Shell’S exit from Nigeria’s onshore oil sector has again sparked condemnation as critics, yesterday, accused the oil giant of failing to clean up the environmental damage it caused in Nigeria. 
  
While there are a series of lawsuits against Shell and others over the sale of an oil licence to Renaissance African Energy, raising concerns about transparency and accountability, the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) said Shell has left Niger Delta communities with polluted water, toxic air, and ruined livelihoods.
  
Acting Co-Executive Director of SOMO, Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, while reacting to the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) lawsuit against Shell said: “Instead of taking responsibility, Shell made a secret deal that ignores Nigerian laws and its own promises on environmental protection,” he said.
  
He raised concerns over the fairness of the deal, adding that reports suggest that Shell secured government approval for the sale, after two refusals by linking it to another investment in an offshore oilfield.
  
Wilde-Ramsing noted that Renaissance African Energy had to borrow money from Shell to buy the licence, leading to doubts about whether it could handle the expensive cleanup required.
   
“Shell hasn’t even done a proper assessment of the cleanup costs or set up a fund to cover them,” Wilde-Ramsing added. He noted that Shell has long been part of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which promotes corporate responsibility, but the handling of the sale contradicts those commitments.
  
“The whole process has been kept in the dark, even though it affects millions of people. Shell cannot just walk away while communities continue to suffer. “This is about fairness. Shell must take responsibility for the damage it caused,” Wilde-Ramsing said.