A call has gone to the federal government to re-appraise the nationality question in Nigeria especially as it relates to the Niger Delta ethnic compositions.

The call was contained in a paper “Commodification of Violence in the Niger Delta” delivered  by Dr. Sofiri Peterside  at a two-day seminar Organized by Social Action on the 20th and 21st of August 2010 in Port Harcourt Rivers State.

Following Moves to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill PIB presently before the National Assembly, Stakeholders and Oil bearing communities, Civil Society and Environmental activists have raised an alarm that the bill if passed in its present form will aggravate rather than solve the myriad of Social economic as well as environmental problems arising from oil exploitation in the Niger Delta area in Particular and Nigeria in General.

For Nigeria to effectively solve its power problems, it must evolve more pragmatic means of exploiting and developing its natural energy resources. These include gas, solar and hydro resources.View more pictures

Project officer of SOCIAL ACTION a Non-governmental Organization, Ms Vivian Bellonwu made the assertion in a paper presentation on SUNGAS at the second International Power Roundtable/Exhibition in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

As part of its Political Education Programme, Social Action recently held Public lectures in the University of Port Harcourt and the Rivers State University of Education. The public lectures which were in commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the slaying of academic and Pan Africanist, Walter Rodney, had as key speaker, . Other participants included Prof. Henry Bellgam, Prof. Willy Okowa, Prof. Mark Anikpo, Academic Staff Union of Universities Chapter Chairman, Dr. Kinika Anele, Ayo Ajayeoba ---- of Oxfam Nigeria, Baba Aye of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Akani of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, and a host of others.

Social Action has established three popular education Study Centres in Benin, Port Harcourt and Calabar. The Centres are part of its political education programme started in 2008.

According to Social Action’s Programme Officer Ken Henshaw, the Centres conducts lectures and discussion based on a detailed curriculum aimed at educating activist on the theories and tactics of social transformation.

Participants at the Study Centres are drawn from Civil Society, Labour, Students, Community activists, and mass based organizations. The twelve month long session has been modelled along themes ranging from philosophy, African History, Theories of Social Change, The Role of Social Groups in Social Change, Nigeria’s National Question, Issues in Neo Liberal Globalization and Models of Non Violent Social Change.

http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/shareholders-bombard-shell-questions-about-nigeria

Published on : 20 May 2010 - 11:40am | By Hélène Michaud

“Shell will never take the role of the government”

“It’s so cosy! I come here and get a cup of coffee and cake.” Annual meetings tend to make for a cosy day out for shareholders of Royal Dutch Shell. When asked, many had opinions about Shell’s operation in Nigeria.
An elderly shareholder, who said his portfolio is worth over three million euros, told the Radio Netherlands Worldwide reporter that, “as soon Shell does something, they blow it up, my dear!” About Shell’s performance on the stock market, he commented: “Awful! Because they’re too honest! I look at the long run my dear!”
At this year’s shareholders meeting, however, it was activists and environmentally conscious shareholders who stole the show, sometimes causing visible irritation among the company’s executives.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/visible-from-space-deadly-on-earth-the-gas-flares-of-nigeria-1955108.html

Shell's activities in the West African country are under scrutiny

By Daniel Howden in Yenagoa

There is an ominous new arrival in the tropical forest outside Yenagoa in the southern Nigerian state of Bayelsa. It travels on black metal stilts above the green canopy before sinking into a concrete bunker where, when the bulldozers and cranes have finished work, millions of cubic feet of natural gas will be pumped before going up in smoke.