The African rulers who signed the Royal Niger Company’s standard form (D1) received monetary compensation for turning over their land. They may have recognized the futility of trying to resist the British government and decided to make the most of it by complying with the terms of the contract. Or they may not have truly understood what they were signing, given language barriers. When the company pledged not to disrupt the laws and customs of the country, the wording it then inserted –“consistently with the maintenance of order and good government” is able to be used as a warning that effectively gives the company the latitude to do whatever it wants. Almost anything could be defined as interfering with “the maintenance of order …” and so the British were bound to trample all over the native customs of the Niger River delta. Document nine gives us important information. Finally, Mojimba’s description of a battle he witnessed indicates that it pitted Africans against not only the British but also African mercenaries, so there were some Africans who chose to help Europeans suppress African resistance, getting paid as soldiers for hire. Mojimba’s words are filled with hatred, for good reason. But they’re being told 30 years after the battle, and so they may not be precisely accurate because the passage of time
In Texas, there is an economic powerhouse that not only runs deep beneath fields of cotton, but also reaches miles beyond the green pastures of cattle. Its multitude of uses in daily life also far outweighs the benefits of technology. This resource, greater than any other in Texas, is oil. In 1866 the first commercial oil well was dug near Nacogdoches, Texas but unfortunately the well came up dry. Thirty years later in 1894 oil was discovered in Corsicana, Texas by accident while a water well was being dug. This was the first economically significant discovery of oil in Texas. On January 10, 1901, Texas was catapulted into the era of oil and gas with the discovery at Spindletop. The Spindletop well, located south of Beaumont produced roughly
The petroleum sector began to add significant role and shape to the Nigerian economy and the political arena and destiny of the country in the early 1060s. However, when Nigeria became an independent nation in 1st October 1960, Shell – BP began to give out its acreage and its exploration licenses were converted in to prospecting licenses that allowed development and production ( Bamberg, 2000; Vassilion, 2009). Following the increase dominance of the Nigerian
that benefit from fracking. Although these lands are still under the jurisdiction of the federal
This report presents information regarding the industry, the primary operator of oil and gas field properties. The industry fuels its key buyers, the Natural Gas Distribution (22121) and the Petroleum Refining (32411) industries, with crude oil and natural gas. The industry continuously battles a shortage of available oil. In addition, many major oil fields have been in use for decades, slowly waning. Currently, the industry grosses among the most profitable in the US despite these and similar obstacles. The benefits of investing here
Niger Delta region, placing the Nigerian oil output down to a third of its capacity” (Klare 3).
Kuwait is recorded to have the largest spill of oil in history measuring to about 1 million barrels. Oil spills around the world have caused major catastrophes. Therefore, the United States government have provided a policy to help prevent the devastations and protect the environment as God intended us to do. By learning the history of the Oil Pollution Act, how to help prevent the spills, and knowing how our environment can suffer from the tragedies are ways of learning how our government is involved in our society today. How does the Oil Pollution Act affect our environment?
the federal level (1997). Under the Nigerian Constitutions of 1979 and 1991 there are separate
Jonah Gbemre instituted a lawsuit on behalf of himself and the Iwhereken Community in Delta State, in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria against Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Ltd, NNPC and the Attorney General of the Federation . Alleging violations of both constitutional provisions and those of the African Charter under the fundamental rights enforcement procedure in the Nigerian constitution, the Plaintiffs claimed that sections 33(1) and 34(1) of the constitution, their right to life and the dignity of the human person and articles 4, 16 and 24 of the African Charter had been violated by the oil exploration and production activities of Shell, which led to incessant gas flaring . In addition, the plaintiffs alleged that the continuous gas flaring by the MNCs had led to the pollution of the environment, exposing the community to the risk of premature death, respiratory illnesses, asthma and cancer . Their crop production was alleged to have been ruined by pollution thereby adversely affecting their food security . Furthermore, many of the natives were said to have died with many more were suffering from various illnesses causing the Plaintiffs to complain that the community had been left in a state of gross underdevelopment . One of the many grounds on which the defendants hinged their case, according to Amao, was that the quoted articles of the African Charter , under the Nigerian fundamental rights enforcement procedure, do not create enforceable rights . Due
Shell Oil company began oil exploitation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in 1956. It became evident that for the Ogoni, the environmental and social costs of oil exploitation would be painfully high. Beginning December 1992, the people of Ogoni issued a thirty-day demand notice to Shell, which raised the alarm bell of an after struggle between the company and the Ogoni people. This demand notice was followed almost immediately by series of non-violent activities including the Ogoni protest of January 4th, 1993, in what was regarded as Ogoni Day. In the light of the foregoing developments, by the first quarter of 1993, Shell withdrew from Ogoniland, citing the hostile attitude of the Ogoni community to the company’s activities. Around April of the same year, Shell, through its contractor, went back under the protection of the Nigerian military to construct an oil pipeline. This was met with peaceful protests by Ogoni women whose farmlands were to be traveled over by the pipelines, leading to the destruction of their crops without any compensation. Rather than deal with the issues that had been raised by the women, the military
For example, Shell Oil, an MNC (Multi National Corporation), extracted 50% of Nigeria’s yearly crude output, and 14% of its own output from the Niger delta region (The Changing Nature of Third World Exploitation, 1995). Though a large number of the local populace was recruited by Shell to serve as the basic labor force, there has been no change in the deplorable conditions the locals were living in. Over a period of 15 years, due to massive and widespread oil spills, heavy land degradation of the alluvial soil has taken place. The locals, who come from an agriculture based society, have in effect, been deprived of their ancestral way of life, their heritage, all due to the greed driven actions of the partly
The crude oil industry has become prominent since mid 19th century. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the development of drilling methods has brought oil into a drastically larger extent of mass production. Petroleum is one of the important extracted compositions of crude oil in the U.S. Until today, it is globally used mainly as fuels in transportation. Other uses include heating homes, powering industry, and providing raw material for plastic manufacturing. The great importance of oil to the country has led to the exploitation of its resources in the past century. Not only exploiting land resources, the government
Petroleum is a nonrenewable resource created from deceased prehistoric animal and plant remains. This is accomplished over millions of years, in which variables of heat and pressure cause the remains to be transformed into hydrocarbons. The United States depends on oil for around 36% of its energy demand, of this about 71% is directed to transportation, 24% to manufacturing and industrial applications, 5% to commercial and residential areas. An interesting fact is that even though oil and gas are seen to dominate the transportation areas, they only represent a less than one percent stake in the generation of energy.
This report studies sustainable management of natural resources in Nigeria. This it does with the aim to determine the extent to which the exploration of natural resources is managed in our country from 1960 till date. Also, given recommendations in which the resources can be managed.
Most children in the Niger delta have little or no education, due to lack of funds from their parents who have lost their lands and have no jobs because of limited opportunities. The Niger delta government and the oil companies have refused to look into the situation; instead they favor their close relations neglecting the masses. Corruption in the Niger delta has led some youths in taking drastic measure in order to put food on their table. For example, Ikechukwu Efe an indigene of the Niger delta said that some of his friends created their own “oil refinery”, which is made up of crude oil in metal barrels with controlled heat from fire woods. This is a dangerous process in refining crude oil but the degree of poverty in the state left his friends with no choice. If only the government of the Niger delta have created jobs with the wealth of the state Ikechukwu’s friend would not have to put their lives in danger. Until corruption is put to an abrupt the people of the Niger delta will continue to live in poverty.