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John Major reacts to news of the killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 9. 25 years ago today.
Why was Saro-Wiwa killed? He'd protested oil companies pollution of his Ogoni region of the Niger Delta. A mostly non-violent campaign forced Shell and others out. Abacha sent in a viscious military task force who killed him and about 3000 other Ogoni.
After his death, the UN sent a special rapporteur to investigate. In 2011 - 16 yrs later - UNEP published a report calling for a US $1 billion restoration fund.
Our reporting at Africa Confidential on how the work is faltering and money is missing. https://www.africa-confidential.com/article/id/12691/False_starts_for_the_clean-up
Our reporting at Africa Confidential on how the work is faltering and money is missing. https://www.africa-confidential.com/article/id/12691/False_starts_for_the_clean-up
On the money: $540 million has been given by a joint venture including Shell to two over-lapping boards, to then give to the Nigerian clean-up agency HYPREP, which says they received $38.5m. Where is the other $501.5 million?
(These figures confirmed with the donors/reciepient)
(These figures confirmed with the donors/reciepient)
This US $501.5 million in the wind - in the biggest environmental clean-up operation on Earth - was misreported by Amnesty/Friends of the Earth as $31 million. This is an amount HYPREP "audited" (unclear to what standard). Activists underestimated the problem by an order of 16.
On the 21 contractors, HYPREP's own spreadsheets say that before the Covid-19 lockdown 9 either were awaiting payment or needed access to the land. Many don't seem to exist as incorporated entities in Nigeria. Here's my annotated spreadsheet. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bTPVn6XRVQa8EMuSqtw2fwmeGz2jlp7i/view?usp=sharing
Although I and colleagues in the Delta have been contacted by news organisations like the Guardian for further reporting, half a billion US dollars unaccounted for in the biggest oil clean-up on Earth is not being seriously reported outside Nigeria except by Africa Confidential.
There are reasonable questions about the basic competency of the contractors to do the work, which remain unanswered by HYPREP and the joint venture paying for it. Non-African NGOs are also not doing a great job getting basic facts straight.
Ken Saro-Wiwa has been turned into a marble myth but he died because his land was polluted with oil.
On the basis of the available evidence, the UN, Shell, the Nigerian government and other agencies are failing in their basic duty of care to the Ogoni people to clean up the oil.
On the basis of the available evidence, the UN, Shell, the Nigerian government and other agencies are failing in their basic duty of care to the Ogoni people to clean up the oil.
We will continue to report this important story.
I would, on this day, ask other journalists to pay it some more attention.
It's not an event from 25 years ago. The pollution is killing people right now.
I would, on this day, ask other journalists to pay it some more attention.
It's not an event from 25 years ago. The pollution is killing people right now.
