But in the letters he often writes her, he calls her his mother. Partners in Piracy Shell Oil is the tenth-largest corporation in the world. Fourteen percent of its profits come from Nigerian oil, which it pumps at the rate of two million barrels per day. The hundred-foot natural gas flares in Ogoniland are due to the process of extracting oil from the earth. They have also caused lung cancer, asthma and bronchitis in generations of Ogoni.
Scientists say Nigerian oil flares are the single biggest cause of global warming.
Oil spills run rampant. Shell allowed one spill in Ogoniland to continue for 40 days. But the Niger River Delta is one of the most fertile areas in the world. Shell's partner in piracy is the Nigerian government itself, an international pariah that backs the company politically and militarily.