Oil, Islam and Politics

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• By far the greatest obstacle to development
  then and now has been the discovery of oil.  For
  most nations the discovery of oil has spurred
  development and industry, unfortunately in our
  countryOil has been a burden, and a source of
  great pain.    The pain of the Ogoni and the
  reality of environmental degradation is caused by
  the discovery of oil.  The social instability and
  insecurity of the Niger Delta is caused by the
  discovery of oil, and if there was no oil in
  Biafra, I very much doubt the military orders
  back in 1967 would have been given to destroy
  Biafra.
• Abiodun Adekunle (April 2004, son of federal
  army leader)

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Challenges to Independence Nigeria
Role of Colonialism - Nigeria British Colony
until 1960- country divided Yoruba (West),
Igbo (East), Hausa/Fulani (North)- south largely
Christian north Muslim (former Sokoto
Caliphate)- colonial development uneven little
attention to north, left in hands Emirs-
independence meant democracy Muslim population
in north largest, therefore ruled
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Oil, Islam and Politics
South resented situation - government
overthrown by Igbo army officers- counter-coup
six months later (leader, 300 officers killed) -
Igbos in north massacred (30,000 50,000) -
massive exodus to homeland (south) -
independence movement led by Gen. Ojukwu -
Created state of Biafra
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Biafran War - story of survival for Igbo
• story of Oil and the future of Nigeria
• check for online video

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Oil, Islam and Politics

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Oil, Politics and Islam

• War devastated region
• - widespread use of child soldiers
• - famine, as imports cut off (drew international
  attention)Challenge of post war era how to
  move on?
• - profits from oil should have funded
  reconciliation
• - instead, story of corruption

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - suspected oil companies involved, supporting
  one side or other
• - Ojukwu not the only one seeking to control
  the prize
• - in midst of war (1969) federal government
  acquired oil fields
• - over next ten years, south-easterners
  disenfranchised

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• New civilian government established 1979-
  already decrees, edicts put in place during war
  had transformed Niger Delta into colony- 1978
  Land Use Act confiscated oil-bearing land of
  Delta communities under 'protection' of central
  government.
• - revenue sharing adjustments took 50 profits
  from Delta, allocated among all provinces (since
  1967, twelve in total)

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - other 50 to government - Delta communities
  receiving about 20
• - inhabitants bore brunt oil production
• - supporting national economy
• New govt quickly overthrown
• - under new military regime, portion oil
  revenue going to oil-bearing communities of
  the Niger Delta plunged to 1.5

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - Shell Petroleum Development Company
  (Anglo-Dutch Co.)
• - half total oil production
• - other Western companies benefited from
  legislation
• - Delta communities reduced to squatters
• - oil companies not required to obtain permission
  of local communities to explore for or exploit
  oil

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Companies required by law to pay 'compensation'
  for crops, other valuables destroyed during
  production
• - amounts paid minimal
• - environmental protection laws breached by all
  companies
• - devastated farm lands, fishing creeks,
  livelihood local people

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• By late 1980s
• - government neglect reduced Delta communities
  to poverty
• - existence threatened by environmental
  degradation
• - conditions worsened with effects IMF
  structural adjustment policies

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Abiodun Adekunle (April 2004, son of federal army
  leader)
• By far the greatest obstacle to development
  then and now has been the discovery of oil.  For
  most nations the discovery of oil has spurred
  development and industry, unfortunately in our
  countryOil has been a burden, and a source of
  great pain.  No doubt a few thoroughly morally
  bereft elites have used this national resource as
  a source of personal self-enrichment, and as a
  consequence currently have the nation by the
  yoke.  The pain of the Ogoni and the reality of
  environmental degradation is caused by the
  discovery of oil.  The social instability and
  insecurity of the Niger Delta is caused by the
  discovery of oil, and if there was no oil in the
  Biafra, I very much doubt the military orders
  back in 1967 would have been given to destroy
  Biafra.

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Following decade, situation worsened - difference
  was international attention - well-known
  writer, poet Ken Saro Wiwa activist for Oguni and
  others frequently arrested, harassed
• - oil companies solicited government support to
  clamp down on public protests
• - 1995 Saro-Wiwa, 8 others arrested, tried for
  murder, sentenced to death
• - international appeals ignored all executed

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Oil, Islam and Politics
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - Shell brought to court in US in 2000 for
  aiding and abetting the torture and murder of
  Nigerian activists
• - also for orchestrating raids by Nigerian
  military on Oguni villages leaving more than
  1,000 people dead and 20,000 homeless

17
Oil, Islam and Politics

• Issues - Land Expropriation, origins in
  Biafran Civil War (war justified Governments
  Petroleum Act 1969 - protection of resources)
• - Constitution 1999 (re-affirmed) rights to
  minerals located in any part of the country
  belong to Federal Government expropriation can
  take place with compensation

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - compensation far from adequate, value based on
  crops not on land itself
• - Chevron (American corporation) particularly
  criticized
• - Government standards low, companies profit
• return to civilian government (Obasanjo) 1999
• great expectations no impact

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Oil, Islam and Politics
Leaks
Fires
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Human Rights- Saro Wiwa case not the end
• repeated examples oil companies engaging with,
  paying, local military -- brutalizing non
  co-operating villagers - one example Parabe
  IncidentAccording to Bola Oyimbo, who co-led
  the protest, the protesters sought potable water,
  greater local employment, medical facilities, and
  the fulfillment of pledges made by Chevron to
  provide scholarships to local students.

