01/18 Metro Toronto Council Says No to Nigerian Oil

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

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Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
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                    GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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>> Metro Toronto Council Says No to Nigerian Oil
 
TORONTO January 18, 1996 (GP) One month following a Metro Toronto
Council vote to turn down a Shell Canada bid to supply the
municipality's gasoline, Metro councillors agreed to an amended
contract that would prohibit Shell from supplying any Nigerian
crude oil as a part of the deal.
 
The Council also passed a motion to inform the Canadian
government of the difficulty they encountered making this
decision because of the conflict between their moral and business
responsibilities.
 
"Council gave a clear signal that Nigeria's oil is blood-tainted
and that Metro would not be a part of any deal that would use oil
from Nigeria," said Jeanne Moffat, Executive Director of
Greenpeace Canada.
 
The deal followed intensive lobbying over the past month by Shell
Canada officials who also sent a last minute letter to Council
just prior to the vote that clinched the deal. 
 
"While Shell's last minute efforts enabled them to win the
contract, it was only with a commitment to avoid Nigerian oil. It
is a public admission by Shell Canada that it does not want to be
identified with Nigerian oil," said Olivia Chow, Metro
Councillor.
 
Prior to the vote, representatives from the Canadian Inter-Church
Committee on Africa accompanied Nigerian lawyer Olisa Agbakoba,
the Deputy Legal Counsel for Ken Saro-Wiwa, to a meeting with
councillors.  Agbakoba documented years of abuse of the Nigerian
environment and of the people caused by Shell operations and
encouraged councillors not to reverse their previous decision to
reject Shell Canada's bid to supply Metro Toronto with oil. 
"Shell pays billions of dollars directly into the pockets of the
Nigerian military dictatorship," he said.  "The military rulers
would not survive without this mutually beneficial relationship."
 
Following the vote, John Oladehinde, President of the Democratic
Alliance of Nigerians in Canada, expressed regret that the
Council approved the Shell contract because of the suffering of
the people in the villages and countryside where Shell has its
operations. 
 
"We are disappointed that Council chose to give Shell this
contract, but this decision is nonetheless a de facto embargo of
Nigerian oil at the municipal level and we hope that other
governments at municipal, provincial, and federal levels will
follow suit," said Kristina Stockwood of the Canadian Committee
to Protect Journalists.
 
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For more information, contact:
 
Kristina Stockwood, Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists -
416-703-1638
Kole Shettima, Inter-Church Coalition on Africa, 416-927-1124
Jeanne Moffat, Greenpeace Canada, 416-597-8408
 

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