THE PRICE OF NINE: IMPACT OF AN ANOMIE CULTURE IN OGONI

Abstract

The fight for social and environmental justice led to the execution of nine community leaders in Ogoni, Nigeria in 1995. The Nigerian press rose against the backdrop of peaceful protest by the sacrificial nine in highlighting these events. As a result, the marginalization of the Ogoni minority group attracted local and global attention. This research explores the relationship between corporate crimes and environmental pollution using the Ogoni incident as a case study. This paper analyzes the Ogoni killing and catastrophe utilizing the anomie theory proposed by Emile Durkheim, and Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of “fieldâ€, “habitus†and doxa. It attributes the murder of the nine Ogoni leaders to the breakdown of law and order in the corporate structural regime of Shell Oil Company in Nigeria. Furthermore, the political administration of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which allowed the execution of the community leaders, is also analyzed using secondary data. The question this study tries to solve is how to manage issues of environmental justice and maintain oil and gas production in Nigeria and globally. The goal of this research is to ensure compliance in the oil and gas industry, protect the industry’s interest from payment of substantial debt and money as compensation from oil spills, and ensure that communities retain their livelihood. We recommend that the industry needs preemptive measures and adequate plans, which can be achieved through the early implementation of laws to handle likely environmental effluence.