Download Oil Spill Devastation in Africa

Oil Spill Devastation in Africa
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has dominated international news headlines for the last
two months. The spill resulted from the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil
rig. Since then, between 35,000 and 60,000 gallons of crude oil have been streaming into the
Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis, causing a public outrage. Although it is an environmental
catastrophe, perhaps the Gulf spill can bring to light other similar disasters, which have been
occurring in parts of Africa for decades.
On June 19, 2010, an oil spill occurred in the Red Sea which was traced back to a rig
owned by a subsidiary of the Egyptian General Petroleum Company, which has not recognized
the leak. The Egyptian government rarely acknowledges, let alone accepts responsibility, for oil
spills off the Egyptian shore. Environmental groups claim that the government is planning to
cover up the spill, which has affected a popular tourist destination. The spill has polluted
beaches of the Egyptian resort coast called British Hurghada and resort owners fear that
publicity over the spill may discourage travelers from visiting the area.
The West African country of Nigeria has endured pollution from over 7,000 oil spills
which pumped over 1.5 million tons of oil into the Niger Delta during the last half century. A
few years ago, in the village of Otuegwe, a 40 year-old pipeline corroded and poured oil into
the Niger Delta for over 6 months while Shell, who was notified of the leak, did nothing. Each
year, more oil is spilled from the pipes and pumping stations of the Niger Delta than has been
spilled in the Gulf of Mexico during this year’s Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. The Niger
Delta is home to 606 oilfields, which supply 40% of the oil imported by the United States. Not
only is the Niger Delta the world capital of oil pollution, but environmentalists also believe that
the Delta is the most polluted ecosystem in the world. On May 1 of this year, an ExxonMobil
pipeline in the Akwa Ibom state broke and gushed over a million gallons of oil into the Niger
Delta over the course of a week before it was stopped. Local farmers and fishermen have lost
their livelihoods due to the pollution caused by the oil spill. “In the past two years, we have
experienced 10 oil spills and fishermen can no longer sustain their families. It is not tolerable,"
says community leader Williams Mkpa. Oil spills poison drinking water and destroy vegetation.
The life expectancy for those who live in the Niger Delta has fallen during the last two decades
to 40 years old, which locals blame on the oil pollution in their land. Over 1,000 cases have
been filed against Shell, who admitted to spilling 14,000 tons of oil in 2009. However, the
company does not take responsibility for the spills, claiming that 98% of them are caused by
vandalism or burglary by militants. Nigerian communities and environmental groups dispute
Shell’s claim, however, and say that the company’s rusted pipes and storage tanks, corroded
pipelines and pumping stations as well as other derelict equipment are the main reason for
spills. In the Niger Delta, Shell works in partnership with the Nigerian government. The
government, along with Shell, is denying responsibility for the ecological disaster, and pollution
damage cases made against Shell are never ruled in favor of Nigerians. Since 1958, Nigeria has
produced $600 billion of revenue from exporting oil but due to corruption in the Nigerian
government, this money has not affected the average Nigerian or improved their quality of life.
Ben Ikari, a member of the Ogoni people of Nigeria says, “If this Gulf accident had happened in
Nigeria, neither the government nor the company would have paid much attention. This kind of
spill happens all the time in the delta.” (Fight continues for Nigeria oil spill victims:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7xumdcz_vw)
Nigerians are frustrated to see the efforts being made to stop the spill in the Gulf Coast
because in their country, oil spills are largely ignored. They feel that the Gulf Coast is an
example of what is happening on a daily basis in the Niger Delta and in other parts of Africa. A
spokesman for the Stakeholder Democracy Network in Lagos stated, "The response to the spill
in the United States should serve as a stiff reminder as to how far spill management in Nigeria
has drifted from standards across the world." In “Do Oil spills in Africa not matter?” Gabriel
Baba Lawaal asserts:
It is apparent judging from the massive coverage of the Gulf of Mexico spill that
Westerners (Americans) fully understand the environmental hazards caused by such
spills. 40% of Nigerian crude is exported to the United States, to the very people, who
are up in arms about the oil spill on their door step and yet pay little attention to the
greater crime that their obsession with oil causes in places like Nigeria.
Since the Deepwater Horizon spill, the American government has placed a moratorium on
further offshore drilling, which has somewhat appeased the critics of BP and the American
government. However, the American public has failed to realize that when our oil is not coming
from the United States and our consumption continues to increase, this adds pressure on
drilling in other parts of the world, such as Egypt or Nigeria. As Lisa Margonelli, a scholar from
the New American Foundation puts it, these are “places without America’s strong
environmental safeguards or the resources to enforce it.” The irony of the American
moratorium is that although it has good intentions, it causes more drilling in areas of the world
which do not have the same resources or motivation to clean up catastrophic spills. Oil-drilling
companies such as ExxonMobil or Shell and their co-collaborating governments are at fault for
the suffering experienced by victims of oil spills. Hopefully the Deepwater Horizon oil spill can
help bring awareness and understanding to the atrocities that occur in the Niger Delta all too
often and motivate the American public to be similarly proactive about the situation in Africa.