I think shell was responsible for the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa .
I think by trying to pay off the family and people involved I think they're
trying to buy absolution . I think they're monsters .

I'm pleased for the families, but ten years to extract $15.5 million from Shell?

To put that into perspective; one supertanker of Nigerian crude is worth approximately $180 million at current rates.

15m is not enough,shell have mess nigeria up,money is not everything,shell should always think of our environment,the has damage nigeria .

At last, some justice to the Ogoni people....I was in Nigeria in 1995, when the executions took place. Thank God for the US legal system. Ken Sara-Wiwa Jr., you are my hero.
Shell finally showed its human face.

Time for MEND to go further

It is time that the USA media call a spade a spade and report the news rather than make it

The BBC and National Geographic did an expose on the pollution and fraud and abuse in Nigeria but little is said in the USA – spend 3 minutes less talking about USA news and more on real world news ie world news = other parts of the world !!

Just show the pollution of the rivers and how the locals cannot fish or drink the water..... just once in your life mean what you say.....forget the ratings or adverts Shell will pull....

Maybe a report an analysis of the TV and media should be done ie
DO YOU MAKE THE NEWS OR REPORT THE NEWS – IF YOU REPORT THEN WHY ARE ALL THE tv STATIONS REPORTING THE IDENTICAL NEWS?

I >> MYSELF DO NOT CARE WHAT "SHELL" OIL DOES WITH THEIR MONEY THEIR GAS IS ONE OF THE MOST COSTLY SO WHY DO THEY NOT DEVOTE THEIR TIME AND MONEY TO DEVELOPE THE SHELL OIL WE HAVE IN THIS COUNTRY LIKE IN THE "GREEN RIVER RESERVATION " LOCATED IN THE MID WEST OF THIS COUNTY WITH OVER 2 BILLION "B" OF RESERVE,,,,,MORE THAT ALL OF THE MIDDLE EAST,,,AND THE WHOLE WORLD PUT TOGETHER,,,HUMMMM????? LOOK INTO IT>>>

JOHNNY TRIGG
850 5812858

I think the settlement is long overdue...as in most cases.
Still, it will offer hope to many who find themselves in the same
kind of situations.
Unfortunately, monitary payments are the only way of
restoring.......and, they come too little and too late.

Big countries need to re work how they deal with developing countries since they affect people's lives. Even refugees are exploited in the name of doing good or providing for them. Taking over a country's assets or transporting them 'to a better life" , does not solve their problems.
In the interest of fairness of conscience big countries or companies must do right in the countries they do business in or try to help.An interesting development though.

Ultimately, I am convinced that Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. has acted in the best interests of his fellow plaintiffs, although it is a pity that this did not go to trial. After 13 years of struggle this settlement – from the perspective of someone in the West – is a pittance. In my opinion, Shell have got off very lightly. A trial would have become very public and very bruising for the corporation, irrespective of who wins in the end. Now, after a short period of publicity, this case will vanish from the public eye and Shell (and others) can get on with business as usual.

It will be of fundamental importance to lobby strongly should attempts now be made to repeal the Alien Tort laws. I could well imagine such attempts being made, under the bogus pretense that the law is old and outdated, or that an explosion of "trivial" court cases has now been triggered by this settlement.

It is heart-rending to see how the people of the Niger Delta are still suffering today at the hands of the Nigerian Authorities and hopefully this case will also bring the wider issue to the attention of the public and that the press will have the courage and fairness to report on it in a critical – and sustained – manner.

Well done, Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr., this is a tribute to your father and the others murdered by the Nigerian Government and it is a tribute to non-violent activism everywhere.

I agree that precedence has been set with this landmark decision. Multi-nationals operate differently in developing countries than developed countries, with total disregard for safety, the environment, human rights etc, all this in connivance with the corrupt leaders running these countries. At least with this case, these companies will have a re-thought of their modus operandi.

Well, what about the mess left behind in the Niger Delta? Ok of shell to settle this guy and his friends but wouldn`t it had been better if shell went down there, cleaned up the oil mess and then build hospitals , schools and help the locals with fishing boats, farming tools, clean water and an earnest apology? Return to this issue in 5 years time to see if this reward benefited the Ogoni people. I doubt if it will. There might be a few new mansions with gates befiting maximum security prisons. For sure!

