Wikileaks: Shell's Grip on Nigerian State Revealed
70 replies, posted
[B]The Guardian[/B]:
[B]US embassy cables reveal top executive's claims that company 'knows everything' about key decisions in oil-rich Niger Delta[/B]
[RELEASE]
[B]The oil giant Shell claimed it has inserted its staff into all key ministries of the Nigerian government, giving it access to politicians' every move in the oil-rich Niger Delta, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable.
The company's top executive in Nigeria told US diplomats that Shell had seconded employees to every relevant department and so knew "everything that was being done in those ministries". She boasted that the Nigerian government had "forgotten" about the extent of Shell's infiltration and were unaware of how much the company knew about its deliberations.[/B]
The cache of secret dispatches from Washington's embassies in Africa also revealed that the Anglo-Dutch oil firm swapped intelligence with the US, in one case providing US diplomats with the names of Nigerian politicians it suspected of supporting militant activity and requesting information from the US on whether the militants had acquired anti-aircraft missiles.
[B][URL=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying]...[/URL][/B]
Campaigners tonight said the revelation about Shell in Nigeria demonstrate the tangled links between the oil firm and politicians in the country where, despite billions of dollars in oil revenue, 70% of people live below the poverty line.
Cables from Nigeria show how Ann Pickard, then Shell's vice-president for sub-Saharan Africa, sought to share intelligence with the US government on militant activity and business competition in the contested Niger Delta – and how, with some prescience, she seemed reluctant to open up because of a suspicion the US government was "leaky".
But that did not prevent Pickard disclosing the company's reach into the Nigerian government when she met US ambassador Robin Renee Sanders, recorded in a confidential memo from the US embassy in Abuja on 20 October 2009.
At the meeting Pickard related how the company had obtained a letter showing that the Nigerian government had invited bids for oil concessions from China. She said the minister of state for petroleum resources Odein Ajumogobia had denied the letter had been sent but Shell knew similar correspondence had taken place with China and Russia.
The ambassador reported: "She said the GON [government of Nigeria] had forgotten that Shell had seconded people to all the relevant ministries and that Shell consequently had access to everything that was being done in those ministries."
[B][URL=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying]...[/URL][/B]
[B]The WikiLeaks disclosure was today seized on by campaigners as evidence of Shell's vice-like grip on the country's oil wealth. "Shell and the government of Nigeria are two sides of the same coin," said Celestine AkpoBari, programme officer for Social Action Nigeria.
"Shell is everywhere. They have an eye and an ear in every ministry of Nigeria. They have people on the payroll in every community, which is why they get away with everything. They are more powerful than the Nigerian government."[/B]
The criticism was echoed by Ben Amunwa of the London-based oil watchdog Platform. "Shell claims to have nothing to do with Nigerian politics," he said. "In reality, Shell works deep inside the system, and has long exploited political channels in Nigeria to its own advantage."
Nigeria tonight strenuously denied the claim. Levi Ajuonoma, a spokesman for the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, said: "Shell does not control the government of Nigeria and has never controlled the government of Nigeria. This cable is the mere interpretation of one individual. It is absolutely untrue, an absolute falsehood and utterly misleading. It is an attempt to demean the government and we will not stand for that. I don't think anybody will lose sleep over it."
[B][URL=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying]...[/URL][/B]
[B]The cable concludes with the observation that the oil executive had tended to be guarded in discussion with US officials. "Pickard has repeatedly told us she does not like to talk to USG [US government] officials because the USG is 'leaky'." She may be concerned that...bad news about Shell's Nigerian operations will leak out."[/B]
[/RELEASE]
Source: [URL=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying]The Guardian[/URL]
[B]CBS News[/B]:
[B]Shell Oil Infiltrated Nigerian Gov't[/B]
[RELEASE]
[B]A high-ranking executive for the international Shell oil company once bragged to U.S. diplomats that the company's employees had so well infiltrated the Nigerian government that officials had "forgotten" the level of the company's access.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, could access Nigerian politicians' every movement from the employees it placed in the government, the Guardian newspaper of London reported on its website Wednesday evening.[/B]
The disclosure comes from the trove of secret State Department cables released to a number of news outlets by the document-dumping website WikiLeaks.
Royal Dutch Shell, which owns more than half of the stock in the Houston-based Shell Oil Co., inserted so many employees into the Nigerian government because of the country's access to the oil rich Niger Delta, the Guardian reported.
Nigeria ranks as No. 8 on the list of oil exporting countries and produces the most oil among African nations, the Guardian reported. Shell has been blamed for extensive pollution and damaging the environment in the delta, the Guardian reported.
Although the country's oil reserves earn billions in oil revenue, 70 percent of the country's populations lives below the poverty line, the Guardian reported.
