Shell: Nigeria :: Coke: Columbia
Shell has been having problems in the Nigerian delta for some time now. Though it brings economic activity to a poor country, the vast majority of the wealth created goes to a corrupt goverment - rather than helping the disadvantaged local communities who are the ones primarily affected by the environmental damage that petroleum production inevitably brings. According to the Financial Times (8/22/06), the delta states currently control only 13% of their resources, with the national government controling the rest.
A militant activist group called MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta) has been fighting for the rights of these local groups to capture more of the wealth created by resources being taken from their land. MEND uses illegal and often violent means to reach their arguably noble cause: they are stealing oil, sabotaging piplines, and kidnapping foreign workers.
Recently the Nigerian government has been cracking down harder on these militant activists, promising not only arrests but also "force for force." Last Sunday, as the militants were preparing to release a hostage, government forces attacked and 10 militants were killed in the gun battle. The hostage is now missing.
It's easy to see why Nigerian government wants to defeat MEND - the group is getting in the way of the country's most lucrative resource, and the national government is the primary beneficiary of that resource. Shell's production has been severely limited in recent months and this hurts government revenues in both the short- and long- term.
The government's interests are clear, and it's not surprising that such a corrupt and authoritarian regime is resorting to violence to protect those interests. The CSR question here: does Shell bear responsibility for these deaths? The company might think it doesn't, and see the situation merely as government forces controlling a violent militia. On the other hand, those goverment forces are there to protect Shell's business.
This sounds awfully familiar. Coca Cola is facing a similar situation in Columbia, which U.S. activists have dubbed the "Killer Coke" issue. In this case, Columbian government forces have perpetuated violence and murder against union activists, and Coke doesn't seem to have accepted its implicit guilt. A quickly-growing string of boycotts across college campuses, however, might change its attitude.
A militant activist group called MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta) has been fighting for the rights of these local groups to capture more of the wealth created by resources being taken from their land. MEND uses illegal and often violent means to reach their arguably noble cause: they are stealing oil, sabotaging piplines, and kidnapping foreign workers.
Recently the Nigerian government has been cracking down harder on these militant activists, promising not only arrests but also "force for force." Last Sunday, as the militants were preparing to release a hostage, government forces attacked and 10 militants were killed in the gun battle. The hostage is now missing.
It's easy to see why Nigerian government wants to defeat MEND - the group is getting in the way of the country's most lucrative resource, and the national government is the primary beneficiary of that resource. Shell's production has been severely limited in recent months and this hurts government revenues in both the short- and long- term.
The government's interests are clear, and it's not surprising that such a corrupt and authoritarian regime is resorting to violence to protect those interests. The CSR question here: does Shell bear responsibility for these deaths? The company might think it doesn't, and see the situation merely as government forces controlling a violent militia. On the other hand, those goverment forces are there to protect Shell's business.
This sounds awfully familiar. Coca Cola is facing a similar situation in Columbia, which U.S. activists have dubbed the "Killer Coke" issue. In this case, Columbian government forces have perpetuated violence and murder against union activists, and Coke doesn't seem to have accepted its implicit guilt. A quickly-growing string of boycotts across college campuses, however, might change its attitude.
posted by Melissa Paschall at 8/23/2006 10:30:00 AM
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