Podcasts about ogoniland

This year it will be 30 years since Nigerian author and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian military government for leading protests against environmental pollution caused by oil exploration. He remains an icon of resistance against environmental degradation beyond Nigeria. The campaigns he led saw the exploration of crude oil stopped in Ogoniland, in the country's Niger Delta region, after it became clear oil spills had extensively polluted rivers and farmland, destroying the livelihoods of farmers and fishers. A report published by the United Nations Environmental Programme in 2011 said cleaning pollution in Ogoniland could take up to 30 years. Yet president Bola Tinubu recently announced that his government would begin negotiations to resume oil production in Ogoniland. This sparked protests from environmental rights groups who warned that the region was yet to heal from the damage wrought by decades of oil exploration. In today's Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja has been speaking to lawyer and leading environmental activist Celestine Akpobari and Niger-Delta-based journalist Ndume Green. Producer: Peter Musembi

On 19 January 1994, General Abacha, who had been Nigeria's head of state for just two months, sent a federal ministerial committee to Ogoniland to meet with Ken Saro-Wiwa in Saro-Wiwa's hometown of Bori. The primary mission of the committee was to investigate the oil crisis in the Niger Delta region and make a report on how to solve the crisis. The committee consisted of Alex Ibru, the federal minister of internal affairs; Chief Donald Etiebet, the minister of petroleum resources; Melford Okilo, the minister of tourism and commerce; and Lieutenant Colonel Dauda Musa Komo, the military governor of Rivers State.  Ibru, the publisher of The Guardian, one of Nigeria's most influential newspapers at that time, was a close friend of Saro-Wiwa. Due to his friendship with Saro-Wiwa, The Guardian had given MOSOP a lot of positive coverage and publicity in the news. Saro-Wiwa imagined that with Ibru on the tour, the Ogoni cause would get the seriousness of their struggle conveyed to the country, and to Abacha. However, Lieutenant Colonel Komo who acted as the official escort and guide of the Committee, saw the tour as an opportunity to impress Abacha and show his superiors in Abuja that he had Saro-Wiwa and the Ogonis under his control. With such differing goals between Saro-Wiwa and Lieutenant Komo, what kind of collision was about to happen? In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The Ogonis are a prominent ethnic group in the Niger Delta. And in the 1950s, the oil wealth found in Ogoniland promised a future of prosperity. It meant that the small agriculture and fishery community could be potentially transformed into an industrial hub. But this dream soon became a nightmare as the government and the oil companies had other plans. The Ogonis never saw the promised prosperity.  Instead, the Ogonis began to live in a dystopian reality with oil spillages and acute damages to properties, land, rivers and swamps that had once been used for farming and fishing. Many Ogonis lost their livelihoods and became dissatisfied with the continued degradation of their environment and their lives.  In January 1993, things came to a head when a peaceful protest by the Ogonis led by Saro-Wiwa's Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) against Shell was met with violence from the Nigerian government. But what exactly happened? How did the Ogonis' peaceful protest turn into a nightmare that many in Ogoniland today are still shuddering from? How did the Ogonis' hopes become weaponized against them? In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠. The Republic is currently on an editorial break and show notes will be available on our website by 31 January 2025.

In this episode, Mr. Nnimmo and Ms. Agbani discussed climate impacts on rural communities in the Niger Delta, particularly the Ogoniland. They proposed actions that communities experiencing similar impacts might take to promote climate resilience. 

In the 1990s, as oil spills devastate the environment, Shell becomes persona non grata in Ogoniland. Then, when Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ledum Mittee and other activists leading the charge against Shell, are accused of incitement to murder, they come face to face with the power of Nigeria's military government. BBC West Africa correspondent Mayeni Jones investigates a miscarriage of justice which has become an infamous moment in Nigerian history. Presenter: Mayeni Jones Producer: Josephine Casserly (Photo: Ken Sara Wiwa Credit: Tim Lambon/Greenpeace)

