Monday, 5/19/97 For repression not refreshment…Coke is it
Buying a soft drink may be supporting the death of democracy in
Nigeria
By Guido Grasso-Knight Swarthmore College Courtesy of University
Wire You’re hot and thirsty. You’ve just finished four hours of
Orgo studying and a Psych attachment, and it’s one in the morning.
The obvious solution is to quench your thirst and resolve your
discomfort and, hey, the water fountain just won’t cut it. So, the
next best choice available to you is to fork over the two quarters,
the dime and the nickel to a brightly lit soda-vending machine. You
walk downstairs and find yourself confronted by the seductively
sweet image of red, blue and white wavy stripes. But, being aware
of world events, you bypass the Pepsi machine and keep on searching
for something else. Things are looking good: you showed your
support for the people in Burma and refused to finance a company
that supported their brutal police state’s heinous abuse of human
rights. Unfortunately, the swilling red and white lines of the
Coca-Cola machine don’t offer you any solutions or any comfort to
your thirst or to the problems of labor exploitation. Here’s why.
Three years ago, Nigeria, one of the most populous nations in West
Africa, was in the process of creating a democratic government.
Despite the efforts of thousands of people and the public outrage
following his illegal actions, the demagogue of the day, Gen. Sani
Abacha, seized control of the government and the nation by swinging
the hatchet of armed forces at the democratic elements and the
people in Nigeria. On June 12, 1993, the military annulled the
results of the democratic elections and within six months, Abacha
declared himself the de facto dictator of Nigeria. During his
regime he has nullified the agency of the regular courts,
restricting their ability to question the actions of the
government, while at the same time corrupting the judicial process
and transforming the courts into his tools for eliminating
opposition. He and his supporters have dissolved the remaining
political parties, arrested and imprisoned political dissidents,
and muffled any voice of pro-democracy opposition. Like any good
dictator, he has waged a continuous and aggressive campaign to
silence the alarms of community leaders and activists, trade
unionists, human-rights campaigners and journalists. AND IT DOESN’T
STOP HERE. Under the guise of covert military operations and often
in clear view of the public, he and his cohorts have orchestrated a
pervasive and effective means of repression designed to stave off
resistance to the environmental and social damage caused by
transnational oil companies. They have forced tens of thousands to
seek refuge in other parts of the country while an additional
thousand have been forced to seek protection outside the borders of
their native homeland. All these people have been stripped of their
homes and their dignity. This full-scale invasion into the lives of
Nigerians by Gen. Abacha has resulted in the death of over 3,000
Ogoni, and the unrelenting persecution of their community leaders
and representatives. People are tried and hanged at the discretion
of a military regime bent on the systematic destruction of Nigerian
popular resistance movements. This group of thugs has attached a
blue-dot special ticket price on Nigeria, her resources and her
people. Companies throughout the world have flocked to Nigeria,
waving extra-value coupons and voicing their all-too-willing
ability to ignore the injustice that Abacha, his cohorts and these
companies are committing. Coca-Cola is one of these companies. It
may not be the biggest investor in Nigeria, nor is it likely to be
the most vocal or significant supporter of the military regime.
However, it is there in Nigeria, showing the people how Coca-Cola
always benefits from a bad situation. Within the last three years
of Abacha’s reign on Nigeria’s political and economic structure,
Coca-Cola has enjoyed no less than a twofold increase in market
shares. The lucrative nature of its investment in Nigeria has
increased to such an extent that Nigeria is now the largest market
in the entire continent of Africa. At first glance, Coca-Cola’s
involvement doesn’t sound all too bad, and saving your money from a
would-have-been Coke purchase doesn’t sound like it does the
Nigerians a lot of good. In fact, not buying that soda can doesn’t
directly do much for the Nigerian people. However, by denying
Coca-Cola access to your money and your support, you deprive the
company and Abacha of increasing influence and opportunities for
exploitation. Coca-Cola, through its Nigerian-owned franchise
holder, sponsors and supports events and demonstrations organized
by Abacha’s military dictatorship. In order to invest and conduct
business in Nigeria, Coca-Cola must interact and favor the
interests of the military regime. By dealing with Abacha and his
subordinates in any fashion, Coca-Cola, the world’s most recognized
business enterprise, gives legitimacy to his dictatorship. By
investing in Abacha’s vision of Nigeria, this company gives him
money to buy more weapons and ammunition to continue his purge of
the Ogoni people. Coca-Cola is engaging itself in a very blatant
political agenda by wedding its interests with that of a dictator.
The leaders and shareholders of Coca-Cola have profited through
Abacha in the sale of a valueless and nutritionless soft-drink at
the cost of an average day’s pay to the people of the highly
populated region where nutritional and financial resources are
quickly disappearing from their grasp. Coca-Cola has not spoken out
against these human rights abuses. Despite the work of myriad
resistance groups within Nigeria and the declarations of several
human rights and religious organizations, Coca-Cola refuses to
recognize the error of singing "Always Coca-Cola" in Nigeria. How
can we do the same? Swarthmore College has over $8 million invested
in Coca-Cola. We are explicitly profiting from its ventures in
Nigeria and the death of thousands. Our college, to which we have
given our time, our efforts, our participation and our money, is
investing (albeit through numerous advisors and investment firms)
our gifts and our trust in the exploitations of Nigerians. We know
that this Quaker institution had moral qualms about investing in
South Africa; how can it pretend to not have the same disgust with
regard to its involvement in Coca-Cola’s illegal business
practices? Boycotting Coca-Cola is a start. The soda drink is one
of its many products, including but not limited to Minute Maid
juices and Sprite. Yet, it is the least we can do, and perhaps the
least possible and therefore effective measure for creating change
– given that the majority of Americans drink more Coca-Cola than
water! As consumers, we must demand that Coca-Cola divest from
Nigeria until a stable democracy with fully participatory elections
and popular organizations is instituted. In the meantime, we must
also ask and force Swarthmore to reconsider where it is investing
(and who it is tacitly supporting) and to question the entire blind
investment process which allowed us to fall in line with Coca-Cola,
Gen. Abacha and murderers as we march to the concession stands with
money in our back pockets, a fizzing drink in our hands and the
chime of "always exploitation" beaten out by our footsteps on the
graves of dead Ogoni. Most of my information was found thanks to
the Free Nigeria Movement. There has been a surprising and
frightening lack of coverage of these issues in mainstream American
media. Their Web site is a source of great information and details
Coca-Cola’s and other companies’ extended involvement in the abuse
of Nigeria. They can also be reached at Free Nigeria Movement
Secretariat-General, P.O. Box 441395, Indianapolis, IN 46244, (317)
216-4590 (phone/fax).