Movement For The Survival Of The Ogoni People Research Articles

The murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Ken Wiwa heard of his father's execution in November 1995 while he was in New Zealand, as part of his campaign against the Nigerian government's planned judicial murder of his father and eight other Ogoni leaders. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was due to be held in Auckland the following week. At the time of his death Saro-Wiwa was the leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which sought to challenge the situation whereby a community which had contributed to the exchequer an estimated $30 billion in oil revenue found itself without basic amenities, living in a wretched environment, and being daily assaulted by oil exploration. He had accused Shell Oil company, which had a very close relationship with the Nigerian government, of 'waging an ecological war against the Ogoni'. After the executions, Nigeria was roundly condemned by international leaders, as was Shell itself.

Ogoni: Ethnography, Ethnogenesis, and the Issues of Communicating in a Neo-MOSOP Milieu, Nigeria

The issues around Ogoni are many. The recommendations in the UNEP Ogoni Report, which assessed Ogoni environment as depleted and depleting, have been lying idle on the pages of the report since 2011. Moves by both national and state government actors, as well as by corporate interests, to resume oil production in Ogoni have been heightening. In the midst of these, other voices, some of them new, have been challenging the privilege of the Late Ken Saro-Wiwa's Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) as the leading voice of the Ogoni. This paper submits that these issues are the very kind of issues which Communication handles well. Tracing significant aspects of Ogoni ethnography and ethnogenesis, the paper shows how the tool of Communication can use Ogoni idioms, Ogoni semiology, and Ogoni folklore to not only do an effective job with those recommendations of the UNEP Report which have to do with health, environmental, and other kinds of awareness campaigns to the communities, but also to do an effective job with connecting the many voices in Ogoni with each other. The paper concludes that how Ogonis and all stakeholders handle the tool of Communication will determine to a great length what will become of the contentions between the representative organisations in Ogoni, what will become of the implementation of the UNEP Report, and what will become of the moves by government and corporate actors to resume oil production in Ogoni.

Deep Issues behind the Crisis in the Niger Delta Region: The Case of Oil Exploration in Ogoniland, Rivers State, Nigeria

This study was designed to mirror the deep issues behind the crisis in the Niger Delta region, using the oil exploration of Ogoniland as the case study and proffering possible solutions on how best to combat the identified problems. To achieve this aim, focus group discussions, unstructured interviews and oral testimonies were employed for the collection of data; and data analysis were carried out using simple coding for recognition, transcription from the local dialect to English Language, rewriting and interpretations. The results revealed that the people’s expectation from the Government and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has not been met; illegal refineries and other criminal vices are now fully in operation in Ogoniland. The people blamed the Shell Petroleum Development Company, the Federal Government, some of their corrupt chiefs, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and some of the community youths for the problems in the communities. However, the Ogoni people believed that the full implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programmes (UNEP) report on Ogoniland and the Ogoni Bill of Rights will ameliorate all their sufferings. It was recommended that SPDC should avoid reaching agreements with the traditional rulers and politicians from Ogoni on projects bordering on development of the land that excludes the people. It was also recommended that SPDC should carry out town hall meetings, focus group discussions or even distribute questionnaires in the local communities in Ogoni communities to ascertain the best solutions from the local people (who are the majority) rather than taking only the decisions from Ogoni leaders, which may not be the consensus opinion of the people.

A lega(l)cy unfulfilled: Reflections of the Wiwa-led MOSOP and the localisation of human rights

Ken Saro-Wiwa led the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), an ethnic-based organisation formed primarily to advance the interests of the Ogoni people, especially vis-à-vis Nigeria’s oil-industry. Ken’s leadership of MOSOP resonated globally for the peaceful approach to claims by the group and the ‘localisation’ of international human rights. Following (and as a consequence of) his death by hanging in November 1995, the region plunged into violence. Responding to the upsurge in the resultant militancy that caused massive decline in oil exploration and production activities and revenues, the Federal Government initiated the amnesty programme. Although peace has largely returned to the oil-communities, the amnesty has a clear winner (militants) with the general population not reaping any palpable benefits. The paper highlights how the Wiwa-led MOSOP adopted and utilized the ‘localisation’ strategy for the benefit of the populace. It also discusses three important post-November 1995 occurrences relevant to the oil-industry that a rights-based approach would have seized as opportunities to resolve impending disputes in the region for the benefit of the general population.