There are more ways to conduct and communicate research than merely reporting experimental results. Kerime Opijnen is a recent Ms. Sc. graduate from Lunds University and she shares her experiences using poetry and creative writing as a research format in this episode. Her work focuses on The Power of Poetry to bridge gaps between human rights and environmental devastation in the Niger Delta and oil consumers in the Netherlands. Kerime was kind enough to discuss the role that poetry and creative writing can take as a research method, as a writing form for Master's research, and why non-standard research and writing have value for people across the world. Show Note: Clayton asked Kerime to share some additional information about some of the positive work being done in the Niger Delta by activists. Here is what she said: "When I spoke to Nnimmo Bassey, he was in Port Harcourt in the heart of the Niger Delta. He was there to visit polluted location and the places where contamination is being cleaned up. Particularly in Ogoniland, the clean-up process has started, which in Bassey's eyes vindicates the work and position of Ken Saro Wiwa who was assassinated in 1995. Bassey said that, to him, this clean-up is "a sign that, no matter who has suffered in the past and no matter what was done in the past, one day truth will prevail." Bassey also spoke about the hope that took from the took from the judgements in the Hague and also a recent UK Supreme Court ruling which held Shell accountable for environmental damages." Resources Kerime's Thesis: https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=9044288&fileOId=9044291 (https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=9044288&fileOId=9044291)   Rob Nixon's book Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor: https://books.google.no/books/about/Slow_Violence_and_the_Environmentalism_o.html?id=bTVbUTOsoC8C&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false (https://books.google.no/books/about/Slow_Violence_and_the_Environmentalism_o.html?id=bTVbUTOsoC8C&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false) Social Science Research Council - What is activist research?: https://items.ssrc.org/from-our-archives/what-is-activist-research/ (https://items.ssrc.org/from-our-archives/what-is-activist-research/) This is an English article about the Dutch court case which Kerime also talked about: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shell-nigeria-court-idUSKBN29Y1D2 (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shell-nigeria-court-idUSKBN29Y1D2) Nnimmo Bassey Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nnimmo_Bassey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nnimmo_Bassey) A.D. Carson, Ph.D - Seth mentioned A.D. Carson's successful Ph.D. Album thesis: https://aydeethegreat.com/ (https://aydeethegreat.com/)

On November 10, 1995, the government of Nigeria, at the urging of Royal Dutch Shell, executed nine environmental and indigenous rights activists known as the Ogoni 9. They had fought nonviolently to protect their ancestral home: a 400 square mile area of the Niger River Delta known as Ogoniland, which had been turned into hell on earth by decades of oil extraction. Who were the Ogoni 9, how did they fight back, and has there been any justice for these terrible crimes?Twitter: Link Patreon: LinkShirts and more: LinkNigeria: Ogoni 9 activists remembered 25 years on: LinkRemembering Nigeria's Ogoni 9, Murdered for Their Organizing Against Shell: LinkNigeria: Shell complicit in the arbitrary executions of Ogoni Nine as writ served in Dutch court: LinkDutch court will hear widows' case against Shell over deaths of Ogoni Nine: LinkThe Case Against Shell: The Hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa: LinkThe final Trial of Ken Saro-Wiwa: LinkFaces Of Africa Ken Saro-Wiwa: All For My People: LinkLong-term effects of oil spills in Bodo, Nigeria: LinkKen Saro-Wiwa / Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People: LinkCleaning up Nigerian oil pollution could take 30 years, cost billions – UN: LinkOgoni Bill of Rights: LinkKen Saro-Wiwa trial proceedings to resume without adequate legal defense: LinkTHE KEN SARO-WIWA TRIAL: A JUDICIAL TRAVESTY THAT MADE NIGERIA A COMMONWEALTH PARIAH: LinkIt took five tries to hang Saro-Wiwa: LinkKen-Saro Wiwa Killer Judge Becomes Acting Chief Judge Of Nigeria: Link

Oil was first found in Nigeria in 1956, then a British protectorate, by a joint operation between Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum. A major 1970 oil spill in Ogoniland in the south-east of Nigeria led to thousands of gallons being spilt on farmland and rivers, ultimately leading to a £26m fine for Shell in Nigerian courts 30 years later. With thousands of oil spills and multiple law suits, the situation has continued to worsen and we discuss this example of how reckless exploration can cost human lives.

