https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/23/dutch-court-rejects-suit-of-nigerian-widows-against-shell
This article talks about the oil rich Niger Delta and how there has been a Dutch court that has thrown out a suit against Shell because they believe them to have exploited this oil rich Niger Delta. This suit has been brought by four widows of the activists that were protesting against Shell and were executed because of it. Shell has always denied this wrongdoing, since 2019 when the court allowed the case to continue. Several witness testimonies had eventually stated that they were paid off by Shell to back them in court. The court still eventually ruled that there was not sufficient evidence in order to convict Shell of this serious crime. In court it was stated that they cannot assume the money these people testifying had received was from Shell.
This article is important because it shows that sometimes having a good geopolitical location for a certain resource can also have its problems. People try to take advantage of something that may benefit them, especially a natural resource like oil. Oil can skyrocket an economy and Shell being a gas company obviously wants to have the most abundance it can have of oil. Although it is not proven, it does seem a little fishy that the people testifying came forward afterwards and said they were paid off and it still did not change the ruling.
This article relates to what we talk about in class through the topic of geopolitics. It relates to this because Nigeria’s location affects what it has an abundance of or may not, and in this case it has an abundance of oil, that people want to take advantage of. Oil is something that can make people crazy, as if there is a shortage an economy can plummet. Without a sustainable amount of oil, Shell’s business can collapse which is probably why they supposedly were abusing the delta.