Number: 1996-11
WHEREAS, multinational oil companies, particularly the Shell Petroleum Development Company, have been pumping oil in Nigeria since 1958 (with Shell and Chevron alone having extracted $30 billion worth of oil) while the local people until recently received no royalties or other compensation; and
WHEREAS, the people of the Ogoni region of Nigeria live in a small area of the Niger River Delta atop an estimated 90 percent of Nigeria’s oil reserves; and
WHEREAS, persistent leaks (which have often been ignored for months and not repaired even when they are reported, as in the case of the Shell Korokoro flow station number 5, where an oil leak continued for 5 months after it was detected) and spills of oil have polluted the land, rivers and groundwater of the Niger River Delta, ruining both the fields and fisheries of the Ogoni region; and
WHEREAS, more than 1,100 million standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas, often contaminated with oil, is burned off or “flared” each day, causing acid rain, crop destruction, and a thick smoke that deposits soot on villages, and contributes to global warming; and
WHEREAS, as a consequence of the decades of pollution, the people of this region have suffered reduced crop harvests, reduced fish catches, contamination of their drinking water, and damage to their health — particularly respiratory diseases; and
WHEREAS, on November 10, 1995 after what Human Rights Watch Africa has called “a blatantly unfair trial” without appeals, in a specially-constituted military court, the renowned environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerian environmental protesters were executed by the ruling military junta, for opposing the exploitation of the people of the Ogoni region and the pollution of their land and traditional fishing grounds; and
WHEREAS, in addition, nineteen other Nigerian activists are being held under threat of a similar trial without procedural safeguards by the military government for similarly protesting the exploitation of the Ogoni area, and other leaders are in hiding;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 1-3, 1996 in West Palm Beach, Florida:
- calls upon President Clinton to request Shell Petroleum Development Corporation and all other companies extracting oil in the Niger River Delta to use their influence to urge the military leaders of Nigeria to free the 19 environmental activists they are holding, or at least to postpone the trial and modify the trial’s conditions, including ensuring basic procedural safeguards; and
- calls upon the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation and all other companies extracting oil in the Niger River Delta:
- to seek professional mediation assistance to enter into dialogue with the people of the Ogoni region on the subjects of restoration of farmland and fisheries, and appropriate compensation for past damages;
- to establish non-profit organizations to provide improved education and health care for the betterment of the local communities in the vicinity of their operations; and
- not to resume operations in the Niger River Delta until these matters are settled; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation hereby calls upon President Clinton to review U.S. policy toward Nigeria in light of the effectiveness of the above, and to consider international sanctions against Nigeria as necessary; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation believes that responsible corporate economic activities will encourage basic democratic values; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation declares its belief that the rights of free speech, assembly, petition and fair trial underlie the attainment of sustainable development, and should be ensured for all environmental advocates, and reaffirms its commitment to this fundamental principle of democracy.