I THOUGHT IT WAS A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE UNTILL NOW
THIS GOES TO COMFIRM THAT AMERICA IS TRUELY OUR
GOD'S OWN COUNTRY.

Although it is unfortunate that this case didn't go to trial it remains a watershed moment for business and human rights. Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni people deserve much much more but it is a step in the right direction. Multinationals should suffer the repercussions of their actions and perhaps this will stimulate further debate on important human rights issues.

How much is worth the life of the Shell CEO?
$15.5 will be worth?

The practical realities on the ground show that this was a Nigerian issue, bourn from Nigerian culture and corruption. Multinationals are often held ransom by the countries they enter, and their presence undeniably raises the skills and education levels of the markets they enter.

This case seems like another multinational being made a scapegoat by corrupt and evil people. It does not solve the issues of the parasitic nature of the authorities in Nigeria, nor the reasons that complete despair and hopelessness pervades their. Shell should leave and allow them to come up with a better solution on their own...which will never happen, not even in 20 generations.

I felt then that Shell was more than partially responsible for the death by hanging of Ken Sara-Wiwa. They could have stopped it if they had really wanted to but then Shell is just like any other greedy oil company. To this day I still refuse to buy gas at a Shell station unless in a dire emergency.
The settlement of 15 million, a total insult for a company like Shell, they probably spent more on legal fees.

Unbelievable.

A humanitarian gesture? Shell fought the suit till the bitter end...until last week! And they have the nerve to say this trust fund is a humanitarian gesture. Monsters.

Its easier said then done, but Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr., you should have made this your crusade my friend. But, the beans have been spilled...may you find peace.

This is not the first time that a big oil company has got away with paying relatively nothing for their crimes. Take the Exxon Veldez oil spill. They spilled millions or gallons of oil off the coast of alaska, kililng thousands of animals and destroying the wildlife. And all this happened because the captain was DRUNK!! They have kept the case tied up in courts for years and then everyone forgot about it. and to date the have only paid like 500 million or something like that. Which is a joke considering they made PROFITS of over 80 BILLION dollars!!!
i think that shell should have paid much more and that the family should not have settled. The people at Shell aren't stupid. They did the math and weighed the odds. By settling the are admitting guilt and getting off paying nothing. There is a reason these companies make so much money..they are smart!

Details of exactly how Shell was involved in the murder of Ken Wiwa should be made public, not just how much they are paying for it. There must be lessons to learn from exactly what happened. Partisanship of some oil companies in the Nigerian Civil War is mentioned by some Nigerian writers as well. Was Shell one of them?

When you settled you are guilty and 15m is nothing compare to the value of a human life..INVAULABLE!!!!!

There is ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT that Shell get off with a slap on on the wrist this time around. Shell and the rest of the Big Oil Companies have wreaked havoc in the lives of residents of the Oil Producinng Communities of Africa for generations to come.

In the larger Scheme of things, $15 Million Dollars is Chump Change and will not begin to repair the damage that has been done. No Amount of Money can restore the life of Ken Saro Wiwa

I am hoping that this is the beginning of a revolution to forever change the way these big Corporations Deal with Africa and Africans.

This payoff was a function of the way the US court system works...it was less expensive to pay this huge settlement than to continue to fight, and also to risk losing a larger sum in the future. The US court system is an outrage. $15 million for one life? For a death they were likely not directly responsible for? That is ridiculous, and would only happen in the US. This court system, weighted toward the plaintiff, is a major reason that health care is so expensive in the US. The plaintiffs' bar should be disbarred.

The settlement by shell is just a gimmick..the company's aim is to make up for their misdeed by offering sure paltry sum of money and resume oil exploration in ogoni land.The ogonis be vigilant and say no to any exploitaive disguise in the name of settlement and continue the struggle for clean environment which shell are not ready to offer.

This is a confession of exploitation or make someone stop talking? Obviously second one. None of the MNC would admit their socially irresponsible behaviours.

