewed oil for several months.

Forest and farmland were now covered in a sheen of greasy oil. Drinking wells were polluted and people were distraught. No one knew how much oil had leaked. "We lost our nets, huts and fishing pots," said Chief Promise, village leader of Otuegwe and our guide. "This is where we fished and farmed. We have lost our forest. We told Shell of the spill within days, but they did nothing for six months."

That was the Niger delta a few years ago, where, according to Nigerian academics, writers and environment groups, oil companies have acted with such impunity and recklessness that much of the region has been devastated by leaks.

In fact, more oil is spilled from the delta's network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico, the site of a major ecological catastrophe caused by oil that has poured from a leak triggered by the explosion that wrecked BP's Deepwater Horizon rig last month.

That disaster, which claimed the lives of 11 rig workers, has made headlines round the world. By contrast, little information has emerged about the damage inflicted on the Niger delta. Yet the destruction there provides us with a far more accurate picture of the price we have to pay for drilling oil today.

On 1 May this year a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline in the state of Akwa Ibom spilled more than a million gallons into the delta over seven days before the leak was stopped. Local people demonstrated against the company but say they were attacked by security guards. Community leaders are now demanding $1bn in compensation for the illness and loss of livelihood they suffered. Few expect they will succeed. In the meantime, thick balls of tar are being washed up along the coast.

Within days of the Ibeno spill, thousands of barrels of oil were spilled when the nearby Shell Trans Niger pipeline was attacked by rebels. A few days after that, a large oil slick was found floating on Lake Adibawa in Bayelsa state and another in Ogoniland. "We are faced with incessant oil spills from rusty pipes, some of which are 40 years old," said Bonny Otavie, a Bayelsa MP.

This point was backed by Williams Mkpa, a community leader in Ibeno: "Oil companies do not value our life; they want us to all die. In the past two years, we have experienced 10 oil spills and fishermen can no longer sustain their families. It is not tolerable."

With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 years over the past two generations. Locals blame the oil that pollutes their land and can scarcely believe the contrast with the steps taken by BP and the US government to try to stop the Gulf oil leak and to protect the Louisiana shoreline from pollution.

...

NYT

BERN, Switzerland, Aug. 18—Almost all of the nearly $500 million frozen in Swiss bank accounts connected with the late Nigerian dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, was ''obviously of criminal origin'' and may be returned to the Nigerian government, the Swiss Justice Ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry found evidence of criminal origins for $473 million in the accounts but could only establish the probability of dubious origins for the remaining $7 million, which will be transferred to an escrow account in Nigeria, said a ministry spokesman, Folco Galli.

uS largerst buyer of oil, relations strained

The oil boom of the 1970s led Nigeria to neglect its strong agricultural and light manufacturing bases in favor of an unhealthy dependence on crude oil. In 2000, oil and gas exports accounted for more than 98% of export earnings and about 83% of federal government revenue. New oil wealth, the concurrent decline of other economic sectors, and a lurch toward a statist economic model fueled massive migration to the cities and led to increasingly widespread poverty, especially in rural areas. A collapse of basic infrastructure and social services since the early 1980s accompanied this trend. By 2000, Nigeria's per capita income had plunged to about one-quarter of its mid-1970s high, below the level at independence. Along with the endemic malaise of Nigeria's non-oil sectors, the economy continues to witness massive growth of "informal sector" economic activities, estimated by some to be as high as 75% of the total economy.

Nigeria's proven oil reserves are estimated to be 35 billion barrels (5.6×10^9 m3); natural gas reserves are well over 100 trillion ft³ (2,800 km³). Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and in mid-2001, its crude oil production was averaging around 2.2 million barrels (350,000 m³) per day. The types of crude oil exported by Nigeria are Bonny light oil, Forcados crude oil, Qua Ibo crude oil and Brass River crude oil. Poor corporate relations with indigenous communities, vandalism of oil infrastructure, severe ecological damage, and personal security problems throughout the Niger Delta oil-producing region continue to plague Nigeria's oil sector. Efforts are underway to reverse these troubles. In the absence of government programs, the major multinational oil companies have launched their own community development programs. A new entity, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has been created to help catalyze economic and social development in the region. Although it has yet to launch its programs, hopes are high that the NDDC can reverse the impoverishment of local communities. The U.S. remains Nigeria's largest customer for crude oil, accounting for 40% of the country's total oil exports; Nigeria provides about 10% of overall U.S. oil imports and ranks as the fifth-largest source for U.S. imported oil.

The United Kingdom is Nigeria's largest trading partner followed by the United States. Although the trade balance overwhelmingly favors Nigeria, thanks to oil exports, a large portion of U.S. exports to Nigeria is believed to enter the country outside of the Nigerian government's official statistics, due to importers seeking to avoid Nigeria's excessive tariffs. To counter smuggling and under-invoicing by importers, in May 2001, the Nigerian government instituted a full inspection program for all imports, and enforcement has been sustained. On the whole, Nigerian high tariffs and non-tariff barriers are gradually being reduced, but much progress remains to be made. The government also has been encouraging the expansion of foreign investment, although the country's investment climate remains daunting to all but the most determined. The stock of U.S. investment is nearly $7 billion, mostly in the energy sector. Exxon Mobil and Chevron are the two largest U.S. corporations in offshore oil and gas production. Significant exports of liquefied natural gas started in late 1999 and are slated to expand as Nigeria seeks to eliminate gas flaring by 2008.

