The oil that kills

The oil that kills
A question then, that between Shell / Nigerian government and local populations, far from resolved, a story that recapitulates all the evils of our century, a story often goes unmentioned and little known, but it deserves our full attention .
"I feel appalled by the shameful poverty of my people who live on a very generous land resources; I feel anger at the devastation of this land; I feel in a hurry to get my people to regain their right to life and to a decent life. Neither imprisonment nor death can stop our ultimate victory ... ". These words Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian activist and intellectual, described the harrowing situation of his people.
For nearly half a century, in fact, the people of the Niger Delta live under the deadly embrace of the multinational oil companies which, in addition to promoting environmental degradation have caused thousands of deaths, triggering a fratricidal conflict between the government and local tribes, which lasts since 1992. A stain of the most heinous crimes in these long years has been the Shell. The Dutch company since 1957, has installed its extraction facilities in the territory of the Ogoni ethnic minority in Nigeria's history, forcing the inhabitants to abandon their lands and give up their only livelihood, agriculture.

The process of appropriation of the lands of the Niger Delta, has never been impeded by the Nigerian government, rather than through a number of measures, including constitutional law, has in practice allowed unrestricted exploitation of its territory to foreign corporations, including the which even the Italian ENI and AGIP. The government in Abuja, born at the table, without any kind of cultural or historical legitimacy, it has done nothing but encourage the exploitation of its rich territory, hindering in any way and by any means local movements demanding an end to the indiscriminate drilling. Who over the years has tried to go against the decisions of the government and against the powerful multinationals, has paid a high price. It 'just what happened to the members of MOSOP, the Committee for the Survival of the Ogoni People, which was just one of the greatest activists Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed by the government at the behest of Shell, in 1994.
With a population of more than thirty million people and a population density among the highest in the world (265 inhabitants per square kilometer), the Niger Delta and its capital city, Port Harcourt, are among the most unhealthy places in the world, with an unemployment rate that has reached intolerable levels and forced urbanization that has destroyed a unique ecosystem in the world. Even in Nigeria, "God money" has taken possession of the minds of the people, bringing the country on the path of destruction. If Nigeria continues to be highly unstable, where summary executions are commonplace and where to apply the most complete chaos and anarchy, it just has to oil and corporations that continue to exploit the subsoil. Over the last five years, the process of pollution and destruction of local communities seemed to have stalled, recent reports published by various non-governmental organizations operating in the area, it appears quite the opposite, Shell continues to spilled toxic material and manipulating the investigation of the leakage of oil.

A question then, that between Shell / Nigerian government and local populations, far from resolved, a story that recapitulates all the evils of our century, a story often goes unmentioned and little known, but it deserves our full attention . A story for which it is worth "indignant" because example of how in the world are not finished harassment of the innocent and the weak, the powerful decide how the life and death of people whose only crime is to be in wrong place at the wrong time.

Source: locchiodihorus.altervista.org