Which language do you now understand?
Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, used to supply the slave trade with a seemingly inexhaustible count of humans, sent everywhere from the West Indies, to Mississippi, to Greece. Abolitionism infiltrated the area much later than most of the African slave world (1880-1950's, and can we so easily glance over seventy years?), and in fact, human trafficking of predominantly women and children is still a major human rights struggle today. But if we Americans learned anything from the industrial revolution, was it not that fossil fuel power is so much more valuable and interesting and easy than that of humans?

Chevron certainly thinks so.

Oh, oh, but here's an even better idea! What if we used the Nigerians to get the Nigerian fossil fuels for us?

Chevron holds a 40% interest in Nigeria's oil and natural gas production. This includes the Agbami Field, the largest deepwater oil resource in Nigeria, which is no small, peddling matter for the US's fifth largest oil exporter. Chevron exalts itself as a community savior of the Nigerian people, promoting itself as an encourager of scientific education, generous employer, and provider of clean water and electricity for villages near the company's operations. But two such villages, Opia and Ikenyan, sent people to the Parabe platform to peacefully protest the ways Chevron conducts its business -- not least of which includes environmental damage that contaminates the villagers' own water and fish supplies, threatening to undermine what little independence they have.

Chevron recruits professionals for positions in Nigeria, ensuring applicants that "individual growth is encouraged, with robust opportunities for both personal development and making a contribution to company-wide success." But they certainly do not encourage individual voices, especially when they might hinder any of that success. And thanks to a cozy relationship with the national government, in part due to its joint-venture agreement with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (who holds the other 60%), Chevron can count on its militant buddies to suppress such voices.

This is what one might believe happened to those at the Parabe platform -- on board a barge, nine miles off the coast of the Niger Delta. Read the San Francisco Chronicle article here: "Chevron trial over Nigeria protest gets started." by Bob Egelko

Maybe someone saw a knife on someone's belt. Another person may or may not have poured diesel on the deck. But tell me, what sort of weaponry is this against helicopters and automatic weapons bought with economic growth derived almost exclusively from oil and natural gas exportation? And these first shots, killing two people, were fired before the eyes could detect the glint of sharp metal or the nose could draw the whiff of flammable gases. This language of justification and fear looks familiar to me. It looks like the language of the oppressor. And so it is not surprising that Chevron would interpret as a threat (rather than a demand for dialogue) a letter that asks: "Which language do you now understand -- is it violence or sea piracy, war or peace?"

Abouts:
Slave Trade in Nigeria
UN Human Trafficking in Nigeria Report
Nigeria Energy Profile
Amnesty International on Chevron's 2005 Massacre
CorpWatch on Chevron invoice for soldier attacks
Chevron Nigeria FactSheet (pdf)
Job Opportunities with Chevron Nigeria