The Effects of Oil .docVIP

PFII/2007/WS.3/6 Original: English UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS Division for Social Policy and Development Co-organizers Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Government of Khabarovsk Krai and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) INTERNATIONAL EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT KHABAROVSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION AUGUST 27.-29, 2007 The Adverse Impacts of Oil Pollution on the Environment and Wellbeing of a Local Indigenous Community: The Experience of the Ogoni People of Nigeria Paper by LEGBORSI SARO PYAGBARA MOVEMENT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE OGONI PEOPLE (MOSOP) OF NIGERIA Introduction Crude oil has had profound impact on the world civilization than any single natural resource in recorded history. Oil has become a very decisive element in defining the politics, rhetoric and diplomacy of states. This fact is adumbrated in a public lecture entitled “Oil in World Politics” delivered by a former secretary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the late Chief M.O.Feyide, when he asserted that “All over the world, the lives of people are affected and the destiny of nations are determined by the result of oil explorations. Oil keeps the factors of the industrialized countries working and provides the revenues, which enable oil exporters to execute ambitious national and economic development plans. The march of progress would be retarded and life itself would be unbearable if the world is deprived of oil. That is why oil has become the concern of governments, a vital ingredient of their politics and a crucial factor in the political and diplomatic strategies” Yet behind this deification of oil, nothing is said about i