“I’m shocked at what I’ve seen in the Delta. The devastation caused by the oil spills is enormous. I’ve read about it and viewed some footage, but being there and standing in the crude oil myself made a huge impression on me. I’ve travelled a lot throughout Africa but I’ve never seen this amount of devastation.”
Complex situation
Ms. Dikkers, a former activist with non-governmental organisations, told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that her visit made her realise the complexity of the situation, adding “shades of gray” to her picture of the Delta region. She said she almost longed for her activist days, “when companies were bad and NGO’s were good.”
On January 26, environmental, human rights, and scientific research organisations, along with representatives of Royal Dutch Shell plc, the main petroleum company in the Niger Delta, will be heard and questioned by Dutch parliamentarians. They will try to find out who should be held responsible for the extensive environmental degradation in that region.
"Open mind"
Ms Dikkers intends to take part in the discussions with an “open mind”.
“I’m not biased at all. But I’ve seen that Shell is by far not doing enough, and I’ve seen myself that the government, to say the least, is not helping. They are only making things worse. Most people who bunker(tap) oil illegally get military protection, which is a sign that government officials are very much involved and making huge amounts of money out of it.”
“There’s no very reliable data available and everybody’s telling you a different part of their story. So I have to digest all of this to get the whole picture and draw my own conclusions,” she adds.
Ms Dikkers, who mentioned that she had paid herself for her trip, was preceded in the Niger Delta by another member of the opposition, Sharon Gesthuizen (Socialist Party). Both lawmakers say they were shocked after flying above polluted parts of the Ogoni region and speaking with farmers who can no longer cultivate their land because of oil spills.
Can the Dutch parliament make a difference?
“I wish I could say yes, but I can only be a tiny, tiny part of the solution. If we could help get rid of the devastation in the Niger Delta by putting pressure on Shell and the local government, that would be great,” she says.
What kind of pressure?
“I don’t know right now. It would be fantastic if the outcome of the hearing would be that our parliament would end up investigating the activities of Shell in Nigeria, if a commission could come up with an independent view of the situation,” says Ms. Dikkers.
During her brief visit, Ms. Dikkers says she became aware that Nigerians in the Delta were more concerned about their livelihoods than environmental degradation.
“And that’s something that we have to bear in mind as well when we come up with solutions for the people here. It’s not up to me to dictate what should be happening on the ground. If cleaning up is not their primary concern and they have other concerns, then it would be good to look into that instead of pushing my own western agenda.”
Anger
Ms. Dikkers is grabbed with emotion when she answers our last question: Why should the Dutch parliament care about the Niger Delta?
"Shell is a Dutch company. If I didn’t care I wouldn’t have gone into politics… The oil that they get from there is put in my car. And I want to see that what I put in my car is not destroying somebody’s livelihood. That’s something I don’t want to accept. I’m very very upset about that, I’m very angry.”
“The world is watching,” a Nigerian newspaper wrote, wondering about what actions Ms. Dikkers and her fellow MPs will take.
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How sad that we take this so lightly in the west .the petrol has bene imported mainly to' America and europe.there is no mention in tris piece that Nigeria has outlawed gas flaring in 2011.its enviromental slavery and a slow sad death we implement on this farming community.3 billion is a conservative clean up cost for a 10 year old court case.due to' low refining costs the company can afford all responsibilitys.the company has broken all humanistic barriers since it set foot on the continant see royaldutchshell.plc .the company has more that enough power to' use due diligence and follow stringent self imposing rules on how they do buisseness worldwide .what polaticians where constaining said company to' ruin the country?over a 40 year period?its a large mainly happy comunity with no suicides because they dont feeling guilty unless sai company put them up to doing evil.
This is the right step in the right direction. I just hope that other people of good will in position of authority around the world will join this noble cause and bring first a better and clean environment to the people of Niger Delta and then possibly compensate them.
The actions of these two Dutch parliamentarians shows exactly what the western world should be doing. It is unthinkable in the western world that a company would cause Oil spillage and leave it unclean for a week not to talk of years that Shell and the Nigerian government has left the people of the Niger Delta region to die slowly from the filts they keep dumping in their land.
It is clear that the corrupt leadership of the multinationals are conniving with the corrupt leaders of Nigeria to short change the people of the Niger Delta region. Most of these so called leaders in Nigeria do these wicked acts because they are not from that region, and so they don't care about what happens to the people. They also succeed because they have a tight grip on the Nigerian state which they use to enslave some idiots from the Niger Delta region and empower them to join in the oppression of their own people.
The whole situation is so complex that it is now almost hopeless for the people of the Niger Delta region. It is the combine efforts of leaders of the International Community that can pressurize these corrupt and wicked people to do what is right in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
We should not deceive ourselves that we don't know what to do, the International Community knows what to do, the question is, do they have the moral will to do it?
I am Personally touched by this lonely audacious voice. If this voice of truth can
Be amplified and multiplied, healing will come quick to the area. No doubt, Niger Delta is a colonised territory
By multinational,National and local Mafias. Much is kept in the dark for Nigerians and the world.
Her testimony before the parliament will be aan acid test for their will.
Thanks for this story, Helene! I think the entire Dutch parliament needs a tour of the Niger Delta.
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