Shell’s fingerprints are all over the brutal military crackdown that led to the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists in 1995. The bones of thousands more Ogoni people—murdered, displaced, and left to suffer—are a permanent testament to Shell’s legacy.
Ah, Shell. The oil giant that never met a community it couldn’t exploit, an environment it couldn’t pollute, or a public trust it couldn’t shatter. This time, the corporate behemoth—backed by some of the world’s most “ethical” investors like BlackRock and Vanguard—is at it again, pulling off what can only be described as a multimillion-dollar magic trick: selling off Ogoni oil fields in Nigeria for a neat $2.4 billion. Because nothing screams corporate responsibility quite like profiting off stolen resources, right?
The National Union of Ogoni Students International (NUOS Int’ USA) and the Center for Democracy, Human Rights and Anti-Corruption International (CDHRAC Int’l) are not buying Shell’s latest scam, and frankly, neither should anyone else. According to the groups, this so-called “sale” is nothing more than “another old trick to scam the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta of their wealth by Royal Dutch Shell.” Because after six decades of wrecking the region, why stop now?
Shell has mastered the art of pretending to walk away while making sure the oil keeps flowing—just not into the hands of those who actually own it. This is not an exit; it’s a Houdini act, with Shell slipping out the back door and leaving its “partners in crime” to carry on the legacy of environmental destruction and economic theft.
And let’s not forget the enabling hand of the Nigerian government. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has given its official stamp of approval to this nonsense, a move that NUOS Int’l describes as “a violation of Ogoni economic and national security.” Because what’s more secure than allowing a multinational oil company with a rap sheet longer than a Chevron pipeline to dictate the fate of an entire region?
The Ogoni groups aren’t mincing words. They declare: “Royal Dutch Shell remains persona non grata in Ogoniland and her enclaves.” In other words, Shell, get lost.
The audacity of this sale is staggering. Shell, which snuck into Ogoniland under British colonial rule without the consent of its people, now wants to “divest” assets it never rightfully owned in the first place. What’s next? A Shell “Buy One, Get One Free” deal on polluted farmlands? A clearance sale on ruined fisheries? Maybe they’ll throw in a couple of toxic rivers for good measure.
And let’s talk about what’s really at stake here. This is not just about oil; it’s about the thousands of Ogoni lives lost in the name of corporate greed. As the groups remind us, Shell’s fingerprints are all over the brutal military crackdown that led to the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists in 1995. The bones of thousands more Ogoni people—murdered, displaced, and left to suffer—are a permanent testament to Shell’s legacy.
The groups have issued clear demands:
- Exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and his fellow activists.
- Create Bori State for the Ogoni people.
- Rebuild the towns and villages Shell helped destroy.
- Acknowledge that Shell is not selling assets—it’s offloading liabilities.
Oh, and a final note to Shell’s Wall Street backers: BlackRock, Vanguard, and friends, your “sustainable investing” PR campaign looks even more ridiculous when you keep pumping billions into a company that treats human lives and ecosystems as disposable.
Shell may think it’s washing its hands of Ogoniland, but history—and the Ogoni people—will not forget. The world sees through the charade, and this time, no amount of corporate doublespeak will erase the blood and oil staining Shell’s hands.
*This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan - more information here. There is also a Wikipedia segment, the Shell DPA Files, "Shell and the Spies", the Shell Leaks files, as well as books written and published by John Donovan - Kindle eBooks. Timeline of the Donovan Shell Feud. Toxic History of Royal Dutch Shell Group. Shell and the Donovans: The Full Media Record — 550+ Articles, 110 Books, 40 Years. *All created and supported by internet wizz, Nick Gill.
