A WILPF-sponsored presentation

Monday, March 1, at Lincoln Library at 7 p.m. in Carnegie Room North

Oil exploitation brings violence and destruction to Nigeria’s Ogoni people

Representatives from the Movement of Survivors of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) will speak about the part Shell Oil Company and the Nigerian government have played in destroying their land, their livelihood and their people. The speakers are: Clement Abesa, Anselm John-Miller, Ben Ikari, and Charles Wiwa, nephew of Ken Saro Wiwa, world-renowned writer and human rights defender who was executed by the Nigerian Military government on Nov. 10, 1995. The presentation is co-sponsored by the Sangamon Valley Group of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club.

 Oil is Nigeria’s most valuable export. It brings great wealth to the Nigerian government, the Nigerian military, and  Shell Oil Company – but not to the people who live where the oil is found. The Ogoni people, whose homeland is in the oil-rich Niger Delta, are one of over 600 small tribal groups in Nigeria, which must coexist with much larger tribal entities. So far all the Ogoni have received from the oil that was discovered on their land in 1957 is state-sponsored violence and environmental & lt; FONT face="Comic Sans MS">degradation.     

            The pollution caused by the drilling and burning of oil is so bad that if repairs were to begin today, it would take hundreds of years to get the land to the point that it can produce crops again. Toxic chemicals used illegally to extract oil have polluted the waterways, the ocean and the air. Those who ask for an end to the environmental destruction and for restitution for damages or a fair return from the oil revenues are killed or beaten by military death squads. Thousands of people have been killed, homes destroyed and leaders executed.

                Ogoni human rights groups filed charges against Shell (Ogoni v. Shell) and were able to have the trial moved to the United States. Hearings will take place over t he next several months. This was a major victory. Previously Shell and the Nigerian government have been able to cover up the horrendous events that have been taking place in Ogoni-land.

Good news from WILPF in Illinois

            As of 2004, there are more paid up memberships in Mary Wood WILPF than we have seen in at least a decade. In addition, a new WILPF branch has been founded at Rockford College, Jane Addams’ alma mater. The Rockford College branch came into being in 2003. It is headed by a professor in Women’s Studies there, and most of its members are students –- a great influx of youthful energy here! Rockford WILPF will be hosting the WILPF regional conference later this year.

 Contact: gloriajohnson40@hotmail.com