I think it is a travesty. $15.5 million is a drop in the bucket for a multinational oil firm. Shell still refuses to display any contrition for their complicity in Mr. Saro Wiwa's death and the death of other Ogoni activists. Is $15.5 million enough to heal the pain and suffering of the families? Is it enough to make up for the environmental damage? Is it enough to give back the land that was stolen from the Ogoni people? Until Shell is tried for conspiracy in these murders I do not think that justice will be served.

It sickens me to see them pretend that they submitted to this decision as a "humanitarian gesture." They are clearly putting a PR spin on the story. They have bitterly denied any culpability for 14 years, and to pretend that they submitted to this ruling in the spirit of peace is disgusting. They could see that this was the easiest way out of the situation at the least cost to them. I don't think that the executives of Shell feel any remorse for their role in this situation. They disgust me.

That being said, I am glad that Mr. Saro Wiwa's family and his neighbors have won this small step towards justice. I wish them well in their fight, and I will continue to boycott Shell.

It's very sad when a corrupt government makes a mockery of justice in hopes of reaping a financial benefit as the Nigerian Gov. did when they executed Ken Wiva hoping Shell would get back to Ogoniland and make money for them.
But is sadder still when a company who had nothing directly to do with the execution is accused without evidence and forced into a settlement to avoid the legal fees of a system prejudiced against multinational companies. Had Shell been responsible of the murder they would've settled long ago, or if there had been evidence the accusers would've continued with their case.
Why wouldn't the case go forward if the potential payout could've been so much larger? Why didn't Shell try to settle earlier if they indeed were involved?
Simple: There was no evidence, no way to prove Shell was guilty.
Yes a line has been crossed, a precedent established: Now you can sue a large company without evidence, make enough noise and be patient and you WILL get paid. Sad.

About time.

this is how much a human life is worth, these oil barons run the world, please do not fool yourself when you "get to vote". the real people who run the world are these humans. you do not know their names or see their faces, they are well beyond the legal system. they are untouchable. these are the ultra-rich people, they make Bill Gates look like a pennyless man. Shell makes that amount of money on a bad day of profits, trust us they do not care about you, period. if they want fuel prices at record high's they just do it and watch the amount of panick in the streets is causes. then they sit back and laugh. 13 years in court, and for what, justice? not from where I see it. 7 familes control 40% of the world's wealth, check it out, do you think they care about you? not bloody likely.

shell should be named and shamed
it s unacceptable when multinationals play a perverse role in the country where they operate.
in the west they abide by the law as they can be punished but in the third world they behave like thugs.
unacceptable really.

I think the most encouraging thing from this is that it sets a good precedence. Global corporations in developing countries like Nigeria ought to be very concerned on how their business affects the lives of the locals where they operate. A lot more needs to be done towards improving the plight of the Niger Delta people and Corporations like Shell should play more prominent roles – especially where the government isn't doing enough.

Hopefully this will inspire the aboriginal peoples of Ecuador to pursue legal redress for the wrongs done to them by Chevron and others. The oil companies have committed many crimes and need to be called to account.

I agree – they're monsters. 15 million is a drop in the bucket for them and they get to spin it however they want. It's disgusting.

waiting for 15 million dollars for more than 10 years? That is too little. Shell is a billion dollar company. These oil companies should also be sued for damaging our environment.

I think it's a start. We often forget, in our "off with their heads" zeal, that we need to =start= somewhere first.
This is a start.
Now it needs to build momentum.
Corporations need to be help responsible.

Fine but it cant bring Ken back

This will spark of more agitation and unhealthy struggle among the communities. Ken Sarowiwa was a murderer. He made orphans out of Ogoni people in the name of struggling for Ogoni land. In Nigerian context, nothing like Ogoni land, but ogoni people, because all the lands then belonged to Dauda Komo while the oil belonged to all Nigerians. Sarowiwa never had absolute onwnership to either of them. The money should rather be given to the State Govmnt, be used for the State and by the State for the good and benefit of the State instead of one greedy family that ripped other families their happiness. Shell is losing out in Nigeria and wants to fuel more crises by so doing. Shell was never a party to the hanging. Lets face the reality. The law did and to the man that bundled the defenceness into a van and set it van ablaze.

