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Obama to Negotiate a Cease-Fire in Nigeria’s Oil Wars? |
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Nigeria’s deadly conflicts over oil don’t just play a part in driving the price of oil over $120 a barrel. They also leave scores of dead and tear the country apart.
Oil-related violence continued this weekend:
Militants in Nigeria have blown up an oil flow station belonging to the Shell company in the Niger Delta, causing it to cut some of its production.
It is the fifth attack on the oil industry in recent weeks, reducing output and pressuring global prices.
[snip]
Shell accounts for around half of Nigeria’s 2.1 million barrels per day of oil output, and has already been forced to cut production because of a pipeline bombing last month.
Will resolution come from an unlikely source?
Rebels who have stepped up attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry in the last month said on Sunday they were considering a ceasefire appeal by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has launched five attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta since it resumed a campaign of violence in April, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to shut more than 164,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
“The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem,” the militant group said in an e-mailed statement.
MEND did not say when or where Obama, the leading candidate for the Democratic ticket for November’s U.S. presidential election, made the appeal. It said it hoped the government would use any ceasefire to improve conditions for its detained leader, Henry Okah.
Now, without confirmation from Obama this sounds like just another rumor. And maybe the praise of yet another militant group is the last thing Obama needs right now. But part of me wishes that the rumor were true. Despite the fact that I support Obama, the painful thing about his candidacy has been that he hasn’t taken advantage of the platform he has right now and used it to impact crises in America or the world. While I take him at his word that his presidency will bring change, it sure would help his credibility if he was out negotiating cease-fires (which would lower the price of gas more than any “holiday”).
Or maybe American voters could give a fuck less. Silly me for thinking Nigeria could be important. After all, there are flag pins and pastors to discuss.
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Obama was actually involved in trying to stem teh violence during the Kenyan post-election strife — he was in contact with Condoleeza Rice and made calls to interested parties. He did not talk about it on the campaign trail, I assume, because he did not want to jeopardize any progress by using his role for political purposes. If he is involved in alleviating the Nigerian conflict but not talking about his role, I respect that.
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