GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD

Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2005 by Irogbe, Kema

Also, the oil multinational corporations including Shell, Mobil, Exxon, AGIP, Chevron, Texaco, etc., in Nigeria have fashioned a new vision called Vision 2010.12 This Vision was first sold to the late military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha, who in an attempt to shore up legitimacy, was a lackey of the MNCs. The Vision was designed to apply the coercive military power against any opposition to the exploration and drilling of oil without regard to the health of the local inhabitants who are marginalized and endangered by the ecological degradation. The corporations had reportedly been heavily involved in the importation of weapons and arms for protection of their interest against the incursion of the indigenes of the Niger Delta whose land had been devastated by the oil exploration and drilling under the concessions provided by the government. The oil corporations retained their own police force, and through their immense economic clout they plundered a lot of places and displaced the people. In the late 198Os, the Ogoni land was turned into a killing field rather than a drilling field. The Ogoni people, including the international known human rights activist, Ken Saro Wiwa, who spoke against the environmental degradation caused by the drilling of the oil as well as lack of compensation to the indigenes of the oil-rich areas, were killed for resisting the continued destruction of their land. In a move reminiscent of the mercantilist era, the MNCs seek for protection from their governments in their quest for capitalist hegemony. Such is the case of Nigeria, an oil-rich country. The United States and Nigeria have entered a military defense pact called "Operation Focus Relief designed to protect American geopolitical and economic interests as well as safeguard the new democratic dispensation in Nigeria. The "Operation Focus Relief is therefore aimed to ensure the uninterruption in the flow of the country's oil to the industrialized world. In a recent address to the Association for Good Governance and Productive Leadership in Benin City, Nigeria, Professor Festus Iyayi captures this perspective:

Nigerians like to boast that their country has the biggest (and) strongest army in Africa. But today, there is a feeling in informed circles that this army may have suffered a defeat without going to war. Even top serving Nigerian generals are getting to grips with this idea. The government of President Olusegun Obasanjo has entered a military pact with the United States of America. Code-named "Operation Focus Relief, the agreement grants concessions to the United States Army to engage in activities that no foreign army has undertaken in Nigeria since the country became independent in 1960. Information made available to CRYSTAL Magazine by the Untied States Embassy in Abuja, describes "Operation Focus Relief as a historic and unprecedented bilateral agreement between the U. S. and Nigeria. CRYSTAL gathered that the American soldiers currently stationed at NlCON Hilton and Sheraton hotels are also engaged in espionage activities on Nigeria's military capabilities.13