IN MANY countries in the developing world, large oil reserves are more likely to lead to corruption and the neglect of other development initiatives than to overall prosperity. Nigeria is a prime example. The Parliament has begun an investigation of the way former president Olusegun Obasanjo ran the oil industry before leaving office last year. In the Niger River delta, impoverished residents complain that the industry has contaminated its water and fish.
Some delta residents have joined militants who periodically attack industry facilities or kidnap oil workers. Such attacks elevate this Nigerian problem into an international one by causing spikes in world oil prices. The governor of the region, Rotimi Amaechi, says the militants have become simple criminals, not Robin Hoods. He said their hostages have included children and local residents as well as oil workers.
But Amaechi also criticizes the oil companies for not doing more for economic development in the delta area. Both for human rights reasons and to protect the world's eighth largest source of oil, the US government should do all it can to ensure that ordinary Nigerians, especially those in the Niger delta, benefit from oil industry royalties.
The delta region was in the news recently when Nigerian officials arrested a Seattle-based film crew working on a documentary, "Sweet Crude," about conditions there. After a letter to the Nigerian government from Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Senator John Kerry, and others, the government released the filmmakers.
Cantwell says she plans to meet with the US assistant secretary of state for human rights to discuss the situation in the delta. "We think something needs to be done to elevate the issues of human rights, corruption, and environmental devastation," she said.
The United States should not turn a blind eye to conditions at the other end of the oil pipeline.
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