NIGERIANS PROTEST SHELL’S SHADY EXIT

On 21 May, Nigerians rallied against Shell in front of one of its offices in Lagos, demanding the British oil giant pay reparations and clean pollution before it divests by selling $2.4 billion in holdings to an umbrella company led by Africa-based former Shell executives. In January, a Nigerian court rejected the deal, which environmentalists have dubbed another example of greenwashing. However, an April news report indicates Nigeria’s oil regulation agency is reviewing divestments.

Protesters like Zikora Ibeh, a member of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (@cappafrica), say Shell isn’t leaving but more so seeking to operate through a shell company (no pun intended) that could alleviate liability. Indeed, of the $2.4 billion deal, Shell is financing $1.2 billion and has agreed to an additional $1.3 billion in future loans. Shell has been trying to sell its Nigerian operations to five companies under an umbrella called Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited. According to the company’s list of its African leaders, at least three have held high-ranking positions in Shell or in a British oil and gas company, BG Group, which Shell acquired in 2015. Shell would hold a 30 per cent stake in the new company.

The British oil giant says it will remain a ‘major investor in Nigeria’s energy sector’ because it is transitioning to other extraction activities.

Since 1958, Shell’s extraction operations have ravaged land and waters leading into the Atlantic Ocean. While the delta region only makes up 7.5 per cent of Nigeria, it is home to 45 million people or 20 per cent of Nigerians.

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency reported oil companies had spilt 19,058 barrels of oil, or the equivalent of around 95 oil tanker trucks, in 2023 alone. Two Swiss researchers have calculated nearby oil spills that occur before conception double newborn mortality. And, while Nigeria’s life expectancy is 53, Niger River Delta residents only live to 41 years.