Shell oil began functioning out of Nigeria in 1937 under the name Shell D’Arcy. Upon discovering the first commercial oil field in 1956 in the Niger Delta, Shell Nigeria began exporting oil in the year of 1958 and has been doing so ever since. At one time, oil exportation was seen as a way to transition from relying solely on the agriculture industry for exportation and move into what was thought to be the booming economy of oil. The locals of the Niger Delta area have experienced little to no growth as a result of Shell Oil’s operations and additionally have experienced negative consequences brought about by the oil company. In this paper, I will argue that Shell Oil's operation in Nigeria has been and continues to be exploitative in nature
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In October of 1960, Nigeria gained their independence from the British. On paper, they were free, but colonialism still lingered within the newborn country. The historical past of Nigeria had left them in a state of dependency upon the Western European states placing them in what is called the "global south" (O’Brien and Williams). Its position in the world order at the time of liberation provided Shell Oil with the perfect opportunity to begin implementing their own form of colonialism within the state of Nigeria. To expand upon the idea of Shell’s operation being exploitative in nature I will examine the spectrum of people impacted by oil extraction. There are two main positionalities regarding Shell Oil in Nigeria. The first is represented by the state officials, government, and elites in Nigeria as well as the elites within Shell Oil, who see the economic return of oil exportation. Many of Nigeria’s social programs and government funding comes from the oil industry (Allen 2012). The contracts that the government has signed on to with the oil companies prevent them from implementing …show more content…
There is little to no value placed upon human or environmental rights. Corporations wish to extract there required resources at any costs and have no intention of merging with the host communities. Using Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory which he discusses in this book “The Modern World System” I will examine the relationship between the westernized Shell Oil and Nigeria as a “developing” state. Wallerstein developed the idea of a world system theory which in its most basic form suggests that the world can be divided into three main areas: the core, the semi-periphery and the periphery (Wallerstein 2011). The core consists of states focused on high-skill labour and capitalism and the rest of the world is focused on labour-intensive production and extraction of raw materials and resources (Wallerstein 2011). These core states are often westernized and consist of countries that are usually grouped as a part of the “developed” world. The periphery and semi-periphery states are usually referred to as “developing” states. As a system, the core utilizes the labour heavy production of the periphery to acquire the resources they need for the capitalist society of the core to function (Wallerstein 2011). This practice is the basis of Shell’s operation in Nigeria. Using Wallerstein’s World Sytems Theory, it could be argued that this method of resource extraction is exploitative
In October of 1960, Nigeria gained their independence from the British. On paper, they were free, but colonialism still lingered within the newborn country. The historical past of Nigeria had left them in a state of dependency upon the Western European states placing them in what is called the "global south" (O’Brien and Williams). Its position in the world order at the time of liberation provided Shell Oil with the perfect opportunity to begin implementing their own form of colonialism within the state of Nigeria. To expand upon the idea of Shell’s operation being exploitative in nature I will examine the spectrum of people impacted by oil extraction. There are two main positionalities regarding Shell Oil in Nigeria. The first is represented by the state officials, government, and elites in Nigeria as well as the elites within Shell Oil, who see the economic return of oil exportation. Many of Nigeria’s social programs and government funding comes from the oil industry (Allen 2012). The contracts that the government has signed on to with the oil companies prevent them from implementing …show more content…
There is little to no value placed upon human or environmental rights. Corporations wish to extract there required resources at any costs and have no intention of merging with the host communities. Using Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory which he discusses in this book “The Modern World System” I will examine the relationship between the westernized Shell Oil and Nigeria as a “developing” state. Wallerstein developed the idea of a world system theory which in its most basic form suggests that the world can be divided into three main areas: the core, the semi-periphery and the periphery (Wallerstein 2011). The core consists of states focused on high-skill labour and capitalism and the rest of the world is focused on labour-intensive production and extraction of raw materials and resources (Wallerstein 2011). These core states are often westernized and consist of countries that are usually grouped as a part of the “developed” world. The periphery and semi-periphery states are usually referred to as “developing” states. As a system, the core utilizes the labour heavy production of the periphery to acquire the resources they need for the capitalist society of the core to function (Wallerstein 2011). This practice is the basis of Shell’s operation in Nigeria. Using Wallerstein’s World Sytems Theory, it could be argued that this method of resource extraction is exploitative