Niger Delta Crisis: Cultural Solidarity vs. Corporate Interests

Royal Dutch Shell first tapped its commercial oil well in the Niger Delta in 1956. A half century down the road…. the horrors of Western corporate interests are still taking their toll. On August 13, 2007, senior oil workers threatened to vacate the Delta region if the violence persists. As a result, militants have flooded the streets of Port Harcourt, frisking “suspicious” individuals. All too predictably, President Bush has dispatched armed attack boats to aid President Obasanjo in his aggressive in his aggressive police-state tactics. It is such bi-lateral corporate endeavors that have led the rebels of the Niger Delta region to drastic and desperate measures.

Globally, they have been given the title as “the bad guys”- (a literal term used in an article at allafrica.com). But, as is often the case, their exhaustive attempts at reformation have been overlooked…. merely their actions, not their motives, are cause for media discussion. Nevertheless, the crisis in the Niger Delta is exemplary of how environmental and economic degradation has led to a violent response infused with cultural solidarity. Nigeria’s history is one of long running environmental, economic and cultural exploitation.

Resources are essential to the Nigerian economy; oil accounting for 90% of exports and 80% of government revenue. Nigeria, today, earns about $7.09 billion annually from crude oil. Success in the oil industry has earned Nigeria the title of the 11th nation to join OPEC in 1971. But according to UNDP, although Nigeria is one of the world