ABSTRACT
Given that oil is the largest export from this populous and poor country, it seems inevitable that with or without Shell the oil pumps will keep going. Add to this the fact that confidence in the Nigerian military regime is very low, resulting in a very low rate of foreign investment in Nigeria, and the prospects for the environment do not look good. Overseas investment brings new technology and higher standards of environmental protection, even if those standards are not as high as those in the investors’ home country. Nigeria’s elite have already removed their own liquid assets from the country. Further capital flight by Shell would only accelerate further this downward spiral in confidence.