The oil company infiltrated the government so well that it swapped intelligence with U.S. diplomats, the Guardian reported. Shell provided names of Nigerian officials who allegedly supported militant actions and asked if militants were armed with anti-aircraft missiles.
[/RELEASE]
Source: [URL=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20025080-503543.html?tag=stack]CBS News[/URL]
oh man... seriously.
Clean. Energy. Alternatives. PLEASE. So shit like this doesn't happen.
this is useless and boring
we all knew this
stop being so useless wikileaks, aliens or get out
space is awesome, everything else sucks
[QUOTE=Lazor;26571721]this is useless and boring
we all knew this
stop being so useless wikileaks, aliens or get out
space is awesome, everything else sucks[/QUOTE]
Can't say I knew Shell controlled Nigeria, no. I think this is really interesting....seems almost like movie material. Huge corporation literally dominating a government. Interesting article.
Yet another nail in the coffin of the argument that "Wikileaks' agenda is to embarrass the US government"
Holy shit.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;26571636]Clean. Energy. Alternatives. PLEASE. So shit like this doesn't happen.[/QUOTE]
No, clean energy costs more
[QUOTE=johan_sm;26571973]No, clean energy costs more[/QUOTE]
Clean energy people are idiots. You can't talk to them.
Didn't the founder of Wikileaks get arrested? What about the whole "Doomsday" shit? Someone fill me in!
Oh shnap.
[QUOTE=Strongbad;26572005]Clean energy people are idiots. You can't talk to them.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, fucking socialists all of them. Don't they see that killing our species is the most economical and therefore best option?!
most of them aren't even CHRISTIAN
This is some scary shit. I'd hate to live in a world controlled completely by corporations...
...oh wait
Awesome leak.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;26572036]Yeah, fucking socialists all of them. Don't they see that killing our species is the most economical and therefore best option?!
most of them aren't even CHRISTIAN[/QUOTE]
You will be long dead before that happens.
Does anyone still think releasing these is a bad idea?
[QUOTE=johan_sm;26572060]You will be long dead before that happens.[/QUOTE]
Yeah there's no reason to care about the future of humanity lol
[QUOTE=Zeke129;26572036]Yeah, fucking socialists all of them. Don't they see that killing our species is the most economical and therefore best option?!
most of them aren't even CHRISTIAN[/QUOTE]
I know, isn't it obvious through the Bible that Jesus wanted us to use nonrenewable resources as fuels? Everyone knows that only sinners become fuel sources and burning them is the right thing to do!
[QUOTE=Zeke129;26571960]Yet another nail in the coffin of the argument that "Wikileaks' agenda is to embarrass the US government"[/QUOTE]
One article that isn't about America doesn't mean much.
But on-topic, this is very interesting. What I find particularly concerning is that the company itself is transmitting security intelligence in regards to militants - are the government really that powerless?
[QUOTE=Zeke129;26572074]Yeah there's no reason to care about the future of humanity lol[/QUOTE]
Oh son, Jesus will take care of that.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;26572074]Yeah there's no reason to care about the future of humanity lol[/QUOTE]
To be fair there is not. When I'm dead I won't care if they all die or get nuked or mutate into something.
[QUOTE=Edthefirst;26572096]I know, isn't it obvious through the Bible that Jesus wanted us to use nonrenewable resources as fuels? Everyone knows that only sinners become fuel sources and burning them is the right thing to do![/QUOTE]
FOSSIL fuels
fossils were put there by SATAN to test our FAITH in the LORD
so we should BURN them all to purge the EARTH of the FILTH
[QUOTE=johan_sm;26572132]To be fair there is not. When I'm dead I won't care if they all die or get nuked or mutate into something.[/QUOTE]
Then you're gonna be a shitty ass parent.
I don't give a fuck if my kid shits himself all day and fails school. Not my problem.
[QUOTE=johan_sm;26572132]To be fair there is not. When I'm dead I won't care if they all die or get nuked or mutate into something.[/QUOTE]
ya man, fuk teh werld, all i want 2 do is sk8
+1 to socialism
[QUOTE=Canesfan;26571858]Can't say I knew Shell controlled Nigeria, no. I think this is really interesting....seems almost like movie material. Huge corporation literally dominating a government. Interesting article.[/QUOTE]
i was parodying others
[QUOTE=Edthefirst;26572168]Then you're gonna be a shitty ass parent.
I don't give a fuck if my kid shits himself all day and fails school. Not my problem.[/QUOTE]
My kid is not the entire world, it's someone close to me. And if I will be dead, I wont care if he shits his pants really.
yet another reason to buy a Tesla. Also never gonna fill up at a shell again.
[QUOTE=Mingebox;26572188]ya man, fuk teh werld, all i want 2 do is sk8[/QUOTE]
If you think about it; our whole society is based around that principle... Exploit something until its gone and then move on.
Why do you blame a single person that is following this trend?
Shell is a very successful company then.
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