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - occupied Chevrons platform
• - negotiated, agreed to leave but before that
  could happen

• They helicopters started shooting before they
  even landed, started shooting indiscriminatelyThe
  end result was that we lost two of our boys and
  a lot of them got injuredSome of them jumped
  overboard and they were later rescued. Then the
  balance of us, we refused to leave the barge.
  So they decided to arrest 11 of us. We were first
  taken to a Nigerian naval base at Warri. We were
  kept for four days in a cell. Then they
  transferred us to another cell in a different
  town before taking us to the state security
  service at the Fort of Ortacuri

22
Oil, Islam and Politics

• Chevronfirst accused us of sabotageAnd then
  later, I dont know if they induced the police
  but Chevron asked them to make me sign a
  statement that we destroyed their chopper,
  vandalized their equipment which was a lie.
  Then I was hanged up by the handcuffs on my
  wrists on the hook on the ceiling fan. They asked
  me to sign a statement that I led a team to the
  Parabe platform and that we vandalized the things
  therebut I refused
• According to this leader, those who had fired
  upon them said they had been paid by Chevron to
  do so.

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Another incident 1999
• - Villagers demanded compensation for oil-related
  environmental damage
• - military responded
• - killed people and livestock
• - burnt homes, destroyed churches, traditional
  shrines, wells, fishing
• equipment
• - Company accused of supplying transport and
  equipment

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Oil, Islam and Politics
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Environmental Degradation -- Oil Spills - 1976
  -1998, over 2.5 m barrels oil spilt (officially
  recorded)
• - spills pollute groundwater, agricultural
  lands, fisheries
• - unprotected above-ground pipelines run next to
  homes - leaks routinely explode, human life
  threatened on daily basis

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• October 1998
• - pipeline leak flooded large area near village
  in Delta State
• - exploded, over 700 people killed, many women,
  children
• - smaller incidents common

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Environmental Degradation -- Gas Flares -
  natural gas produced as byproduct when burned
  creates ceaseless, high-intensity flame
• additional CO2 emissions
• - alters local microclimates, creates acid rain
• pollutes drinking water
• - impoverished people cannot afford to buy water

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Health, Well-Being of Population- denied
  normal access safe water, food, shelter issues
  with corrugated iron roofs, acid rain
• - respiratory disorders, skin diseases (bathing
  in polluted water), cancers dramatically
  increased

29
Oil, Islam and Politics

• - population depended on fish for protein
  collapse of fishing led to depletion of protein
  sources - loss of biodiversity including fish,
  destruction of habitat due to deforestation,
  pollution, construction of oil production
  infrastructure
• ALL LINKED TO OIL DEVELOPMENT!!

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Oil, Islam and Politics
Gas Flares
Never StopBurning!
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• 21st century, conditions not changed but
  political situation worsening
• estimated US350 billion oil government earnings
  1965 - 2000 has done little to alleviate poverty
• exacerbated deprivation through opportunities
  provided for corruption, abuse not to mention
  environmental damage
• - Nigeria among 15 poorest countries, 70 live
  below poverty line.

32
Oil, Islam and Politics

• Failure of state, absence law and order in Delta
  region- companies policies benefiting local
  host community exacerbates ethnic differences,
  have-have not rivalries

"The system of designating some communities as
host communities left those not so designated
feeling alienated and underprivileged,
inadvertently leading to or adding to the causes
of conflicts among communities," the company
said. projects built for beneficiary
communities as such have become prime targets of
attack and destruction.
33
Oil, Islam and Politics

• Practice of paying local troublemakers to protect
  operations against disruptions

Young, unemployed community men were being paid
salaries as ghost workers for doing nothing at
all, except that some are often found to be
involved in threats, extortion and disruption of
operations"
34
Oil, Islam and Politics

• Fueled gang violence, thefts of oil bunkering
  (also cause of major accidents, explosions)
  huge losses to oil companies

"Annual casualties from fighting already place
the Niger Delta in the 'high intensity conflict'
category (over 1000 fatalities a year), alongside
more known cases such as Chechnya and Colombia.
The criminalization and political economy of
conflicts in the region mean that the basis for
escalated, protracted and entrenched violence is
rapidly being established. This not only
threatens Shell's (and the oil industry's)
future ability to operate, but also Nigerian
national security."
35
Oil, Islam and Politics

• Political Situation Deteriorated
• - echoes of Biafra -- Mujahid Dokubu-Asari
  leads political party (youth gang) demanding
  independence for region- Movement for the
  Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra
  (MASSOB, 1999)
• - policies kidnappings oil workers, managers
• sometimes involves ransoms

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - thefts of crude oil continue- thefts,
  kidnappings, general violence cut oil production
  more than a quarter in 2006
• Major development
• - all ethnic groups in Delta fighting together,
  claiming oil resources for new independent Biafra

