Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Shell. Guilty.
Bill Quigley
27 May 2009
🖨️ Print Article

Almost a fifth of the oil imported by the U.S. comes from Africa, and in the decade to come this percentage will rise.  The eastern part of Nigeria, from which Big Oil has pumped more than a trillion dollars worth of black gold since the 1960s, remains the poorest part of the country, and one of the most ravaged and polluted on earth.  Thousands of gas flares have burned for decades, generating acid rains that have poisoned fisheries and crops.  The land is crisscrossed by thousands of miles of leaking pipes and dotted with oil slicks.  The air is unbreathable, cancers are endemic, there are no schools or hospitals and life expectancies are among the lowest on the African continent.  Shell Oil is on trial in a New York courtroom, accused of hiring the Nigerian government to murder its own citizens for protesting the pollution of their environment and demanding a share of oil revenues be spent where the oil is extracted.

Need to know more?  Check out http://shellguilty.com.

 

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Pambazuka News Editors
    Türkiye, UAE, and the Imperialist Chain: African Ports and War
    30 Sep 2026
    Imperialist competition and wars that facilitate extractivism have long shaped the use of seaports for access to resources, markets, and devalued labor. In the last decade, countries in the chain of…
  • The Cradle News Desk
    US military withdraws from Iraq after two decades: Report
    30 Sep 2026
    Iraqi Kurdish leaders say the US withdrawal will leave their region, long a CIA and Mossad hub, vulnerable to Iranian attacks.
  • Margaret Kimberley
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Garland Nixon
    INTERVIEW: The US is Firmly Committed to Global Hegemony
    29 Sep 2026
    BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist Margaret Kimberley advises caution regarding the narrative that the US is in a state of decline. The US is committed to achieving full-spectrum dominance…
  • BAR Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report September 25, 2026
    25 Sep 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss events in the Horn of Africa as the Somaliland region requests U.S. recognition and the Trump administration ends some sanctions against Eritrea. But we begin by…
  • United Nations General Assembly
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    U.S. Exerts Its Influence Over the United Nations as General Assembly Meetings Convene
    25 Sep 2026
    Ajamu Baraka discusses U.S. influence over the United Nations and its Security Council as the 81st General Assembly high-level meetings take place.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us