Im Süden Nigerias, in der ölreichen Gegend des Nigerdeltas, kämpft ein König gegen den Ölriesen Shell – und für Entschädigung. Heutiger Gast: Samuel Misteli Weitere Informationen zum Thema: https://www.nzz.ch/international/shell-im-sumpf-des-nigerdeltas-ld.1334937 Hörerinnen und Hörer von «NZZ Akzent» lesen die NZZ online oder in gedruckter Form drei Monate lang zum Preis von einem Monat. Zum Angebot: nzz.ch/akzentabo

Le 10 novembre 1995, l'écrivain et militant écologiste nigérian Ken Saro-Wiwa et huit compagnons d'infortune étaient exécutés par la junte du président Sani Abacha à l'issue d'un procès controversé. Fondateur du Mouvement pour la survie du peuple ogoni (Mosop) au début des années 1990, Ken Saro-Wiwa avait alerté l'opinion mondiale sur les désastres écologiques liés à l'exploitation du pétrole dans le delta du Niger, fédérant autour de lui des dizaines de milliers de personnes dans des communautés ogonis peu habituées jusque là à manifester pour leurs droits.

The Ogoniland area of southern Nigeria is one of the most polluted places on Earth. The crops are burnt to a cinder, ash and tar smother the land and the wells are polluted with oil, making the water totally undrinkable. Entire communities have suffered as their way of life has been destroyed by the oil industry. Our reporters take you to Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, where pollution has become the norm.

To mark the 25th year of the deaths of the Ogoni Nine - nine men who were executed by a brutal military regime in Nigeria in response to their activism against oil extraction in Ogoniland - IHRB presents a series of conversations about the significance of their struggle and impact of their leader Ken Saro Wiwa.  In this episode - The View from a Corporate - Salil Tripathi talks with Richard Boele, now at KPMG in Sydney, who worked at Body Shop during the 1990s and lead a spirited corporate campaign for the Ogoni people prior to Ken's murder.

To mark the 25th year of the deaths of the Ogoni Nine - nine men who were executed by a brutal military regime in Nigeria in response to their activism against oil extraction in Ogoniland - IHRB presents a series of conversations about the significance of their struggle and impact of their leader Ken Saro Wiwa.  In this episode - The View from the Ground - Salil Tripathi talks with Ledum Mitee, who was Saro-Wiwa's lawyer, detained with him, and mobilised international opinion for the Ogoni people, Noo Saro-Wiwa, Ken's daughter and distinguished writer based in London, and Austin Onuoha, a peace activist who works towards reconciliation in the Niger Delta. They examine what Ken Saro Wiwa meant to people in the Niger Delta and within the country. They focus on the struggle he built, the challenges he faced, the impact on his family, the family's view on the struggle, and how it impacted the movement for corporate accountability in the Niger Delta. 

To mark the 25th year of the deaths of the Ogoni Nine - nine men who were executed by a brutal military regime in Nigeria in response to their activism against oil extraction in Ogoniland - IHRB presents a series of conversations about the significance of their struggle and impact of their leader Ken Saro Wiwa. In this episode - The View from Beyond - Salil Tripathi speaks with Nnimmo Bassey, Rafto Laureate, human rights defender, poet, and environmental activist; Bronwen Manby who co-authored The Price of Oil, Human Rights Watch's path-breaking research report on the violence in the Niger Delta; Paul Hoffman, who argued the Wiwa case before the US Supreme Court under the Alien Tort Statute; and Bennett Freeman, who was a senior US State Department official who brought together oil and mining companies, governments, and international human rights groups to prepare the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights. They discuss how the Ogoni struggle in Nigeria shaped the modern business and human rights movement; the litigations that followed; the lack of political and corporate accountability in an oil-rich nation where the military was a major factor, and; the state of human rights.

