Recently, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Nigeria’s major rebel group, seized and destroyed a Shell Oil complex, killing a body guard and wounding four.

A Sept. 15 CNN report concluded that MEND forewarned all oil workers to evacuate their buildings as they planned to “bring these structures to the ground.” According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Nigerian economy is based greatly on the oil industry; 95 percent of the nation’s export revenues come from oil.

The Council on Foreign Relations Web site reports MEND has targeted these oil companies since
2006. MEND claims to represent the people of the Nigerian River Delta, where 70 percent of its inhabitants live on less than $1 a day, according to CNN.

This becomes an economic and humanitarian issue for the U.S., as Nigeria is a large supplier of oil to the U.S. So, what should the U.S. do? Should we take military action to solve this problem? Well, if the U.S. were to take military action, it might make the situation worse.

“The decision to take action on this issue should be left up to those directly involved and dealing with this rather than an outside power,” said Max Fletcher, freshman illustration major.
Let us not forget how detrimental force and friction can be whereas time and patience have always been virtues. It seems the U.S. is constantly trying to fix other nations’ problems. This is a difficult task when the U.S. has its own problems to fix.

“To help, the U.S. must maintain long-term relations with Nigeria. Democratic institutions must be properly established with resources provided to the people of the Nigerian River Delta,” said sociology professor Abu Bakarr Bah.

Instead of trying to provide crutches for these countries and people, perhaps we should encourage them to learn how to walk, metaphorically speaking. Yet, if this conflict cannot be resolved quickly, what problems will it cause?

“Nigerian oil has a very high gasoline yield and if the Nigerian situation would have got worse six months ago, this would be of larger concern,” said Erik Kreil, a senior analyst for the energy information administration. “If the global financial situation stabilizes, the market could shift its focus back to supply concerns if the situation there worsens.”

For right now, Americans will be all right. In this situation, no call-to-action is needed. As Bah said, we should maintain long-term relations with Nigeria and encourage them to work together with the people of the River Delta on this particular issue. The disparity of the Nigerian River Delta should be addressed in order to maintain some balance through domestic means, not a fairly unstable superpower over five thousand miles away.

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