Let's Keep Pointing Fingers

Ed Kashi is a very talented and successful photographer, and a global citizen who cares about social and environmental issues. On NPR this morning to talk about his book, the Curse of the Black Gold, it was disappointing to hear him say the following:

"And while it's very easy to point our fingers at the oil companies and we absolutely need to, it's the Nigerian government, that I feel - having spent three years working there - that really bears the greatest responsibility, because after all our governments are."

The problem is that the government that exists in Nigeria, is there in large part because of the actions of the big oil companies that have helped foster a culture of violence and exploitation in Nigeria. The biggest villains in the oil sector are Shell Oil (see the chapter "A Game for Spin Doctors" in the book Where Vultures Feed) and Chevron.

Kashi does not deny that the oil companies are guilty, but I can only guess that he assumes that NPR has covered the oil company aspect fully - but it hasn't. Also it would seem to me that private citizens would have more impact organizing to improve the behavior of the oil companies than we would on the government of Nigeria (which he rightly condemns for being abysmally corrupt and brutal).

The Oil Shell Game

Lisa Margonelli's book, Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline, actually seems like an interesting read, but the interview with her on Weekend Edition today was frustrating because of two issues that should have been discussed but weren't: the massive profits of oil companies and the complicity of the oil companies in Nigerian misery, injustice and oil violence.
During the interview, Margonelli is talking about gas prices. She says, "Gas stations make very little profit...every aspect has been optimized to get the gas here as cheaply as possible." That's interesting enough, but given the mind-boggling profits of the big oil companies I wanted Simon to at least ask, "So if the gas stations aren't making the big profits, and oil policy in the US is geared toward low gasoline prices--how do the companies make such a killing?

The more maddening part of the interview begins when Simon says, "Some of the most arresting sections in the book are about the oil industry in Nigeria. We might assume that the oil business is just rough and dirty and hard work for anybody working into it; it becomes—it’s something else, beyond that even, in Nigeria. It’s criminal; it’s rough in the sense it’s violent...."

This perked my ears up. I remember back in 1998 hearing about how Texaco-Chevron brought in the Nigerian military to attack and kill protesting oil workers. But the discussion was not about to look at the complicity of the oil companies - Margonelli instead notes, "…but what happens in Nigeria is that it’s part of a political system, involves gangs of young men who are mostly unemployed, who remove oil from the pipelines, and sell it, and it’s quite violent, quite dangerous, and it has a big effect on our lives…it effect the price here...." Well yes, it's part of a political system, but one that (as this Human Rights Watch report reveals) the multinational oil companies are largely responsible for.

Of course, it's no surprise that none of this history is brought up, since it has been ignored by NPR news throughout the years. How can Scott Simon bring up something that in the narrow world of NPR news, doesn't even exist?

If you are interested in reading more about the Nigerian tragedy here are a few more resources:
African Focus Nigeria Report, EarthRights on Chevron and Shell, Amnesty's Report on Nigeria Oil Injustic, and finally the documentary Drilling and Killing.