Le 10 novembre 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa, écrivain et militant écologiste nigérian, et huit compagnons d’infortune étaient exécutés par le régime du président général Sani Abacha à l’issue d’un procès controversé. Membre de la minorité ogoni, il avait alerté l’opinion mondiale sur les désastres écologiques liés à l’exploitation du pétrole dans le Delta du Niger. Le territoire Ogoni est l’une des trois régions les plus riches en pétrole en Afrique. Ken Saro-Wiwa n’a cessé de son vivant de dénoncer la mauvaise redistribution des recettes du pétrole. Vingt-cinq ans plus tard, dans « l’Ogoniland », les retombées visibles de la manne de l’or noir et du gaz sont peu nombreuses, tout comme les infrastructures et les équipements dans l’espace public. Les populations locales subissent les dommages collatéraux de l’exploitation énergétique : une pollution massive des nappes phréatiques, des champs agricoles et des zones de pêches, à laquelle s'ajoute un air vicié par les émanations de gaz. Résultat, en 2020, les conditions de vie sont toujours autant difficiles dans cette partie du Delta du Niger, alors qu’une campagne de dépollution a été officiellement relancée par Abuja en 2016. L’agence fédérale Hyprep, le Projet de nettoyage de la pollution liée à l’hydrocarbone, est née en 2012. Pour des problèmes de mauvaise gestion interne, rien ne s’est passé jusqu’en 2016. Mais l’Hyprep a démarré effectivement une campagne de dépollution depuis 2019. Elle avance cependant lentement.

The massive Niger River Delta is a fantastically rich cultural region and ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has been laid low by the brutal Biafran War (1967-70) and by decades of destructive and mismanaged oil exploration. This program offers a portrait of the region in two stories. First, we chronicle the Biafran War through the timeless highlife music of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, perhaps the most popular musician in Nigeria at the time. Then we spend time with contemporary musical activists in Port Harcourt’s waterfront communities and in oil-ravaged Ogoniland to hear how music is providing hope for these profoundly challenged communities. The program features new and classic music, the words of Nigerian scholars, musicians, activists and veterans of the Biafran War, concluding with an inspiring live highlife concert on the Port Harcourt waterfront in which rappers and highlife graybeards come together to imagine a better road ahead. Produced by Banning Eyre. [APWW #754] [Originally aired in 2017]

A Poem A Day by Sudhanva Deshpande.Read on July 16, 2020.Art by Virkein Dhar.Signature tune by M.D. Pallavi.

Stakeholders and other experts have raised alarm that there could be astronomical rise in cases and casualties of COVID-19 in Ogoniland over the failure to carry out a health audit before the pandemic outbreak in the country. A panel of frontline environmental rights activists and leaders of civil society organisations (CSOs) raised the alarm during a virtual meeting hosted by Kebetkache, a non-profit organisation focusing on woman empowerment and grassroots development. The situation of the Owo Ogono community, of Ogu/Lobo local government area of River State of Nigeria is one so pathetically strange. Just 5minutes sail of the creek behind more than 25 oil companies, who enjoys so much wealth, the OwoOgono community whose livelihoods depends 75% on fish trapping and farming cannot eat their own river fish harvest due to the petrochemical polution of their water source. Listen to Atamuno Sunny Okujaga, a level 300 student of River State University,also editor of SISI Port Harcourt online newspaper tell it all on WERADIO online. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tony-wemton/message