$15 million does not compensate for neocolonialism. Africa has a great amount of resources being mismanaged and native people don't see a cent of it. Part of the problem is the lack of government oversight of private property laws. If people had more incentive to maintain the resources, if they knew they were stable.

The repercussions of mismanagement due to multi-nationals should be higher, rather than just a slap on the wrist.

How does one measure the worth of a life or an ecosystem in peril. Only consumer pressure – through education and activism will keep corporates accountable. This should be the beginning not the end.

Shell? $15.5 million? Wrong topic of discussion.

There was never a government in that country; if there was, there will be law; and if there were law, the ogono's land will not be what it is today. The Ogoni land, like many in the Niger Delta are "dead" due to continual pollution.

The successive corrupt governments and "so called" leaders are the main culprits. Afterall, Shell did not hang Saro wiwa.

Nigeria needs cleaning up. The "so called" leaders must all be gotten rid of for there to be any chance of progress. They should all be killed; all of them.

Under normal circumstances, the people of the Niger Delta are supposed to be the richest in Nigeria, the opposite is the case.

Shell is a monster in sheep clothing. What is $15.5 million compensation for the lives of 10 innocent and harmless patriotic citizens of Ogoni land? When beggars die there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Are the lives of those in the western world more valuable than the lives of those in Ogoni land? The way Shell has been conducting itself in Nigeria; they can never try such in any western country. It is time for the RULERS and Government of Nigeria to wake up from their slumber and do what is best for Nigerian instead of killing innocent and harmless Nigerians for their selfish interests.

Unless one is blind to reality it is evident that the corporate capital system is totally without conscience. It would be OK with these soulless entities to see the world and it's inhabitants crumble completely as long as they believe they can be the last man standing. Giving these vilainous entities the same rights as people as a thoroughly misguided interpretation of the U.S. Constitution provides the underpinning for abuses world-wide.

We must return to the concept that corporations exist for an articulated specific purpose and for the "common good". Failing to meet this test would provide no reason for their existence except, as presently construed, for the personal greed of their owners, managers and the politicians who are, in turn, beholding.

Since the damage is done already, the only available option is settlement, which SHELL has agreed upon. I commend the zeal of the families for using a civilized option.I think precedence has been set and warning signals to all the Oil companies on the Nigerian soil. Oil companies must shelve unethical practices and must be able to live above board hobnobbing with Nigerian leaders, who are ever shameless.

first of all this guy is not patriotic. second he is selfish. he got what he wanted, and now does not care about what the rest are going through. this is a very intelligent man who could use his intelligence to get the best lawyers and win a lot of money. he could have thought about using this as an opprtunity to show to the world what damage this companies are doing to the best places and continent in the world. like the other leaders he has been easy to manipulated. while back home some are glad that they have educated who will come and liberate them from those problems. man what a shame you are to those who look forward to a better africa. whhat a shame you are to me. you are just foolish you could see that Becky was herself supprised at what this foolish man was saying.ehat a pity.

How much is a life worth? In the end, it all boils down to monetary value. Would a White man been paid more ... or is a Dutch, British, or American life worth more than a Nigerian?

The truth is somewhere out there. Shell´s payment is tantamount to admitting culpability, at least in the court of public opinion. With all its so called commitment to sustainable development, Shell contniues to be complicit with abuses in Nigeria.

With Nigeria accounting for an important part of Shell´s reserves, should a more punitive sum be levied for a generation made orphans by big oil´s complicity with corrupt governments?

I believe that the question that should be answered is who killed Ken,
Shell or the Nigerian Government?

Shell has paid a fine, what has the Nigerian Government been made to do?

Shell is not clean in this case, but Shell has contributed much more to the development of the country than the government and the negatives of the company was permitted by the government.

The Government should be crucified.

The real problem is with the corrupt government of Nigeria and tribal leaders, not Shell who is working hard to do the best possible in a difficult situation being squeezed between the two local forces. It is a shame that greedy people use the superficial media to win over public opinion. Media has not reported the full story. These same tribal communities are the ones that rupture pipelines to cause the spills, prevent employees from entering the area to stop it and then demand that they are hired to clean it up and they are compensated for the damages. The routinely hold people hostage for ransom, including children of oil company workers. They speak a good story, but when you visit Nigeria you see that actions are very different from their words.

