Shell funds clashes in Nigeria: exclusive interviews with Platform

BBC Business Daily conducted an in-depth interview with researcher Ben Amunwa about Platform’s new report, titled Counting the Cost, on Shell’s human rights abuses in the Niger Delta. Shell were invited to the interview but refused to attend. The BBC World Service broadcast the interview to hundred millions of listeners worldwide this morning. You can...

The long struggle for justice in Ogoni

US-based EarthRights International (ERI) use the law to defend human rights and the environment. They recently posted up their perspective on Shell’s admission of liability for oil spills in Bodo, Ogoni.  ERI’s super-hot legal team worked with other leading human rights advocates to hold Shell accountable for its active involvement in crimes against humanity in Ogoniland in the 1990s....

The struggle for justice in Ogoni

Here is a heartfelt comment piece in The Guardian on the local reaction in Ogoni to Shell’s oil spill payout. Shell has admitted liability but has a long way to go to make amends Oil spills destroyed my village in Nigeria and decades of environmental and social injustice are still to be addressed. By Patrick...
Tottenham’s Bernie Grant Arts Centre to Welcome Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial ‘Battle Bus’

Tottenham’s Bernie Grant Arts Centre to Welcome Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial ‘Battle Bus’

LAUNCH EVENT: Saturday 25 June, 12-2pm, Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Town Hall Approach Rd, London N15 4RX. MAP: View Larger Map A spectacular life-size steel bus, created as a memorial to Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, will be officially welcomed to its new home in Tottenham as part of Civic Day celebrations on Saturday 25 June....

The Economics of Extraction – new article on the Niger Delta

(This article by Ben Amunwa first appeared in the current, oil-themed issue of Foto 8 magazine -http://www.foto8.com/new/in-print/8-magazine ) Outside the plane window at the Niger Delta, the oil region of Nigeria, I can see a solid bed of rainforest with wide ribbons of water the colour of coffee dregs coiling through it. I try to orientate,...

SHAKE! getting young people creative at The Stephen Lawrence Centre

My name is Ed, and I teach about politics, religion and philosophy, and one of the other things I do is volunteer at PLATFORM. For most of the past few weeks I’ve been enjoying the privilege of summer holidays, but this week I’m participating in an experiment. It’s a course for young people called SHAKE!. Conceived by...

Ballad of the Black Gold

From the RSW blog: “New from Talib Kweli, this hard-hitting music video unpacks the story of of Nigeria’s oil curse, the Ogoni struggle and the complicit role of Western governments and companies. Warning: this video contains strong political lyrics.”  

Ballad of the Black Gold

New from Talib Kweli, this hard-hitting music video unpacks the story of  of Nigeria’s oil curse, the Ogoni struggle and the complicit role of Western governments and companies. Warning: this video contains strong political language.