Popular backlashes against the misuse of revenues derived from energy sales are becoming increasingly common and fierce in many parts of the world. In Nigeria, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta launched a violent insurrection with support from those who have been impoverished by the government’s “failure to fulfill promises to deliver benefits to communities in the oil-rich Niger Delta.”¹ The movement is primarily directed at the private company that worked with the Nigerian government to develop the country’s oil sector, Royal Dutch Shell.

According to one report, “Between 50 and 70 Shell employees have been kidnapped” by rebels between 2005 and 2006 while an estimated “$1bn a year of oil revenues [was] diverted to corrupt officials” by the Nigerian government. The rebels blame Shell for their misfortunes, accusing the company of exploiting the local population, destroying the environment, and “collud[ing] with a corrupt ‘political contraption.’”² They demanded $1.5 billion in compensation from the Dutch oil firm. But it is widely agreed in the international community that the government and not the private sector is to blame, “Corruption, theft and poor management at the state government level ensures that little of that money [in oil revenues] makes it to the local communities.”³

1 Catan and Mahtani

2 ibid.

3 ibid.

Next: Appendix M. Freedom in Petrolist States