Information

The Niger Delta is one of the main regions of oil industry in Africa and the drilling centre of Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the leading oil producers in Africa. Export is predominantly intended for U.S.A. and Great Britain; it is of no relevance for Germany.
The high-grade oil, which is rich in gas, is very high in quality and therefore in great demand by all international oil companies. Nigeria profits immensely through income from concessions and the drilling of its natural resource oil. However, this profit remains in the hands of a small group of military, politicians and advisors: the country is statistically one of the poorest in the world.

Conflicts of Interest
The conflicts between the transnational corporations and the State on one hand, and the local population on the other become apparent in the Niger Delta where oil extraction has lead to a dense network of extraction plants and pipelines on the mainland. These were built with no consideration for traditional land rights or the availability of forest and cultivated land, resulting in conflicts with the local population. In densely populated regions such as Ogoni, farmers who have lost their land have become impoverished. Fishing grounds have been rendered useless by oil spills.
As neither the Delta region as a whole nor the tribal authorities have received compensation or a share of revenue from oil, product pipelines continue to be "illegally tapped", in order to acquire petroleum or light oil for sale. This often results in explosions that invariably claim human lives.
To this day, the government responds to these activities with military action, imprisonment and the death sentence for "activists". The "developmental measures" carried out by the oil companies are just a drop in the ocean. The local inhabitants have little choice but to migrate in order to find new land for cultivation or move to the cities to secure a living by means of trade and small businesses.
In the meantime, oil companies are investing billions to develop deep-sea drilling facilities and preparing for the expansion of natural gas production in the coming decades.
B. Wiese; Ü: J. Moar, C. Fleming