The Enemy Within: Oil in the Niger Delta

The Enemy Within: Oil in the Niger Delta

The Niger Delta conflict: trends and prospects

The Niger Delta conflict started less than a decade after Nigeria began producing and exporting oil in commercial quantities. The conflict began with non-confrontational and nonviolent agitation by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) against the degradation of the Niger Delta area. Later the conflict developed into a conflagration of numerous unmanageable conflicts. The violent nature of the conflict at present has resulted into daily kidnappings of expatriate oil workers, burning of oil pipes, and disruption of oil production in the country. The situation has put the nation on tenterhooks with security of lives and properties being compromised as a result of the activities of the militants. Government leaderships in the country, at different times, have tried to bring an end to the conflict but this has not yielded the expected result as the situation in that area is like sitting on a keg of gunpowder in spite of the recent arms surrender exercise by the militants. It is against this background that the author sheds light on the trends and prospects of the Niger Delta conflict.

CSR and Ruggie: a view from Nigeria

FOCUS □ BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS CSR and Ruggie: a view from Nigeria I good framework inpractice on The respect obstacles paper are 'protect, remedy' many there looks and but respect and remedy' framework looks good on paper but inpracticethere are many obstacles YEMISI ILESANMI isAssistant Secretary National Youth Officer with the NLC in Nigeria and iscurrently based in London with the NUT John and Secretary-General transnational Ruggie, Special corporations on Representative theissueof and human other ofthe rights busiUN John Secretary-General ontheissueofhuman rights andtransnational corporations andother business enterprises said in a press interview that "there isn't an internationally recognised right that somecompany somewhere hasn'tviolated". This statementaptly exemplifiesthe situationin Nigeria. Nigerialacksthestructural mechanisms fortransparency and accountability, bigbusinesses haveidentified this loopholeandhaveoverthe yearsused thisto theiradvantageto maximise profits attheexpenseoftheir hostcommunities. The Ruggieprocessrestson threepillars: first, the statedutyto protectagainsthumanrights abuses by thirdparties,includingbusinesses, through appropriate policies, regulation, andadjudication ;second,the corporate responsibility to respecthumanrights, whichmeansto act with due diligence to avoidinfringing on therights of others;and third, greater access forvictims to effective remedy, bothjudicialand non-judicial. Thisprocessexpectsthat a State's duty toprotect meantthatitmusttakestepsto prevent, investigate ,redress and punishabuse by third parties, including businesses. Howeverhow does thisprocessbenefit countriesthatdo nothave thestructures in place to implement theselaudable recommendations. In theory, the'protect, respectand remedy' frameworklooksgood on paperbutin practice there aremany obstacles that couldobstruct itseffective implementation, especiallyin developingcountries . Nigeria is a country withmorethan140million people; it is an oil producing nationwith enormousnaturalresourcesand development potentials. Itis however a richcountry withpoor people. Due to mismanagement ofitsresources, corruption ofitsleadersand an exploitative business environment, themajority ofitspeople still livebelowpoverty line. Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) is hardly consideredan important issue in the Nigeria Businessclimate. A country riddled withcorruption ,Nigeriahas attracted businesscorporations benton exploiting thecorrupt nature ofthesocietyto maximisetheirbusinessprofits. Corrupt politicians and civilservants arereadyto remove theredtapeandboycott bureaucratic processes in exchangeforgratification. Companiesespecially multinationals have learntto speak thiscorrupt languageanduse ittotheir optimal advantage. Unfortunately, tradeunionsinNigeria havenot incorporated CSRintheir programmes; unionsso far haveunderestimated their rolesinencouraging CSR.Although CSRis notlegally binding, unions can influence itspractice, monitor businesses and rateCSRperformance. Theycanendorseandcelebrate businesses that areabletomeeta high level ofCSR. Sincetradeunionsadvocatefortheimplementation ofcorelabourstandards, itisvery important that thosestandards arenotonlyimplemented in developedcountries butalso in developing and least developed countries. All workersof the worldshouldbe protected by thesestandards. Tradeunions through organising canhelpmonitor implementation ofthesestandards. Tradeunions can organiseto promote ethicalwaysof doing business. Tradeunions inNigeria needtomainstream CSR intocollective bargaining andallnegotiations. The unionsneed to buildcapacity through solidarity work, collaboration andpartnerships. Alsothere is a need to organisecampaigns, sensitisation and solidarity rallies etctopromote MDGs,corelabour standards, andtobuildnetworks with civilsociety organisations topromote CSR. The oil industry Bytheearly 1970s, oilemerged as theleading variable in thenational economicscene.Sincethen, itsdominance and overwhelming importance has leftNigeriaoperatingan almostmono-culture economywithoil accounting formorethan85 percent ofitsnational incomewhileother natural resources havebeenignored. Untold devastations havebeenunleashed on thelocaleswheretheoil resources areextracted especially theNiger-Delta region ofthecountry. Their mainsources oflivelihood (i.e. rivers and farmlands) arepolluted and destroyed. Thesedamagesoften lead to conflicts betweentheoil firms and thehostcommunities. Nigeriaas an oil producing country has experienceditsshareofoil disasters, theenvironmental degradation of theNigerDelta Rivers and farmlandsisa living testimony tothenegative effect of environmental pillage.Oil companieslikeShell, Chevron,and ExxonMobil thatoperatein the Niger Deltado nottakeenoughresponsibility for the environmental protection of the area. The ongoingoil spillagebyBP in thegulfofMexico hasearnedinternational attention andcondemnation , however, worsedisasters havehappened and still happening on a dailybasisintheNiger Delta but the world and especiallythe companies involve chosetoignore theenormity ofthis. TheBP oilspillage hasgainedattention because a big superpowerliketheUSAis involved, but whathappensin smalldeveloping countries that do nothavethebigmight ofsuperwordpowers liketheUSAtofight their battles? Many indigenous communities areexploited dailyand deniedtheir livelihoods. In November1995,Ken Saro-Wiwa, a wellknownNigerian author andspokesperson forthe Movement fortheSurvival of theOgoniPeople (MOSOP), was hangedin PortHarcourt, in the INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 4Volume 17Issue 2201 0 FOCUS □ BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS heartof the oil-producing regionof southeast Nigeria, together witheightotherOgoniactivists allinvolved inprotests against theoilindustry. The Saro-Wiwa case broughtinto the international headlines a debateovertheroleplayedbytheoil multinationals in Nigeriathathad alreadybeen raging forseveralyears.Shellin particular was blamed bothlocally andinternationally as thegovernment firstbrutally suppressedprotestsby MOSOP, andfinally tried andexecuted thecoreof theorganisation's leadership. Thecase oftheNiger Deltais pathetic inthat it laysthegoldeneggfor thecountry attheexpense of itswatersand farmlands, itspeoples are still poorand itslanddegraded. The NigerDeltais a volatile zoneinNigeria, pronetoviolence that has in recentpast s includedabductionsof foreign expatriates. The government of Nigeriarecently granted amnesty to thefighters in NigerDeltain exchange for thesubmission oftheir weaponsand a negotiated welfare package.However, there has beenuproar againintheregionthatthegovernment is notkeeping itssideofthebargain. There arefears thatthepeace intheNigerDeltamight be temporary. How...

