In a landmark victory for corporate accountability, human rights and environmental justice, Shell Oil agreed to pay out $15.5 million in a settlement to avoid an upcoming trial which "was expected to reveal extensive details of Shell’s activities in the Niger Delta." (as reported by the New York Times ). The case was brought on behalf of ten plaintiffs who accused Shell of complicity in the 1995 executions of Nigerian writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others.
Like many activists of the time, we were sickened by the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. Innosanto Nagara created this image in reaction to Saro-Wiwa’s death. In fact this image is the origins of what is now Design Action. Inno knew that designing on his own as an independent graphic artist would just be designing in a vacuum, so he sought out organizations which were working on the issues. Inno teamed up with Project Underground and other organizations which were organizing with communities worldwide against oil, coal and other devastating industries.
Inno has recently been updating the poster for additional organizing efforts around the Shell trial. For more information about Shell Oil’s abuses in Nigeria and about the settlement, read here: http://www.shellguilty.com/