Nigeria

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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]

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.” [3]

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. [4]

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?".[5][6]
  • 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.[7]

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

{{#badges: Tobaccowiki}}

Tobacco industry documents about Nigeria

References

  1. ↑ Nigeria, National Geographic, accessed January 2008.
  2. ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 Country profile: Nigeria, BBC, accessed January 2008.
  3. ↑ Mike Pflanz, Nigerian militants declare 'oil war' against pipelines in Niger Delta, The Daily Telegraph, September 14, 2008
  4. ↑ AFP, http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gziRCGD2OH37wBdO8Pz8OCPeX12A "Nigerian court orders Shell to hand over oil terminal land" , October 15, 2008
  5. ↑ Registration Statement, U.S. Department of Justice, accessed January 2008.
  6. ↑ Home page, KRL International, accessed January 2008.
  7. ↑ Jim Lobe, "African Governments Spend Millions on Lobbying", Inter Press Service/CorpWatch, May 20, 2001.

Websites

Profiles

  • Nigeria, CIA The World Fact Book.
  • Country profile: Nigeria, BBC, January 10, 2006: "After lurching from one military coup to another, Nigeria now has an elected leadership. But it faces the growing challenge of preventing Africa's most populous country from breaking apart along ethnic and religious lines."
  • Timeline: Nigeria, BBC, February 24, 2006.

Articles & Commentary

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2002

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2006

2007

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