recently i saw an exhibition on the impact of oil drilling in the niger delta. the mouth of africa’s third longest river comprises swamps and wetlands that sustain a diverse range of plant and animal life, as well as a human population of around 20 million … and a lot of international oil companies. since oil was first discovered here in 1956, the niger delta has become the site of the largest ongoing oil-related environmental disaster in the world: there has been the equivalent of one exxon valdez disaster every year for fifty years, and gas flares that have burnt continuously for forty years release as much greenhouse gas as 18 million cars.
the lives of the people of this region are literally overshadowed by the oil refineries and their impact; oil spills and gas flares have destroyed the environment, killing plants, fish and people – yet the oil companies pay no compensation and do not even employ local people. no benefit, financial or otherwise, comes to the local people from this massively destructive exploitation of their environment. the people have protested against this since the 1950s, yet the oil companies ignore them. the nigerian government has repeatedly ordered the companies to end gas flaring, continually extending deadlines as the companies fail to act. a landmark court decision in 2005 ruled that gas flaring was a “gross violation of human rights” and ordered shell to stop gas flares in the iwhrekan area … and yet still the flares continue. shell even blames the nigerian government, for not providing funds to help them stop the flares! & even refuses to accept that there is evidence of negative impact on human and animal health.
the violence of the oil companies in this area is cultivating violence amongst the people – who are disposed of their land, hungry, sick, unemployed, uneducated and ignored. militant groups such as MEND are growing and becoming more vocal and violent, as the oil companies continue to fail to take responsibility for the disaster they have caused, & continue to take the oil from the ground and burn the gas.
the photographs in the exhibition depict an apocalyptic scenario: poverty-stricken villages alongside massive oil refineries; the rural night illuminated as if it was a city by constant gas flares; corpses of people caught up in pipeline explosions; children scooping oily water from rivers; acres of dead mangroves; armed and masked militants with a kidnapped white man; and women in colourful clothes waving handwritten placards, begging for justice. the exhibition has finished in munich & now gone to öttening, but so far hasn’t been booked for other places – it really should be displayed in public areas such as train stations. you can buy the catalogue here, which has the photos & some good texts. one of the artists, ed kashi, has his photos here.
there is a very good movie, poison fires, which you can watch online, it’s only half an hour long (it is a bit out of date now (made in about 2007) but from the information in the exhibition & what i have found online, the situation is very much the same). another good source of information is friends of the earth nigeria.