Shell Oil and Nigeria's military dictatorship are using a black-against-black "divide and confuse" PR strategy to deflect criticism following Nigeria's executions of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other environmental and human rights activists.
Their approach resembles the "Neptune Strategy" developed a decade ago by Jack Mongoven's former PR firm to defend Shell's dealings in South Africa.
Following the hanging of Saro-Wiwa in November of last year, Shell and Nigeria each launched separate massive PR campaigns claiming that they are participating in a "transition to democracy" in Nigeria.
Nigeria's $10.7 million campaign employed eight U.S. PR firms whose work included production of a 297-page book and a three-part TV documentary, plus advertisements targeting Washington policymakers. The regime funded a "fact-finding" junket of black journalists who visited Nigeria and reported back with accolades for Nigeria's ruler, General Sani Abacha. Abacha's government also bought glossy, multi-page color insert ads in black newspapers, claiming that criticisms of Nigeria are racist, "double standard treatment of Black African Nations by the United States government. If Jewish Americans can stand up for Israel we can stand up for Africa."
