1. Oil Spillages and Gas Flaring
Oil spillage is a major problem in the Niger Delta region. This is worsened by the lack of coordinated efforts by the oil companies and the federal government to clean up as soon as oil spillage takes place. According to Etim[1], a spillage from a pipeline owned by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the Karama Community of Okordia/Zarama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in June 2003 caused enormous economic and environmental damage and hardship to the area. The spillage was not properly cleaned and the indigenes were not evacuated by the oil company. Community leaders in the area alleged that SPDC awarded the contract for cleaning the spillage to a company that did not do an effective job, thereby resulting in fires and destruction of the ecosystem. Also frequent in the Niger Delta are numerous cases of uncontrollable gas flaring. Gases flaring takes place 24 hours and some have been burning for over 30 years, thereby resulting in the release of hydrogen sulphide (sour gas) which is particularly harmful to the people and the environment A Report by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) indicated that ‘‘everyday, eight million cubic feet of natural gas are burned off in flares that light the skies across the Delta, not only driving off 5 cms, hunting the fishing and poisoning the agriculture, but contributing to global warming”[2].
2. Oil Pipeline Explosions
This is another common occurrence in the region which according to Torulagha[3] is caused by the following:
a. during drilling activity at
b. following an accidental bursting of pipeline work is taking place
c. an old pipeline that has not been checked
d. vandalisation by angry youth and members of the host communities
e. Oil bunkering by those who steal crude oil by intentionally breaking the pipelines.
The effects of this type of explosion could include loss of innocent lives. In October 1998, there was a pipeline explosion in Jesse, Delta State where a reported 1000 people were killed[4].
The lack of proper legislation on environmental damages in Nigeria is a factor responsible for the reoccurrence of these conditions. The United States has laws that make it illegal to harm protected wildlife. These laws could be used to prosecute those who cause oil spillages. The Endangered Species Act (ESA), provides for both criminal and civil penalties for acts that harm species listed under the act. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) also provides for civil and criminal punishment when an action takes a marine mammal. There is also the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) which makes it a crime to kill migratory birds. This was used to prosecute Exxon following the Exxon Valdez spill[5]. In response to this spill, the United States Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 which included a clause that prohibits any vessel that, after March 22, 1989, has caused an oil spill of more than 1 million US gallons (3,800 m3) in any marine area, from operating in Prince William Sound.
In Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker[6], the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5-3 decision that the punitive damages awarded to the victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill be a total of $500 million. This is in addition to $287 million awarded for actual damages[7].
3. Human Rights Violations
One factor responsible for the Niger Delta Crisis is the persistent violations of basic human rights. Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria deals with the provision of Fundamental Human Rights for Nigerians. Section 33(1) states:
Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.
Section 37 states:
The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.
Further more, the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights which Nigeria as a member state is bound states in Article 1 states
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 25 (1) inter alia
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.....
The Niger Delta corresponds with anything but the above provisions. The past use if militarized activities to enforce correspondence form rebelling locals is in it self an abuse of human rights. In 1987, the Iko Community in Akwa Ibom State was brutalized by a team of Nigerian Mobile Police Force during a demonstration against Shell at the request of Shell. In 1992, some youths were killed in Bonny during a peaceful demonstration against the activities of the oil companies. In January 1993, Ogoni Protestants were harassed, arrested and killed after a demonstration rally. In January 1999 Ijaw women who were engaged in a peaceful demonstration and marginalization of their people in Port Harcourt were violently tear-gassed, beaten, stripped, and detained by a combined team of policemen and soldiers.[8]
4. Weak Corporate Responsibility in the Niger Delta
The Oil companies in Nigeria have to tailor their corporate responsibilities in such a way that it meets the peculiar socio-political conditions of the country. The Saro-Wiwa case brought into the international headlines a debate over the role played by the oil multinationals in Nigeria that had already been raging for several years. Shell in particular was blamed both locally and internationally as the government first brutally suppressed protests by MOSOP, and finally tried and executed the core of the organization's leadership.The dominant position of the oil companies in Nigeria gives them responsibilities to monitor and promote respect for human rights by the Nigerian government. Given the overwhelming role of oil in the Nigerian national economy, the policies and practices of the oil companies are important factors in the decision making of the Nigerian government. Because the oil companies are operating joint ventures with the government they have constant opportunities to influence government policy, including with respect to the provision of security for the oil facilities and other issues in the oil producing regions, there is a need for the distinction between the positions that to take a stance on human rights issues would be to interfere in the internal politics of the country, something that would not be a legitimate activity for a foreign commercial entity and the ability of partners in a JOA to communicate their reservations about the activities of other partners without necessarily appearing as interfering in the political activities of a sovereign state. Perhaps if there are clauses to this effect in the agreement, they need to be reviewed. In addition to the general responsibilities to monitor and promote respect for human rights by the Nigerian government, that the oil companies operating in Nigeria have specific responsibilities in respect of the human rights violations that take place in connection with their operations. These responsibilities must be seen against the context of oil production in Nigeria and the fact that the security provided to keep the oil flowing benefits both the Nigerian government and the oil companies, since disputes which threaten production affect the revenue of both. Companies have a duty to avoid both complicity in and advantage from human rights abuses.
[1] E. Egbekoria, Ogonis and Conflict, Alpha books 2004.
[2] Comet Nigerian Newspaper, March 21, 2001, P.12 in E. Egbekoria, Ogonis and Conflict, Alpha books 2004.
[3] P. Torulagha, The Niger Delta, Oil and Western Strategic Interests: The Need for Understanding, available via http://unitedijawstates.com accessed July 28, 2010.
[4] Ibid.
[5] The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez an oil tanker bound for California, struck Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (41,000 to 119,000 m3) of crude oil.
[7] J. Lanchester, Out Smarted, 2009. Available via: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/06/01/090601crbo_books_lanchester. accessed 15th Sept 2010
Globalization & Its Impact in the Niger Delta, 2001. C.O.O.L Conference, Boston, U.S.A,
this is really enlightening, well done! looking forward to more of this from you miss.
ReplyDeletethanks Jay! xox
ReplyDelete