The amount of compensation is ridiculously low compared with Shell's profits from the area.

I heard shell payed 15.5Million dollars to the family of great ken saro wiwa.the money is still coming from the oil drilled in ogoni land.the nigeria govement should be ashame,you dont need to tell any goverment to take care of his people .thats why we have goverment.this would never happen in western world.take germany with their social system for example.Ogoniland should be like paradise not where people should suffer .CRAZY WORLD

It doesnt matter whether Shell was involved or not but i think the pay out wont solve they main problem that caused the struggle. If ken was alive he wuld have been more worried about how to help d people with good water and other major infrasructure rather than mortgage peoples future for a paltry $15m compared to what they make...

it is quite a fair resolve,though the damage has being done....it is now time for shell to heal old wound

A cheap win for the struggle of the Ogoni people. 15 million to Shell is minute to what they have made in the Ogoni people. By settling out of court they have denied the world the damning evidence that would have become known and they know no PR could have saved the monster..have we been cowered

Exxon paid $500million for destroying wildlife and polluting the water.Shell paid $15million for taking a human life and destroying the lively hood of millions of Ogoni people and you call that justice?

The CNN coverage of the Wiwa/Shell case settlement comes as no surprise. It is the classic David vs Goliath story that the media craves – David can do no wrong and Goliath can never be right. But think for a moment: if Saro Wiwa was innocent of the crimes he was convicted, sentenced and executed for, as his followers would have us believe, why is it that even after 14 years of constant pressure for a pardon, despite three Nigerian governments (including two “democratically elected” civilian governments which Saro Wiwa’s son worked and still works for) no pardon is in sight; if he is innocent who ordered the murder of the four rival Ogoni chiefs whose deaths led to his arrest and trial; if Ken jnr and his horde of US lawyers had the faintest shred of evidence connecting Shell to the case, why were they so eager to settle (for what amounts to peanuts)??? Think.

We are all letting our emotions run a way with us. The Saro wiwa family have obviously whipped up enough sentiment, so much so that we are refusing to see the big picture. How much good did Ken Saro Wiwa do for the Ogoni people, nothing can be comapred to be losing a family member, but i don't see that his family has sufferred. instead the notoreity of their father has opened enough doors for them.
Ken Saro Wiwa Jnr lives and was educated abroad, he lives the lifestyle no Ogoni man can even dream about, so let us stop being emotional here. Yea, Yea, Yeah Shell paid $15 million dollars Boo Hoo, like somebody earlier commented, their legal fees probably trippled that. They paid that money to avoid the hassle not necessarily admit culpability. the whole bloody thing was gaining too much attention, unearthing things that should stay buried. i believe they did it to let sleeping dogs lie.
The true test of the Saro Wiwa family is to see how that money will be spent. i can bet you not on the Ogoni people, but on themselves. don't be suprised if they give out a paltry sum as some sort of donation just to save face and continue playing the injured party. I'm from the Niger Delta and i'm as disgusted with the situation there as anybody else but its easy to point a finger at the multi nationals so we can all sleep at night saying its not our fault. IT IS ALL OUR FAULT. WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE NIGER DELTA IS EVERYBODY'S FAULT. FROM THE GOVERNMENT DOWN TO THE COMMON MAN, WE HAVE REFUSED TO EASE OUR GRIP ON OIL AS A SOURCE OF INCOME, NOBODY FARMS ANYMORE, NOBODY IS EVEN TALKING ABOUT RENEWABLE FORMS OF ENERGY. IT IS A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILTY, SO IT IS DELUSIONAL AND ALSO HYPOCRITICAL OF US TO POINT ALL THE FINGERS AT THE MULTINATIONALS.

On the one hand I am happy that Shell offered anything. On the other- that million should be billion. What are peoples' lives worth. As an international attorney (licensed to practice in the US and the UK) deeply concerned about human rights I hope this starts a new era in actual protection against human rights abuse by large corporations but I remain extremely skeptical.

i think the whole story is sad, Ken was only trying to fight and secure a healthy future for his people,it was by no means an act of selfishness
Shell should be very well cautioned they are known for alot of mishaps and what not and for a multi national like them, 15 mill is small fry and it took over a decade to get that from them.....that aint right. so a human life for just 15mill, how much would the CEO of Shell go for?