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Oil, Islam and Politics
MASSOB
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• In what ways is this an issue of Islam?
• Mujahid Asari (Mujahid fighter for Islam)
  
• - makes direct link between ideology of Islam and
  need for strength to fight federal government

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• The only religion I saw that is suitable to my
  nature is Islam. It is only Islam that says we
  must resist evil wherever we find it. The prophet
  Mohammed said and I quote "When you see evil in
  the land, you must resist it with your hand, you
  must speak against it with your tongue or you
  must hate it with your heart." That is the
  weakest of it. Mohammed also said "The best
  thing to do to a tyrant ruler is to speak the
  words of truth." So that is it. Islam has helped
  me in my agitation because Islam accepts my role
  as somebody who should correct the ills of
  society and the fight against oppression even
  with my life.

40
Oil, Islam and Politics

• Hatred of Government still connected with hatred
  of Muslim North somewhat contradictory to
  previous connection of Islam with MASSOB

When violence erupted in the mainly Muslim north
in response to caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in
Danish newspapers two years ago, Onitsha and
surrounding areas located in Delta region
became the center of reprisal attacks witnesses
said were spearheaded by MASSOB members against
Muslim northerners in which scores were killed.
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Ways it is being construed by outsiders,
  especially Americans
• two scenarios, each potentially disastrous
• -One sees Muslim North re-emerging, taking
  power, control oil resources, holding America to
  ransom -Second sees current corruption,
  poverty, political instability making Nigeria
  ripe for radical Islamic takeover

42
Oil, Islam and Politics

• With an ethnically and religiously combustible
  population of 130 million, Nigeria is lurching
  toward disaster, and the stakes are highfor both
  Nigeria and the United States. An OPEC member
  since 1971, Nigeria has 35.9 billion barrels of
  proven petroleum reservesthe largest of any
  African country and the eighth largest on earth.
  It exports some 2.5 million barrels of oil a day,
  and the government plans to nearly double that
  amount by 2010. Nigeria is the fifth-largest
  supplier of oil to the United States U.S. energy
  officials predict that within ten years it and
  the Gulf of Guinea region will provide a quarter
  of America's crude. In 2002, the White House
  declared the oil of Africa (five other countries
  on the continent are also key producers) a
  "strategic national interest"meaning that the
  United States would use military force, if
  necessary, to protect it.

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Nigeria's similarities to Saudi Arabia are
  manifold - corruption, oil wealth
• burgeoning Muslim population
• value to the United States as an energy
  supplier. Osama bin Laden has called Nigeria
  "ripe for liberation."

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Argument
• - Nigerias problems more deeply entrenched,
  volatile than Middle Eastern states that US tries
  to avoid dealing with
• - Linked to Colonial policies arid and poor
  north left out of colonial development but made
  into largest population base at independence

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - Gave it political power which it used to
  plunder fertile and oil-rich south, reversing
  economic situation
• - Now southern Nigerian population (estimated
  that oil wealth in hands of 1) associates
  poverty and corruption with Muslim rule

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Northerners
• - same association - response is to purify
  with introduction Sharia
• - new fundamentalist Islam is answer to
  previous corrupt IslamBoth scenarios
• - curse of petro dollars leading to increased
  tensions focusing around rise of Islam
• - author posits scenario of takeover that would
  leave US in situation worse than Iraq

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Second scenario
• - similar in some ways
• - calls attention to way in which social,
  political, economic failure Nigeria made it
  ripe for radical Islam
• - quotes same phrase by Osama bin Laden that
  Nigeria is in need of liberation

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• - develops argument differently, associating it
  directly with terrorist Islam

Nigeria has experienced increased ethnic and
religious violence and tensions after 12 of the
country's 36 states adopted the Islamic Shar'ia
law. over 10,000 people have died in communal
and religious violence since 1999. A January 2004
uprising by Al Sunna Wal Jamma (Followers of the
Prophet) highlights these concerns. The terrorist
group attempted to establish a Taliban style
Muslim state in northern Nigeria
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Oil, Islam and Politics

• When locals resisted their efforts, the group
  attacked, seizing weapons and burning down police
  stations. Nigerian troops quickly crushed the
  uprising, killing approximately 20 members and
  arresting another 50. However, Nigerian officials
  fear that a network of cells with as many as
  1,000 followers may still be operating in
  Nigeria. Although Al-Sunna Wal Jamma originated
  in Nigeria, foreign radical Islamists may be
  supporting the group

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Oil, Islam and Politics

• Conclusion
• The growth of radical Islam in Nigeria and its
  potential impact on regional and energy security
  should be viewed in the context of increased
  global terrorist threats and a breakdown in
  governance systems. Government mismanagement,
  interventionist economic policies, and inadequate
  law enforcement hinder Nigeria's economic growth
  and oil production and have heightened Nigeria's
  vulnerability to Islamist radicalism. Addressing
  the Islamist threat in Nigeria requires
  strategies that strengthen Nigeria's ability to
  counter foreign terrorist activity and fix the
  country's underlying economic and security
  problems.

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Epilogue Nigerias underwear bomber, Dec. 2009