an Eldis Resource

This report draws on a wide variety of information sources to discuss Chevron’s record of accountability within the larger context of Nigeria’s oil development. It reveals a company, and an industry, that has operated with little real or effective oversight, and identifies the major roadblocks standing in the way of urgently needed reform.

Chevron is guilty of several human rights abuses, including the alleged collaboration with the Nigerian military in directing violence towards community protestors. Such acts have resulted in a number of deaths since the early 1990s. Whilst some improvements have been made by Chevron with regard to their labor rights and safety record, on the whole, Nigerians living in oil producing regions must still struggle, sometimes dangerously, often unsuccessfully, to have basic human rights respected.

Local community leaders and foreign observers also report a persistent disregard for environmental standards by Chevron, citing a lack of communication with local communities, inadequate or nonexistent Environmental Impact Assessments, slow response to spills and leaks, and evasion of liability. Chevron representatives claim its practices are guided by Nigerian law as well as the company’s own policies. However, Chevron operates within a rudimentary regulatory environment and maintains a complicated relationship with the government. The company makes little of its official policies known to local communities or outside observers; amid weak government enforcement, lack of public access to legal and environmental knowledge, and a lack of transparency, Chevron operates in an environment of de facto unaccountability.

Chevron can, and should, use potential reforms taking place in Nigeria as a basis for building a more sustainable, less damaging oil industry. It should incorporate a philosophy of community development that looks beyond immediate needs and prepares members of local communities for a self-reliant future. It should work with the government to fashion an alternative economic base for oil communities where petroleum production has destroyed traditional means of subsistence such as farming and fishing. Finally, it should open its activities to the scrutiny of independent assessors. Accordingly, international governmental and non-governmental agencies should be involved in monitoring the company’s compliance with existing laws and its business policy in areas such as environmental protection and community development.

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