Nigeria and the multinational oil

Nigeria is a relatively complex case. A huge wealth approaches to poverty unbearable. The cause? The practices of the oil industry in Nigeria, with repercussions up at service stations United States and Europe.




The exceptional quality makes the Nigerian oil a coveted commodity. The West is aware of more than half a century. In particular since the Dutch company Shell in 1956 discovered the black gold in the Niger Delta and the Western brand imprinted on the oil industry in Nigeria. The scenario of this drama is very simple: it is the profits from the exploitation of the crude oil that is involano to large Western corporations. The Nigerian people do not even see the color.

The presence of Western oil giants is accompanied by the same repressive violence of the era of the Royal Niger Company (British society in the 19th century who was commissioned by the government to defend British interests in the region, with a firm hand if necessary). This explains why the Niger Delta is now one of the most polluted areas, the most violent and poorest parts of the world.

It is no coincidence that in 2008 at the time of the creation of AFRICOM, the command of U.S. forces in Africa, the U.S. military conducted an exercise called "Unified Quest 2008" at the College of Carlyle, Pennsylvania to consider how AFRICOM would react in the event of civil war in Nigeria. The starting point is the control from the rebels of the oil fields in the delta and the failed coup sponsored by the United States. Twenty thousand American soldiers are then put in charge of "security" oil fields.

The pitch of Shell, Total, Exxon Mobil and Co.

Western oil giants, Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands), Total (France), Agip (Italy), Exxon Mobil (USA), Chevron (U.S.), control 95% of the oil industry in Nigeria through joint ventures .

The waste of oil and gas, soil pollution and the exploitation of local people accompany this dominant position.

20% of the oil is destined for European countries, 5% to Canada and Australia, while the United States is destined for the largest share of the pie with 43%. While almost all of the daily oil production is exported abroad, Nigeria has to import about 187,000 barrels per day at exorbitant prices. An absurd situation due to the mismanagement of the four oil refineries in the country and the absence of a domestic industry for petroleum products. The Nigerian government contributes to this situation in exchange for bribes, kickbacks. Since 1960, $ 360 billion would go into the pockets of corrupt politicians in Nigeria.

Democracy at work

Nigeria is a major oil supplier in the United States and its 17th largest trading partner with an annual turnover of $ 22 billion in 2009. Gives Washington the Nigerian political scene his presence, even though the Nigerian politics has its own logic. It is no coincidence that in 2010, before the presidential election in Nigeria, U.S. President Barack Obama has stated in the Goodluck Jonathan favored the "democratic to work." With the funds allocated to development aid from the United States and the United Kingdom and with the support of British and American advisors, Jonathan won the election, without having any concrete program. In the opinion of Johnnie Carson, the U.S. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for Africa, this election, according to a statement in April 2012, are the most democratic since 1999, when they were just the most violent and rigged elections since 1999.

For Washington, the Catholic Jonathan, in the south, had at all costs to win the elections because the Muslim candidate Muhammadu Buhari, to the north, would have only aggravated the instability. But after the appointment of Jonathan, the north was torn apart by civil war.

The real Boko Haram

The role of Islam in the Nigerian politics is rather complex. And once again the influence of the West has been destructive and contributed to the isolation of the north. The United States and the United Kingdom maintain - with large sums of money and propaganda - the traditional Muslim elite against Islamic fundamentalism. But this, instead of ensuring greater stability, on the contrary increases the instability. It 's so that it appeared the phenomenon of "Boko Haram". This is the name given to the movements of Nigerians who spread terror in the north of the country are fundamentalists or criminal gangs in the service of the country's politicians.

Were the U.S. to create the myth of Boko Haram, and they found an excuse to meddle in the Nigerian scene, in the name of fighting terrorism, and thereby increase their presence. In a recent special report on the phenomenon of Boko Haram, a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has concluded that it is necessary to "strengthen co-operation with the secret services and the Nigerian military to better fight the menace of Boko Haram to Nigerian and American interests" ; but the report does not mention the protests in January against corruption, the IMF, the World Bank and poverty. Among the slogans, one complained that Boko Haram is hidden behind the corruption of the oil industry.

Oil interests of the United States versus "Occupy Nigeria"

In January 2012, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum, Diezani K. Alison-Madueke, and the Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have eliminated fuel subsidies at the behest of the IMF. Previously, the two ministers were employed in the Shell (Madueke) and the World Bank (Iweala).

The abolition of subsidies has led to a sharp rise in gasoline prices and a significant popular discontent. Thus was born the first Occupy movement in Africa. When the protests began to look like a revolutionary, fuel prices have dropped again. While years before Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were deployed to the Arab Spring, have hailed the democratic struggle of the Nigerian people.

Da Partito del Lavoro del Belgio - www.ptb.be/hebdomadaire/article/la-main-de-loccident-en-afrique-2-le-nigeria-et-les-multinationales-petrolieres.html
Pierre Tisserand