When Do Leaders Matter? Hypotheses on Leadership Dynamics in Social Movements

Leaders are central to social movements, yet scholars have devoted relatively little attention to understanding the concept of leadership or its effects on movements. In this article, we explore leadership's influence on movement dynamics by examining Nigeria's Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), the Catholic Left-inspired Plowshares movement, the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, and the liberation movement in El Salvador. Building on Bourdieu, Putnam, and the existing literature on social movement leadership, we argue that these movements' leaders possessed "leadership capital" having cultural, social, and symbolic components. We then turn our attention to the conditions under which leadership capital affects three key processes in movement development: mobilization of aggrieved parties, activation of third-party supporters, and responses to repression. We conclude by calling for more comprehensive, systematic, and comparative investigation of factors influencing leadership in domestic and transnational movements.

?The Star of the Morning?: Ogoni Praise Songs of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Praise songs, called Leela in Ogoni, may be about human and nonhuman subjects. They may have human subjects, such as heroes, generous persons, or good professionals, or they may be self-praises, while nonhuman praises are about a variety of subjects such as deities and the musical gong. Saro-Wiwa has been the subject of many praise songs, being praised as a folk hero in the songs of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP), including the song below entitled Ken Saro-Wiwa the Star of Ogoni:

Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta

Review: Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta By Ike Okanta and Oronton Douglas Reviewed by Carl M. Hand Valdosta State University, USA Ike Okanta & Oronton Douglas. Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. 2001. 268 pp. ISBN 1-57805-046-4 (cloth). US$24.00 Okanta and Douglas provide a vivid and relentless account of human tragedy since oil was discovered in the Niger Delta in 1956. Foreign manipulation and exploitation of the Delta has always been a central fact of life. However, the ferocity of the assault on both the people and the ecology of the Delta in the wake of nearly unrestrained oil development is unprecedented. While Shell is not the only oil company in the Delta, it has played a unique role in the country's oil development, having nearly exclusive concession over the Delta and accounting for half of the government's revenue. Oil is not the Delta's only natural resource. The Niger Delta is an area of tremendous biodiversity and vitally significant ecosystems. The impact of oil production, logging and hunting, unsustainable farming practices, and rapid population growth is resulting, however, in the slow death of this ecological heritage. Despite the wealth of natural resources, little of the revenue generated in the Delta returns in the form of social and economic development. After the oil boom in the seventies, the region has witnessed growing impoverishment and declining GNP per capita, made worse by International Monetary Fund led structural adjustment policies imposed in the mid-eighties. As the authors note, Nigerian political and economic realities reflect its dependent, peripheral capitalist structure (p. 28) inherited from the British but exacerbated by a nearly exclusive dependence on oil exports. By 1990, growing poverty and ecological destruction within the Delta created the ferment for social reform. While the movement had many different levels, the lighting rod organization came to be the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), founded by Ken Saro-Wiwa. The military junta of General Babangida attempted to thwart this movement through the appearance of social reform and the promise to divert more oil profits to the Niger Delta. These efforts were largely palliative. In 1993, 300,000 Ogoni took to the streets to protest Shell's ecological warfare and the government's continued denial of the Ogoni right to self-determination (p. 119). In the months following, the military junta unleashed a systematic

