Shell in Nigeria
Shell is a multinational corporation that for 50 years has been intimately involved in Nigeria’s economy, politics and overall development. Company generates billions of dollars in export earnings while providing the federal government with half or more of its revenue.
Shell has also been implicated in government military actions that have resulted in the killing of non-violent community, human rights and environmental activists and local villagers, as well as the oppression of ethnic minorities. They’ve been seen as being complicit in widespread corruption and as a large contributor to the self-enrichment of government officials and powerful, local interests. They’ve also been viewed as a principal agent of widespread environmental degradation in what’s recognized as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.
Urbanization, industrialization and deforestation are taking a heavy toll on the Delta region’s soil, land, water and air. The country’s forest area has been reduced by around half between 1990 and 2008, which is degrading the region’s agricultural productivity and water resources. Local activists and residents, as well as local and foreign scientists and researchers, have decried the fouling of the Delta region’s air, land and water, much of it attributed to pollution associated with oil and gas exploration and production.
Shell has been harshly criticized for the effects its exploration and production in Nigeria. Seventy-five percent of oil spill incidents have been caused by third-party interference: sabotage and oil theft, however; a large majority are the result of oil theft and piracy, according to Shell ("Shell in Nigeria: Oil, Gas, Development & Corporate Social Responsibility.").
Ken Saro-Wiwa Case
The harshest international criticism of Shell in Nigeria has been related to human rights. In 2009, Shell settled a decades-long case brought against it by the Wiwa family for complicity in the false arrest and hanging of internationally acclaimed author, social/environmental activist and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others, all of whom were Ogoni, a Delta ethnic minority, and members of MOSOP, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People.
Shell has agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in settlement of a legal action in which it was accused of having collaborated in the execution of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria. The families of the Ogoni nine alleged Shell conspired with the military government to capture and hang the men. Shell was also accused of a series of other alleged human rights violations, including working with the army to bring about killings and torture of Ogoni protesters. The company was alleged to have provided the Nigerian army with vehicles, patrol boats and ammunition, and to have helped plan raids and terror campaigns against villages ("Shell Pays out $15.5m over Saro-Wiwa Killing.").
Pollution
If there is one country where Shell’s broken promises ring hollower than anywhere else it is in Nigeria. For decades, the company’s operations in the country have been mired by pollution and community protests which in turn have been met with endless cycles of violence against protestors. The communities in the Niger Delta have been protesting for decades against this chronic pollution and grinding poverty. But year after year, promises from Shell of a better future for the local communities have been found to be as broken as brittle bones.
In 2006, the Niger Delta Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Project (an independent team of scientists from Nigeria, the U.K. and the U.S.) characterized the Niger Delta as “one of the world’s most severely petroleum-impacted ecosystems.”
An estimated 1.5 million tons of oil has spilled in the Niger Delta ecosystem over the past 50 years. Many of the spills have taken place in sensitive habitats for birds, fish and other wildlife, leading to further loss of biodiversity and, in turn, further impoverishment of local communities. The spills pollute local water sources that people depend on for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundering and fishing. They also release dangerous fumes into the air, sometimes rendering villages uninhabitable and causing serious illness for those who are unable to relocate. Many of the oil spills can be attributable to poorly maintained infrastructure such as aging pipelines ("Factsheet: Shell's Environmental Devastation in Nigeria.").
Gas Flaring
In Nigeria, Shell and other oil companies burn gas in a process known as gas flaring. Nigeria flares more gas than any other country but Russia; at least 20 billion cubic meters of gas are burned per year, enough to meet the energy needs of Nigeria and neighboring countries.
The gas burned in flares is not the clean natural gas used for heating or cooking; the gas is contaminated with toxic compounds and the flares send huge toxic plumes into the air. The chemicals, which end up in local waterways and fields through soot and precipitation, include carcinogens such as benzene, a deadly chemical that can cause convulsions, chromosomal damage and birth defects. According to the World Bank, gas flaring in Nigeria, which generates no useful energy, has contributed more greenhouse gases emissions than all other sources in sub-Saharan Africa combined ("Factsheet: Shell's Environmental Devastation in Nigeria.").

Latest News About Shell in Nigeria
Shell has agreed to a $84m (£55m) settlement with residents of the Bodo community in the Niger Delta for two oil spills. Lawyers for 15,600 Nigerian fishermen say their clients will receive $3,300 each for losses caused by the spills. The remaining $30m will be left for the community, which law firm Leigh Day says was "devastated by the two massive oil spills in 2008 and 2009".
These were among the biggest spills in decades of oil exploration in Nigeria. Thousands of hectares of mangrove were affected in the southern Ogoniland region. BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says there are hundreds of oil spills each year in Nigeria, some caused by leaks, others by sabotage, with local people stealing oil ("Shell Agrees Nigeria Oil Spill Deal.").

Works Cited
"Factsheet: Shell's Environmental Devastation in Nigeria." Center for Constitution RSS. N.p., N.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2015.
"Shell in Nigeria: Oil, Gas, Development & Corporate Social Responsibility." Triple Pundit RSS. N.p., 28 July 2011. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
"Shell Pays out $15.5m over Saro-Wiwa Killing." TheGuardian. N.p., 9 June 2009. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
"Shell Agrees Nigeria Oil Spill Deal." BBC News. N.p., 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 01 Feb. 2015.