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It was bound to bubble to the surface one day, that the
multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria had a certain foothold on the
Nigerian government that is more than having a toe in the door. The WikiLeaks
reports showed a brash Shell official boasting of how they have infiltrated
every facet of the Nigerian government.

This should, however, not surprise anyone. Did they not draw up
Nigeria’s Vision 20/20 under the Abacha/Shonekan regime? When the government
broached the idea of a new oil sector bill, didn’t Shell’s Ann Pickard, the
then vice-president for sub-Saharan Africa, warn that the oil company would not
accept any law that is against the interest of the company? And that was stated
at a meeting in Abuja, not in the creeks of the Niger Delta; yet no government
official made even a whimper in protest of such an affront on a sovereign state
by a company.

Miss Pickard was then quoted by the Financial Times (24 February
2009) as saying “We do see that the legislation, the bill, will have a profound
impact on the way the industry functions and how the companies move
forward…Getting it right [is] absolutely essential. Getting it wrong will not
be acceptable for Nigeria or the [oil companies].”

WikiLeaks tells the world that Shell had intelligence to share
on militant activities as well as on business competition in the Niger Delta.
We are also told that Shell knows how leaky the Nigerian government is. What a
sorry picture the then minister for petroleum resources, Odein Ajumogobia, must
have cut when he denied a letter from the government inviting China to bid for
oil concessions.

Sneaky Shell already had a copy of the letter. And they also
knew that similar letters had been sent to Russia, according to WikiLeaks. The
meeting with the Russians was even recorded, transcribed and sent to Shell.
Interesting, but not surprising. These Shell spies must be so trusted and well
paid by the company, otherwise one would have asked if the transcripts were
accompanied by sworn affidavits.

Shell’s Pickard is quoted as saying to the US ambassador that
“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.”

It can be suggested that today, with a former Shell director
sitting as the minister of petroleum, Shell may not need small fries to snoop
and scan pages from that ministry’s bulging filing cabinets. They may not have
to rely on low level officials with tape recorders concealed in pens, tie
clips, belt buckles, eyeglasses, or cufflinks to record meetings and send
transcripts to them. Now they may have copies of whatever document they want
forwarded directly as a matter of routine. Hopefully, that would not be the
case.

Like Nigeria, like United
States

The game of infiltration of public office by oil companies is
not limited to Nigeria. It was revealed in the BP Deepwater Horizon fiasco that
regulatory agencies in the USA were very chummy with the oil mogul’s official
and that this contributed to the lax oversight. How else would BP had claimed
several times over, in the oil spill response plan as well as their
environmental impact assessment, that there were virtually no risks associated
with such an operation?

In BP’s Deepwater Horizon exploration plan, the company
specifically stated in Section 10 that, “A description of the measures that
would be taken to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to the marine and
coastal environments and habitats, biota, and threatened and endangered species
is not required.”

The company went ahead to say in Section 14 that “No adverse
impacts to endangered or threatened marine mammals are anticipated” and that
also “No adverse impacts to endangered or threatened sea turtles are
anticipated”; and “No adverse impacts to marine or pelagic birds are
anticipated”.

Impunity is the word in this sector. Disrespect of the
sovereignty of nations is the norm.

How do you regulate companies who play the game by any rule they
chose to set to ensure their dominance and profiting? How do you regulate an
industry that engages, as suggested by these leaks, in espionage possibly under
the guise of business research?

The response of the NNPC’s spokesperson, Levi Ajuonoma, as
published in The Guardian (London) is pitiful. Mr. Ajunoma is quoted as saying
that “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.”

It is true we have lost so much to the activities of Shell and
other oil companies in Nigeria, including the NNPC. We have lost lives, our
environment, and our dignity. We can say that we are tired of losing things to
this sector.

However, to not lose sleep over this revelation of the dealing
between oil companies and embassies and our government circles is to ask us to
shut our eyes to a dangerous travesty.