By Zik Gbemre
We consider it necessary to categorically state here that the essence of our earlier write up on the subject issue was to draw the attention of relevant stakeholders in Shell and for them not to take this ‘Ogoni story’ (as reported here: http://www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/shell-belema-oil-deal-affront-ogoni-struggle-%E2%80%93-erafoen), for granted but give it the necessary attention. This is because the said story was exactly some of the circumstances that had led to the infamous Ogoni Crises which led to the death of the “Ogoni 9” and greatly affected the global image of Shell.
The said ‘Ogoni story’ are not speculations as others might want us to believe, but they are facts. Relevant stakeholders would agree that “there is no smoke without fire” and for situations like this one, there is always an ‘element of truth’. More so, Shell does not know it all, hence, concerned stakeholders like us will always raise a ‘red flag’ when we see things trying to repeat itself. That is why we are asking that Shell should not downplay this issue like they always do with many similar issues and try to justify their every action.
What we expected Shell to do as regarding the subject story was investigate, ask relevant questions and make amends where necessary. For instance, is there a company by the name Belewa Oil Ltd? If there is, what is their relationship with Shell and the Ogoni people? If there was an alleged signed pact between some leaders of the Ogoni community and the said company with Shell, does the community leaders concerned have ‘the complete mandate’ of its people to do so? Even the community leaders that were alleged that their signatories were collected concerning the deal; the question is do they have the complete mandate of the Ogoni people?
These and many more are the questions. This is important because, considering the fact that community leadership changes from time to time, the said oil company and Shell might be dealing with the ‘wrong set of community persons’. Again, it was this sort of ‘confusion’ that contributed greatly to the Ogoni crises that led to the death of human rights activist Ken Saro-wiwa and the eight others. More so, how can Shell be divesting a place where it has problems that have not been resolved with the host community? The fact that Shell did this in their Western Operations in the Niger Delta and ran to the East, also in the Niger Delta, that does not mean it will also work in Ogoni, where more environmental atrocities have been committed by the oil giant.
The cross of the matter is that Shell is not sincere in holistically addressing the Ogoni Issue, otherwise, the above Ogoni story will not have come up in the first place. Let us reiterate here that the above Ogoni story and how it is being handled by Shell, has the propensity to ‘resurrect’ the Ogoni crises.
Zik Gbemre, JP
National Coordinator
Niger Delta Peace Coalition(NDPC)
No.28, Opi Street Ugboroke Layout, Effurun-Warri,
P.O. Box 2254, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.
Tel: +2348026428271
+2348061524210
+2348052106013
Website: www.ndpc-zik.org