I agree with the many who are saying: Monsters. They fought it until the moment it was ALLOWED IN A U.S. COURT. For the few that suggested that shell is a victim of the corrupt nations of Africa... Why are they (shell) only worried when the case actually makes it into the US legal system? If the case was trying in Africa they wouldn';t have to worry- Becuase the corruption that does exist works in their favour (and corruption can only exist with those willing to finance it). The only thing they are victims of is their own greed and lack of scruples.15 million dollars. It's disgusting. That doesn't even pay for the pollution they caused, never mind the lives they took directly. 15 million dollars! I can't get over how cheap murder is. WHAT is the answer to really holding accountable companies such as these? Should the public boycott shell in particular? From now on, I will. It would be great if they could really face some public civil action, and pay through loss of profits for what they have gotten away with escapign the full wrath fo the justice system through this miserable settlement.

for all the oil company all over the wolrld, go to nigeria, kill and hang some one, dump your wast and pay 15 million dollars, you will be save, no problem about that..
for God sake, i dont know when nigieria will wake up and fight for their right, how can you just pay 15 million upon all the damage this company have done to our enviroment and kill the man who is fighting for the masses, for the record i think this KEN Wiwa, is an educated son of a hero, but for me he totaly fall out here, some one kill you father for 15 million dollars, please lets think again.....

I think it is a disgrace, a bunch of corporate lackeys put pressure on the corrupt government at the time, to murder a poet, who's only complaint was to highlight the destruction of his lands.
This existence is going know where, I am a shamed.

Like a deal with the devil: Shell. If, in fact, a company representative (s) is involved in the murder of a citizen, then that representative should be tried for murder. Just because people are poor, brown-skinned, and love God's Green Earth does not mean they are open game for some greedy, seamy oil executives. We must delve a lot deeper into these matter to find out who is committing evil...to stop future corperate murders hiding behind puppet governments. This must stop, now. Post the names and pictures of those involved, along with a timeline of who did what to whom. What ever happened to investigative journalism? And all in the name, again, of dirty oil (Iraq war dead, Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people, Muslim hatred of Americans). Most voters do not support his kind of evil. Why does it continue? What does this day about our representatives? About American democracy?

Shell literally got away with murder here; is 15million the worth of a great environmentalist's life?

I have not accepted custom of Shell since they joined in the murder of Ken Sara Wiwa; it will remain the same in future.

Mathew

I expect nothing less from Shell. They have been raping mother Africa for years all in the name of profit and take these profits off shore. Well thats what you get when societys main aim is the pursuit of wealth.
I have boycotted Shell for 20 years now because of their practices in Africa.

Companies have no moral compass at all and blood is on the hands of every shell employee.

They obviously had something to do with this. You don't pay out $15m for being innocent.

When our world is so dominated by greed, anything goes to achieve that goal....you really have to love capitalism!

Hi Becky, kudos to the good work you're doing by connecting me to the world. I am a Nigerian,my joy knew no bounds when i watch the interview with Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. It was indeed heart touching and an eye openner to me of the atrocities committed by some of these multinationals operating in developing countries.
Moreover,the coverage was objective and it gave me a wider perspective with respect to the environment and climate change.
Keep it up.

$15 Million for a brilliant life, millions of human and environmental degradation lost over the years? How much does Shell spend on their legal team? The money is far too small for their inhuman acts against the Ogonis. As i write oil spillage occurs every hour in the Niger Delta Region, infact, presently the NPA – Warri River is covered by Crude, no good water to bath, wash clothes, cook or drink. The Nigeria Government, Oil Multinational Companies are a failed state. The Ogonis won by peaceful means because MEND and others are carrying GUNS. Becky, just visit ESCRAVOS TANK FARM and see Heaven on Earth, and in a stone throw, just after their fence, the owners of the land and resources are living in Hell on Earth, what a shame!

