Oil with your popcorn?, a film review
Slippery Independence
Since independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has been blessed and cursed by its abundance of high quality crude oil. Blessed because oil provides 99 percent of the country’s revenue; cursed because oil extraction has been marred by spills of blood. Oil has propped brutal military dictatorships and lined the pockets of corrupt politicians. If the revenue could be distributed equitably, the country could experience significant poverty reduction and economic growth. Sadly, similar experiences from around the world suggest that nothing of the sort will happen.
Oral argument is slated to begin in the historic case Wiwa v Royal Dutch Shell for environmental degradation and gross human rights violations in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The proceedings will occur in Federal Court at the Southern District of New York in June 2009.
Both Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron-Texaco have been accused of being the greatest offenders. Writer, activist, and businessman Ken-Saro Wiwa was executed in 1995 for his involvement in protecting the homeland of the Ogoni people against corporate abuse. Evidence strongly suggests that Shell at least tacitly approved of the repression of Saro-Wiwa’s protest movement, and possibly even his execution. His cause is being championed by his son, Ken Wiwa, and a host of human rights groups. For more background, visit my earlier post here.
Crude
Directed by Joe Berlinger
2009, 101 minutes.
For a compelling view of the issues at stake in the Saro-Wiwa trial, buy some popcorn and watch Crude, a documentary that will be screened at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Crude examines the role of one of the other controversial actors in the Niger Delta region, Chevron-Texaco, several thousands of miles away from Nigeria in the rainforests of Ecuador. There, too, victims have suffered from flared oil wells, spills, sludge, and extrajudicial killings against innocent locals. Mysterious illnesses are appearing at an alarming rate and the victims, often indigenous Indians, are scared.