Il 10 Novembre 1995 a Port Harcourt, in Nigeria, vengono impiccati 9 attivisti del MOSOP , il Movimento per la Sopravvivenza del Popolo Ogoni. Il primo ad essere impiccato è un poeta, oltre che uno dei leader del MOSOP. Prima di venire impiccato dice: “Signore, prendi la mia anima, ma la lotta continua”. Era uno dei maggiori intellettuali nigeriani. Si chiamava Ken Saro Wiwa. Insieme a lui vengono impiccati Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel e John Kpuine. Sono gli Ogoni Nine. Ken Saro Wiwa era già stato incarcerato nel 1992 per diversi mesi, su pressione del governo militare nigeriano. Dopo essere stato liberato, organizza con il MOSOP una manifestazione nel Gennaio 1993: vi partecipano circa 300,000 persone, più della metà della popolazione del popolo Ogoni; marciano attraverso quattro villaggi, attirando l'attenzione internazionale su questa popolazione e su quanto stanno richiedendo. Poco dopo il governo nigeriano decide di occupare militarmente la regione. Il 21 Maggio dell'anno successivo, il 1994, quattro capi Ogoni che si erano allontanati dal MOSOP e appartenevano all'ala più conservatrice, vengono brutalmente assassinati. Nonostante Ken Saro Wiwa non sia stato sul luogo del delitto nei giorni in cui i quattro vengono assassinati, viene arrestato con l'accusa di istigazione all'omicidio. Resta in carcere più di un anno, in quella cella scrive una delle sue poesie più famose, “La vera prigione”: Ken Saro Wiwa, La vera prigioneNon è il tetto che perde non sono nemmeno le zanzare che ronzano nell'umida, misera cella. Non è il rumore metallico della chiave mentre il secondino ti chiude dentro. Non sono le meschine razioni insufficienti per uomo o besta neanche il nulla del giorno che sprofonda nel vuoto della notte. Non è. Non è. Non è. Sono le bugie che ti hanno martellato le orecchie per un'intera generazione. È il poliziotto che corre all'impazzata in un raptus omicida mentre esegue a sangue freddo ordini sanguinari in cambio di un misero pasto al giorno, il magistrato che scrive sul suo libro la punizione, lei lo sa, è ingiusta. La decrepitezza morale l'inettitudine mentale che concede alla dittatura una falsa legittimazione la vigliaccheria travestita da obbedienza in agguato nelle nostre anime denigrate. È la paura di calzoni inumiditi, non osiamo eliminare la nostra urina. È questo. È questo. È questo amico mio, è questo che trasforma il nostro mondo libero in una cupa prigione. Nel 1990, Saro-Wiwa inizia a dedicare la maggior parte del suo tempo ai diritti umani e alle cause ambientali, in particolare a Ogoniland. Nel Delta del Niger c'è il petrolio, e molte compagnie petrolifere europee e statunitensi lo estraggono causando diversi disastri ambientali e costringono militarmente il Popolo Ogoni, che da sempre abitava quel territorio, a emigrare. È uno dei fondatori del Movimento per la sopravvivenza del popolo Ogoni (MOSOP), che sosteneva i diritti del popolo Ogoni, che chiedeva una maggiore autonomia, la riparazione dei danni ambientali alle terre Ogoni e una percentuale sui proventi dati dall'estrazione del petrolio. In particolare, il nemico del MOSOP è la Dutch Royal Shell, nel Delta del Niger dal 1958. Fronte Unico, L'ultimo respiro fa da testamentoSe un ribelle spento passa il testimone, siamo pronti a prenderlo?

The future is now! On this episode, I discuss Capitalism, corruption, and crime using Ogoniland and their relationship with Shell as a case study. If you want to hear more, there is a very passionate instagram live on my IGTV. Buka Banter is a biweekly podcast discussing the complexities of Nigerian life. Listen as Amanda discusses politics, environmentalism, mental health and some pop culture. We’ll have some hard conversations, we’ll learn, laugh and grow together. Grab a plate, get your friends and Let's work- and maybe, together we can create a better world. Buka Banter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bukabanter/message

The massive Niger River Delta is a fantastically rich cultural region and ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has been laid low by the brutal Biafran War (1967-70) and by decades of destructive and mismanaged oil exploration. This program offers a portrait of the region in two stories. First, we chronicle the Biafran War through the timeless highlife music of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, perhaps the most popular musician in Nigeria at the time. Then we spend time with contemporary musical activists in Port Harcourt’s waterfront communities and in oil-ravaged Ogoniland to hear how music is providing hope for these profoundly challenged communities. The program features new and classic music, the words of Nigerian scholars, musicians, activists and veterans of the Biafran War, concluding with an inspiring live highlife concert on the Port Harcourt waterfront in which rappers and highlife graybeards come together to imagine a better road ahead. Produced by Banning Eyre.

The oil company Shell is accused of the killing of innocent people. According to Amnesty International, the firm's executives encouraged a brutal crackdown to silence protesters in the Nigerian region of Ogoniland. During the 1990s protesters campaigned to protect their homeland. But according to leaked Shell documents, the company was pushing the military to end the demonstrations. Several activists were allegedly raped, tortured and executed, including author Ken Saro Wiwa.