This pay off will not hide the blood stained hands of Royal Dutch Shell. Oil exploration in Nigeria and in south America has aroused bloody protest from the indigenous peoples of those regions who are denied all the basic human developments in those areas .

Oil is a high priced items in modern world and these companies should invest first on the infrastructures of the local population before extracting oil and shareing the profits with local politicians.

even if shell settle the people i don't think they on my opinion that they should continue work because the don't care about the people

my comment, as a nigerian, is a poem: it something of an indictment of the intra black dialectic.

To be sure, Shell's culpability here is not in question but more ominous is our inability to stop providing the fertile ground that guarantees the recurrance of the worst cases of man's feckless and unbridled exploitation of his fellow man.

From slavery to human trafficking, even human sacrifice, cannibalism, based on nothing other than pure greed; the list of black on black is so long and grim that crass commercial opportunism by others seems almost trite in juxtaposition.

OGONI 9 (and farce major)

Still.
Dot.
Nowhere to go,
But to the otherworlds otherside,
Trapped in the lines in the leaves of the books,
Trampled in the lines of the prints of the jackboots,
Thud.
Dot.
Silenced in the middle of a point,
the universe implodes into a pinhead,
And the dense world of the living dead,
Where density is the imprimatur of being.
Silence.
Immanently shining,
Imminently declining,
The Point. Dot. Before the Beginning,
The Voice. Dot. Before the Command,
The Poise. Dot. Before the Pose.
Well, here we are, yet,
Here you are not,
We are Homo sapiens, Cognoscenti,
Brothers in Sapienthood,
And the overstuffed homo erecti,
Are on all fours again,
Soon to resume the fetal position, again.
ThisDay, on this Island of insignificance,
This Wellspring of Nothingness,
Where we float from benightedness to chaos,
Noble Savages they are not,
Floating on a bloodclot,
See the crimson sunset glow,
See the hangman’s noose flow,
See the assassins bullets grow,
Dead metaphors laden our graven dialectics,
9 dead critics, felled as heretics.
Ladies and gentlemen, please no heroics,
We are blacks, here we,
Sell Our Souls
To
Save Our Skins.
On ThisDay the Black Dialectic,
Remains Skin Deep; pseudo historic.
6 feet minus Skin Deep from Tyranny,
An inch away from redundancy,
Another inch away from lunacy,
And another excuse to extend the litany,
Of Blues,
Of Woes,
Of Sad Songs and sadder tomorrows.
On ThisDay, Friday 14th of November 1995,
The HomoErecti refuse to come alive,
The HomoErectum, achieved his General evolutionary desire,
He becomes an erection that refuses to die.

Written on the 14th of Nov. 1995,
Chidi Ejikeme

See http://www.shell2004.com for more shell stories.

Or search " shell2004" for similar stories.

It is sad and appalling. WHATEVER A MAN OR SHEEL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY SOWS THAT THEY WILL REAP. THEIR TIME OF REAPING WILL SOON APPEAR. INSTEAD OF DEVELOPING THEY ARE DESTROYING MEN AND ENVIRONMENT.

My own opinion is that k.saro wiwa jr should rejected that money & ask shell to repair the damages they've done in the ogoni land,because if k,saro wiwa sr would've agreed to take money from shell he wouldn't have been killed. He got killed simply because he refuses to take bribes from shell. Shell should go and repair damages done to the ogoniland. I therefore consider this $15.m a bribe .

I was stepping out of my bathroom when my phone rang, there and then my friend broke the news... we lost an Icon. Who will take care of his kids?
May his soul rest in peace.

onole

I had dreams of meeting michael but fate had it's own plans..i can't come 2 terms with reality but then can't undo de past so michael rest in peace king of pop & world's greatest music icom

Obama! back to his roots? In hawaii? He was born in Africa.C'mon people. And he will be used to usher in socialism. Too bad for the world and an the Black community....

It was just like when the super eagles was eliminated by Denmark in France 1998 world cup.l felt darkness all over me,that was how l felt when l heard Michael Jackson's death news."pheeew"

Seriously- on a blog dedicated to people MURDERED by shell oil to kill off our planet people talking about MJ- WTF- overpopulation rears it's ugly head- with a finite number of IQ points- every day...