Omotayo Adekunle Adenugba

People of Oil: Ecologies of Restoration and Corporate Withdrawal in Ogoni offers an ethnographic account of the complex relationship between extractive industries and indigenous people. When Shell announced its sale and exit from onshore operations in Nigeria, many Ogoni residents, whose lives had long been shaped by the corporation’s extractive presence, were left wondering what it meant to live after corporate exit. For decades, Shell’s activities in Ogoni, a key oil-producing region of the Niger Delta, have produced devastating ecological and social consequences. However, the Ogonis have also structured their everyday life around Shell in ways that are difficult to undo through employment, environmental restoration projects, and informal oil economies provided by Shell’s presence. By immersing myself within the Ogoni community for 12 months, this project examines the implications of corporate exit for the Ogoni people, particularly those related to ethnicity, political economy, and practices of repair. It contributes to anthropological scholarship by examining the complex relationship between corporate extractive industries and indigenous communities, how each relies on and benefits from the other, and the tensions that arise when their ties begin to dissolve.