Growing up with a name that has resonance around the world - and a father with a towering reputation. That's been the experience of Samia Nkrumah and Noo Saro-Wiwa. We'll hear about the pride and burdens they carry with them, and how their fathers' untimely deaths have shaped their lives. Samia Nkrumah is the daughter of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah - the man who led his country to independence in 1957, and became an international symbol of freedom as the leader of the first African country to shake off the chains of colonial rule. Samia was just 11 at the time of her father's death, and hadn't seen him for six years, after the family were separated following his overthrow. Still, Samia decided to follow her father into politics and currently chairs the Convention People's Party, a political party in Ghana founded by her father. Noo Saro-Wiwa is the daughter of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian writer and environmental activist who was killed in 1995 after leading peaceful protests against the oil industry in his home region of Ogoniland. Noo was a 19-year-old student at the time of his death. She went on to become a journalist and author based in the UK - she has written an account of her own journey around Nigeria called 'Looking for Transwonderland'. Image: Samia Nkrumah (credit: Samia Nkrumah) (l) and NooSaro-Wiwa (credit: Michael Wharley) (r)

The massive Niger River Delta is a fantastically rich cultural region and ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has been laid low by the brutal Biafran War (1967-70) and by decades of destructive and mismanaged oil exploration. This program offers a portrait of the region in two stories. First, we chronicle the Biafran War through the timeless highlife music of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, perhaps the most popular musician in Nigeria at the time. Then we spend time with contemporary musical activists in Port Harcourt’s waterfront communities and in oil-ravaged Ogoniland to hear how music is providing hope for these profoundly challenged communities. The program features new and classic music, the words of Nigerian scholars, musicians, activists and veterans of the Biafran War, concluding with an inspiring live highlife concert on the Port Harcourt waterfront in which rappers and highlife graybeards come together to imagine a better road ahead. Produced by Banning Eyre. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ APWW PGM #754 Distributed 5/4/2017

If Nigeria's Dead were Oil Profits The UN has called on Nigeria to restore law and order in the northeast and investigate mass killings alleged, to have been carried, out in the past few weeks by the militant group, Boko Haram. Boko Haram's the same lot that last spring kidnapped 276 girls, most of whom have never been recovered. This January, while world attention was focused on the killings in Paris, Boko Haram waged an assault on two northern towns. Satellite imagery 'before and after' shows the town of Bega and its neighbor razed to the ground. The Nigerian government says 150, human rights groups say more than ten times that many were slaughtered. The exact numbers are hard to confirm. But one thing's pretty certain: if what's been dismissed as a religious squabble in the north was taking place in oil pipeline territory in the south, neither the government in Ajuba, nor the world's most powerful nations, would be watching the violence escalate. Black lives don't matter as much as white to the West, that's clear. But everywhere #profitsmattermost. Western media stereotypes notwithstanding, Nigeria's not some tin-pot state. The largest economy on the continent, a founding member of OPEC, one of the world's leading oil producers, it's not the government that's poor, only the vast majority of its people. Nigeria's seen billions of oil dollars flow through it, the lion's share to corporations including Chevron, Exxon and Shell, but the oil giants have kicked back plenty to Nigerian leaders, elected and not, in exchange for protection. The military's annual budget exceeds $6bn, and they've never been reluctant to use it to protect pipelines. The price of "security" has been paid in human life. In the mid 1990s when demonstrations by the people of Ogoniland threatened to shut down oil production, much of the Niger Delta was put under military occupation and "maintaining law and order" led to the killing of leading Ogoni activists including Ken Saro Wiwa. When a Chevron platform was occupied by youths, the company even provided its own helicopter to fly the armed forces in where they shot two unarmed protestors dead. Nigerians are going to the polls in mid February. President Goodluck Jonathan may be replaced. But it's the wealth that needs shifting, not just the politicians in Nigeria. More oil money going to taxes, and things the Ogoni activists were demanding, like schools, clean water and healthcare, might have produced more democracy and less corruption, and perhaps less of that military budget would be ending up in generals' pockets. And who knows? If poverty was a bit less dire and popular discontent a bit less severe, Nigeria just might be less fertile territory for misogynist maniacs promising power and vengeance. Would the West care more if Nigerians were white? No doubt. But one thing's for sure, if you could make money from school girls, the most powerful people in the world would be all over this. Watch my interview with Patrick Cockburn about the perils of the West's reaction to the Paris killings at GRITtv.org and watch The Laura Flanders Show, 9 pm Fridays on LINKtv. Write to me: laura@GRITtv.org.

In November 1995, Nigeria's military government provoked international outrage when it executed the writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other activists from Ogoniland in the oil rich Niger Delta. (Photo: Ken Saro Wiwa at a rally in Ogoniland. Credit: Greenpeace)