As global leaders prepare for COP30, they must remember the legacy of the Ogoni Nine, a group of activists executed by the Nigerian state 30 years ago for demanding what should be sacrosanct: the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The Ogoni Nine were leaders in the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), a nonviolent, grassroots campaign to resist and demand accountability for the environmental and human rights abuses being committed by Shell and the Nigerian state in Ogoniland, a kingdom in the richly biodiverse and oil-producing Niger Delta region.
The ecological integrity of the Niger Delta has been under threat since Shell discovered commercial oil in 1956, having gained control over Nigeria’s emerging industry, backed by British colonial laws and government support. By 1995, Shell was the largest and most prominent oil operator in the Niger Delta, pumping almost a million barrels of crude oil a day and contributing significantly to Nigeria’s foreign earnings, 95.7% of which came from crude exports.
