Guardian: WikiLeaks: Shell's grip on Nigerian state revealed

The Guardian outlines the latest scoop from the Wikileaks cables exposé: From the oil-rich nation of Nigeria, US embassy cables reveal a top Shell executive's claims that company 'knows everything' about key decisions in Nigerian government ministries.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying

Clearly, these revelations have considerable significance for the apparent capacity of multinational companies to compromise the sovereignty of states in the developing world (the article notes that 70% of Nigerians live below the poverty line, despite the oil).

A brilliant example of recent globalisation or something that has already gone on for centuries?