A UK government official has raised questions over the impact of UK military aid to Nigeria, admitting that “we’ll never know how effective it is.” The government has provided escalating levels of military aid to Nigerian troops patrolling the volatile Niger Delta region, where western companies like Shell have extracted oil for decades. The UK’s…
A guest blog by Hamza Hamouchene, who is currently at Platform researching UK’s energy interests in Algeria. With the production of North Sea gas dwindling dramatically, developing Algeria as a major natural gas exporter has become an economic and strategic imperative for the EU. The country features heavily in both EU and UK energy policies and has…
It’s 8.30am and we are outside the Shell Centre doorstepping staff on their way into work. Another day, another Shell protest. The difference today is we are handing out sponges with a message on the back: “clean up the Niger Delta.” Some of the staff smile nervously as they approach us and some of them…
** For Immediate Release ** Monday 5th August 2013 Activists handed out sponges to Shell employees on their way into work at the Shell centre in London this morning with “Shell – Clean up the Niger Delta” written on them. The protest took place on the second anniversary of the UNEP report that stated that…
The picture above captioned as A Niger Delta Village In the 1960s (Before Oil) has sparked much discussion on online forums in Nigeria. While there have been debates about its veracity, what is interesting is the way that it provides a catalyst for people’s memories about the region before oil. Here is one comment that…
Today’s the last day of Platform’s performance ‘Oil City‘ – the spy-thriller for the post-Occupy age. I went last Thursday with the same bare information as any non-Platform person would have. For the past two weeks, at 9am, 1pm and 5pm, audiences of 6 people have been taken on an intense and beautifully crafted set…
June: Meltdown & Shell, Arctic drilling & New Shake events! 17 June 2013 Dear All, Platform turned 30 last Saturday! We’re going to send another email about this soon, but we just wanted to say thank you to all the people who have supported, collaborated and engaged with us over our three decades. We wouldn’t be still…
This is a guest blog by Chris Garrard, a doctoral candidate in composition at the Faculty of Music at the University of Oxford. He is also an environmental and human rights campaigner. Yesterday afternoon, I attended a performance of Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen performed by Spira Mirabilis, with their rich performance sandwiched between two informative talks.…
There are moments sometimes when you are suddenly struck by the realisation that this is what life is about. I am not talking about being in the green fields at Glastonbury after a rather potent chai tea. I am talking about the feeling of a tiny, temporary re-balancing of the injustice of the universe –…