Nnimmo Bassey

Shell’s reaction to the fine announced by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) over its Bonga oil spill of December 2011 is in line with the oil companies’ stance of avoiding responsibility whenever possible.

We recall the case of the Ijaw Aborigines who took their complaints of years of environmental despoliation by Shell to the National Assembly (NASS) in 2000. The complainants demanded a compensation of US$1.5 billion from Shell and this was granted by the NASS.

Two visits outside the heart of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, marked the highpoints of my visit to that city for the infamous Rio+20 summit.The first was on 14 June with colleagues from the Oilwatch International network and that visit took us to Caxias.

Since the demise of Biafra after the civil war in Nigeria, efforts have been made to obliterate the bane from the map and the preferred name of that part of the Atlantic Ocean is the Gulf of Guinea. However, another war has been raging here and continues unabated.

INTRODUCTION: THE PRECAUTIONARY PATH

The nation-wide strike in Nigeria against a petrol price hike ended under rather curious circumstances. The strike called by labour unions had crippled the economy safe for the fact that the oil pipelines continued to deliver their load.

In downtown Durban, the climate negotiators have settled into their beachfront hotels, ready for the official UN climate negotiations starting Monday. Already, voices speculate about cracks in the existing negotiating blocs. Will the developing countries hold together all the way?

There are some in Africa who argue that having a valuable resource is not necessarily a curse. They say that nature’s wealth is a blessing and that the curse happens only in relation to how resources are grabbed, owned, extracted and utilised.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What role will Environmental Rights Action (ERA) and Friends of the Earth International be playing at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP17) in Durban?

Wangari Muta Maathai, surrounded by her family, suddenly departed these mortal shores on 25 September 2011 in a Nairobi hospital. She will be missed for many reasons because she led an active life that stood up to power, supported the oppressed and fought for the respect of nature.