wfn.org | Two denominations urge Nigerian oil boycott

[powellb@ucc.org]

Nov. 22, 1996
United Church of Christ
Hans Holznagel
(216) 736-2214
E-mail:  holznagh@ucc.org
William C. Winslow
(212) 870-2137
E-mail:  william.winslow@ecunet.org
On the World Wide Web:  http://www.ucc.org

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Clifford L. Willis
(317) 635-3113, ext. 207
On the World Wide Web:  http://www.disciples.org

Mission board of two North American denominations
urges worldwide boycott of Nigerian oil

      GREEN LAKE, Wis. -- The Common Global Ministries
Board of two major Protestant churches is calling for
a worldwide boycott of Nigerian oil to protest that
country's military dictatorship.
      The Board, the first North American church
agency to endorse a boycott against Nigerian oil,
guides the common work of the Division of Overseas
Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ) and the United Church Board for World
Ministries of the United Church of Christ.
      Voted at the Board's semi-annual meeting Nov.
18-20, the resolution asks major oil companies not to
ship oil from Nigeria.  It stops short of calling for
a consumer boycott at the gas pumps.  But the Board
does plan to urge members of the two denominations, as
well as governments, other churches, ecumenical groups
and advocacy organizations, to write to major oil
companies to request that they not purchase oil from
Nigeria.
      The action was taken to protest the military
dictatorship of Nigerian strongman General Sani
Abacha, who, in l993, arrested the winner of a
democratically held election for president.  The
church board charges that Abacha has consistently
violated Nigerians' human rights and jailed or killed
opponents.
      The Nigerian military regime "must move without
further delay to relinquish its undemocratic hold on
power and allow the country to return to civilian
rule," said the Rev. Dan Hoffman, the Indianapolis-
based mission executive for the Africa region for the
two churches.  A promise by the regime that democracy
will be restored by 1998 "is not acceptable nor deemed
credible," Hoffman said.
      The boycott targets oil because petroleum
products account for more than 90 percent of Nigeria's
exports and 80 percent of its public revenues.  Royal
Dutch Shell is the leading exporter.  Also operating
in the country are such American companies as Ashland,
Chevron, Mobil, Phillips, Sun and Texaco.
      Hoffman says a byproduct of the military's
dependence on oil is a lax standard of environmental
control.  Oil companies, he says, "have been
responsible for widespread pollution that has
negatively affected agriculture, destroyed plant life
and poisoned the air and water."  According to the
Sierra Club, the Ogoniland region of Nigeria --
controlled by Shell -- has been particularly hard hit.
      Other church recommendations to put pressure on
Nigeria?s rulers include a freeze on their bank
accounts and assets, a travel ban, a sports boycott of
the country and the suspension of all but humanitarian
aid.
      The Common Global Ministries Board is part of a
relationship unique in American Protestantism, as the
two mission agencies share staff, budget and program. 
This includes cooperative work with partner churches
in 90 countries in medical, agricultural, social,
educational and church programs, and involves more
than 175 missionaries in about 40 countries.  The
Disciples, with general offices in Indianapolis, have
nearly 1 million members and more than 3,900 local
churches in the United States and Canada.  The UCC,
with national offices in Cleveland, has 1.5 million
members in more than 6,100 local churches in the
United States and Puerto Rico.  The two denominations
have been in "full communion" as ecumenical partners
since 1989.
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