Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it
The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused headlines around the world, yet the people who live in the Niger delta have had to live with environmental catastrophes for decades
…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….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell
Thanks for the perspective. We have not forgotten Ken Saro Wiwa of the Ogoni Nation.
The blood of the innocents is in these companies’ hands.
We know too about the Chinese in places like Sudan: How the Dragon’s arms are used against Africans in Darfur. For Oil.
Omar Bongo’s (funding French elections!) betrayals have been highlighted in this forum very well.
History maintains a record. And each will pay here on earth. This is science as known by (concious) Africans from yore till now.
Perhaps now Americans in general might appreciate the arrogance and cunning of these parasitic oil drillers.But I will not hold my breath on this one.
We Africans need to organize as our land is rich in this stuff.
Our leaders need to drop their treacherous ways making warped deals with these maggots……Again I dont hold my breath.
Africa awaits its CREATORS.