Oil dependency, and the allure it generated of great wealth through government contracts, spawned other economic distortions. The country's high propensity to import means roughly 80% of government expenditures is recycled into foreign exchange. Cheap consumer imports, resulting from a chronically overvalued Naira, coupled with excessively high domestic production costs due in part to erratic electricity and fuel supply, pushed down utilization of industrial capacity to less than 30%. Many more Nigerian factories would have closed except for relatively low labor costs (10%–15%). Domestic manufacturers, especially pharmaceuticals and textiles, have lost their ability to compete in traditional regional markets. However, there are signs that some manufacturers have begun to improve competitiveness.

Nigeria's official foreign debt is about $28.5 billion, about 75% of which is owed to Paris Club countries. A large chunk of this debt is interest and payment arrears. In August 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Nigeria signed a one-year stand-by arrangement (SBA), leading to a debt rescheduling agreement in December between Nigeria and its Paris Club creditors. By August 2001, despite continued dialogue with the IMF, Nigeria had been unable to implement many of the SBA conditions. The IMF consented to extend its SBA by a few months and seek out revised targets and conditions for a new agreement. As of September 2001, only a few of Nigeria's creditor governments had signed bilateral rescheduling agreements. Another obstacle to debt restructuring involves World Bank classification. Any long-term debt relief will require strong and sustained economic reforms over a number of years.

The last paragraph is dated. "In April 2006, Nigeria became the first African country to fully pay off its debt (estimated $30 billion) owed to the Paris Club."Paris Club

...In 2008, Nigeria’s external debt was an estimated US$3.3 billion.

During Cheney's tenure, Halliburton built up operations in

Nigeria despite the country's pattern of human rights

violations. Halliburton's subsidiaries signed contracts with

Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, two companies that have been at

loggerheads with Nigerian indigenous groups in the Niger Delta.

:{In April 2000, Brown & Root Energy Services, a business unit of

Halliburton, was selected by Shell Petroleum}: Development Co. of

Nigeria to work on the development of an offshore oil and gas

facility, the first of its kind for Shell. The deal, valued at

$300 million, has been questioned by those who have worked to

hold Shell accountable for its pollution and notorious human

rights record in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.

:{Shell has been involved in oil exploration and export in

Nigeria for more than 40 years, much of it in the fertile lands

belonging to the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta. During this

period, Shell's activities led to repeated environmental

calamities, caused by oil spills, noxious gas flares, cleared

forests, despoiled farmland and pipeline blowouts.}:

Shell's operations and the money they generated for the

military government of Sani Abacha earned Shell free rein in

its operations. Gen. Abacha's government used force to crush

popular protests against the oil industry throughout the Niger

Delta.

:{Just five years ago, in November 1995, the year Cheney joined

Halliburton, renowned writer and environmental advocate Ken

Saro-Wiwa and eight of his colleagues were hanged by the Abacha

government for their efforts to prevent Shell from continuing

to poison the environment of the Niger Delta.}:

It is estimated that more than 2,000 people have been murdered

for their involvement in protests against Shell's activities in

the Delta. Most of those murdered were Ogoni who had rallied

behind Saro-Wiwa in the early 1990s.

:{In 1999, Gen. Abacha died under mysterious circumstances that

have yet to be fully clarified}:. An interim government gave way

to a:{ popularly elected administration headed by former Nigerian

Gen. Obasanjo}:. The transition to democracy in Nigeria has led

to renewed hope that tensions in the Niger Delta will ease.

Still, inequality and poverty are rampant.

:{In recent weeks, desperate Nigerians caused deadly explosions

when they tapped pipelines to siphon oil for sale in the open

market.}: These explosions, while they can't be blamed directly

on the oil companies, are caused by the crushing poverty faced

by many Nigerians, especially in the Niger Delta. Halliburton

and its business allies have turned a blind eye to this

inequality created in part by the exploitation of the area's

oil.

In July 1997, an incident occurred in the Niger Delta that

should have set off alarms in Halliburton executive suites. A

youth by the name of Gidikumo Sule was killed by the Mobile

Police, notorious for their brutal tactics. Sule was among

dozens protesting Chevron in a dispute involving a Chevron

contractor. That contractor was Halliburton.

The versions of the story vary, but what is known is that a

group of youths trying to send a message to Chevron stopped a

barge owned by Halliburton, blocking access to a Chevron

facility. The youths were apparently protesting the fact that

Chevron had failed to hire any local workers for a project.

Mobile Police units were sent in to break up the protests and

in the ensuing confrontation, the police fired at the youths

killing Sule. [See The Price of Oil, Human Rights Watch,

http://www.hrw.org/hrw/reports/1999/nigeria/Nigew991-08.htm .]

After the incident, Halliburton, which owned the barge at the

center of the controversy, increased its business dealings in

the area.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/082000a1.html

http://www.luckinlove.com/bushtruth.htm