Let the Oil companies speak! (Adaora)

Photograph by Rhys Thom

As a citizen of Nigeria, I have always heard about oil spills and the various effects it has on the environment but it has never been on the news unless people died or there was an explosion. I decided to do some research on the topic and I found a lot of pictures on this oil spill. The effect are numerous; pollution of the environment, loss of farmlands and rivers for fishing, loss of aquatic animals and so on. When you think about all this, you realize that the voices of the oil companies are never heard concerning these issues. I thought to myself; is it that these companies do not care at all? Or is it that they are doing something and are not being recognized for it? I have searched through the internet for what these oil companies have done or are doing to help and I have found very little. I decided to focus on Shell as they discovered oil in Nigeria in 1956.
Shell accepted the blame for the oil spill in 2007 where 13,900 tons of oil was lost. They said they were able to recover 10,000 tons. They blamed the rest of the oil spills on militants and local farmers and fishermen. Yes, militants have destroyed some pipelines but it is nothing compared to what the oil companies themselves have spilt. I mean, you go to a place that has not drilled oil in four years and yet there is a film of oil over their rivers and streams. This is as a result of old and rusty pipelines that have been there for over 40 years now and also because the pipelines run overground even in front of people’s homes making it susceptible to accidental damage. Let me not get carried away. To be honest, militants have attacked some oil pipelines and kidnapped some petroleum workers and fought government troops. This doesn’t mean that they should be blamed for all the spills considering that oil spills have been happening since oil was discovered. Since Shell’s last oil spill in 2008 the amount of oil spilled has quadrupled according to their last environmental report. They blamed an explosion in Iriama in November for this drastic increase. A spokesman for NNPC says that Shell is involved in serious clean-up exercises. Shell's chief executive, Peter Voser, said: “Nigeria, especially the Niger Delta, remains a very challenging place in which to operate. Security issues and sabotage are constant threats to our people, assets and the environment. But we are cautiously optimistic that conditions there are improving.” These oil spills actually affect Shell negatively even though we might not see it. They had about 51 of their employees kidnapped for ransom in 2009 and now their Chief Executive, Peter Voser says that Shell can no longer depend on Nigeria for growing profits. Shell has tried to improve their image in Nigeria since their lawsuit in 1997 concerning the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa. They have tried to clean-up some oil spills but claim to be have been stopped by locals from getting near the pipelines.
Shell keeps blaming militants for their oil spills but that does not change the fact that the locals in the affected communities are suffering and in dire need of assistance in order to survive. I know we can not entirely blame oil companies for the spill, but they have to take responsibility for the oil pills. I know it is cheaper for them to let the spills pass by and settle out of court but they should think of all the lives and properties that are lost. These people in the Niger Delta may be ignorant but they do not deserve to suffer like this. Some of these companies claim that the communities prefer settlements to clean-ups but they should realize that Nigerians are corrupt and love money. They should consider the environment that is lost and clean-up these oil spills. The oil companies should also change their old pipes and bury their pipelines deeper underground so that people including the militants would not have easy access to it.
It is difficult to know whose story to believe, but I think we(oil companies and the people) should work together to reduce these oil spills and make the Niger Delta into the lush and productive region it is supposed to be.
Refer to http://www.blacklooks.org/2010/05/niger-delta-oil-spills-in-perspective/ for more information.