Marketing Rebellion: Insurgent Groups, International Media, and NGO Support

Many scholars view an emergent “global civil society” as an accessible, democratic alternative to the state system–a new political space where social movements frustrated at home can gain support from “principled” transnational advocacy networks. But, only a few movements from the developing world attract transnational backing. This article first proposes a framework clarifying the process, and then identifies structural and strategic factors explaining the variation. The article compares two movements that secured significant international support, Nigeria's Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and Mexico's Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, EZLN), against similar groups from the same countries that failed to do so. On this basis, the article argues that “global civil society” requires reconceptualization–as a competitive arena where weak domestic challengers vie for scarce transnational resources, where those groups that gain support have structural or strategic advantages over others, and where transnational supporters act on interest as well as principle.

Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni. A study in unsustainable development: II. Corporate social responsibility and ‘stakeholder management’ versus a rights‐based approach to sustainable development

AbstractIn the first paper in this trilogy (Boele et al., 2001) we described the history of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group from its inception in 1890 through to the year 2000, discussed briefly the importance of corporate reputation to the group and described the significant impacts on Shell of the events of 1995 in Nigeria. We traced the relationship of the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation in Nigeria to impacts on the natural and social environments of the Niger Delta and more specifically on the Ogoni. Finally we discussed the emergence of political resistance and significant conflict between Shell and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and concluded that, despite significant apparent changes in attitude at the group level, distrust and antipathy towards Shell remained entrenched in Ogoni. In this second paper, we explore in more detail issues raised by economic globalization for the practice of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder management, and contrast these concepts with an alternative ‘rights‐based’ approach to sustainable development. We relate our observations to Shell's current approach and conclude that the Shell group and specifically the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation in Nigeria may require an alternative approach to sustainable development if they wish to merit the full confidence of communities in areas of the world as complex and distressed as Ogoni. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni. A study in unsustainable development: I. The story of Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni people – environment, economy, relationships: conflict and prospects for resolution1

AbstractThe Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and its joint‐venture partners – particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation – have earned billions of dollars from the oil extracted from the land of the Ogoni in the Niger Delta. The Ogoni however complain that they have not seen adequate benefits; rather the oil has cost them dearly in terms of a deteriorating environment and underdevelopment and mobilized a successful national and international campaign against the Nigerian government and Shell. Despite the avowed non‐violent nature of the campaign, military repression resulted in thousands of Ogoni killed, raped, beaten, detained and exiled and the main leaders executed. Under pressure from the Ogoni, Shell was forced to pull out from Ogoniland in 1993. Since then, Shell International has re‐invented its corporate strategy in line with principles of sustainable development and it has committed itself to a level of stakeholder engagement on its environmental and social performance which would have been unthinkable in 1995. So for Shell, a return to Ogoni would be a powerful symbol that their corporate commitment to being a socially responsible company is being translated into action on the ground. However, there is still little trust between the company and the Ogoni people and their representative organization, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). Many of the issues raised by the Ogoni (such as the need for locally sustainable development, distribution of oil wealth, community projects and environmental issues) have yet to be addressed. This paper is the first of a trilogy examining the issues, relationships, management and strategic implications of the case. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Corporate and state responses to anti‐oil protests in the Niger Delta

Conflicts between oil companies and village communities in the Niger Delta have lasted for several decades, but during the 1990s they escalated further and received international media coverage. Much of it focused on the anti-Shell protests by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) which led to Shell's withdrawal from the Ogoni area in 1993. Notwithstanding the political changes following General Abacha's death in June 1998, the conflicts are continuing. While the intensity of the Ogoni protests decreased from 1995 onwards, other ethnic and political groups across the Niger Delta began to disrupt oil activities. This article critically examines the response of the Nigerian state and the oil companies to the anti-oil protests in the Delta. The investigation focuses on three generic strategies: concessions by the state and oil companies to protesters, such as the creation of development projects; the use of public relations in dealing with the Niger Delta crisis; and the use of violence by the state and the oil companies against anti-oil protesters. The analysis suggests that the state and corporate response to the Niger Delta crisis has so far been inadequate in the sense that it fails to satisfy the demands of the local people. Judging from past experience, unless there are structural changes within Nigeria's institutional framework, which would allow for a more effective use of the country's oil wealth for the benefit of the oil-producing areas, conflicts in the Niger Delta are likely to continue.