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News and Media Releases

Nigeria update

26 Sep 2008

Nigeria is an important oil and gas producer and potentially an engine for growth in Africa. Unfortunately, that potential is yet to be fulfilled. Not all Nigerians have benefited from the country’s oil wealth. In the Niger Delta, where much of this wealth is created, many people remain poor.

Among Niger Delta communities, frustration has grown. Poverty, crime and militancy have become overlapping problems. Militant groups attack oil and gas facilities, while criminals steal oil and take it by barge to tankers waiting offshore.

Shell’s country chair in Nigeria, Basil Omiyi, believes any solution to the crisis will have to address poverty. Shell and other oil companies can contribute by generating income and jobs and investing in community development. But they cannot take the place of government, despite many people’s high expectations.

To learn more about Basil’s views on Nigeria, please read his Q&A with Shell World magazine, or watch him being interviewed at the United Nations in New York by Paolo Black (update October 31, 2011 - article & video no longer available). For more background information about Shell’s activities in Nigeria, see the briefing notes at the bottom of this page.

Video

Basil Omiyi, Shell’s Country Chair in Nigeria, was at the United Nations in New York mid September, attending a pan-African investment round-table. He spoke to Paolo Black about some of the challenges facing Nigeria and Shell’s operations there.