Day in, day out, we see the various fiddles, corruption, exploitation that forms the basis of the capitalist system. Sometimes it is small dodgy backroom deals, other times it is large corporate fiddles, but the system can't function without them. Its life blood is profit, which simply means getting more out than you put in, and the aim is always to increase that "profit". These deals can mean decimating the environment, ripping off the public, and the usual one of depriving the public of any slice of the endeavor, which in turn destroys the fabric of society, making it impossible to create a fair and just environment for the public at large.
This latest little fiddle to come to light is one that, with the usual callousness of the system, will add more deprivation to the people of a country who already live in extreme poverty, making sure the stay there or sink deeper in to the mire of deprivation. There only hope, like that of the rest of us, is to destroy this corrupt, gangster, exploitative and inhuman system, and replace it with one that the people control to the benefit of all.
Shell and Eni’s scandal-plagued oil deal will deprive Nigeria of $6bn, experts estimate
Amount is more than double the combined education and healthcare budget of Nigeria
------ "After years of denials, Shell admitted last year that it knew much of the money initially paid for the block, known as OPL245, would pass to convicted money launderer Dan Etete, who took a cut for himself with much of the rest paid to well-connected officials.Under the contract, just 41 per cent of future revenues from the oil block will accrue to Nigeria, according to the report commissioned by NGO Global Witness and anti-corruption campaigners at Re:Common, the Corner House and HEDA.Typically, 65 to 85 per cent of profits from such deals go to the government that granted the licence, under what’s known as a production sharing contract (PSC).But with OPL245, Shell and Eni dispensed with the PSC structure and effectively cut Nigeria out of all future profits. Instead the government will receive only tax revenues."----
