1.Explain why Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles”
2.Explain illegal bunkering and how it affects Nigeria economically.
3.What is an MOU, and why would oil companies and local communities prefer these to any other agreement?
4.Describe how big multinational oil companies affect local communities in the Niger Delta.
5.Describe how Port Harcourt has been affected by the discovery of oil in Nigeria.
Post your responses to these questions by 8:00am September 6, 2012
Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a "place of troubles" because that is all it is ever known for. One day Mr. Ghazvinian decided to sit down and have lunch with one of his friends named Adwoa Edun (a half-British Ghanaian born female). She too could only describe the Niger Delta as this "place of troubles." Mr. Ghazvinian likes to use the word trouble and war interchangeably. If I were to set up an equation, it would be something like this: Trouble is to the Niger Delta as The Elephant is to the Room. No one wants to say what's really going on when in all actuality, war is taking place day in and day out. In this case and in my personal opinion, trouble is simply the politically ignorant term for war. Mr. Ghazvinian even takes my shared belief a step further and says that if someone tells you there has been some trouble in the Niger Delta, the outsider connotation is that "shit has hit the fan" (Ghazvinian 18). To be blunt about the situation, no progress will be made in the Niger Delta regarding stability unless one of two impossible extremes happen - The Oil Companies all decide to pull out of Nigeria - or - The Oil Companies decide to exterminate the entire population. When you take "the world's most sophisticated exploration and production operations" and you put it against the backdrop of "hand built huts of mud and straw" as well as a population where "its people survive with no electricity or clean running water" you are begging individuals to take up arms and fire at the opposition (Ghazvinian 19).
ReplyDeleteNow onto the engenderment of Illegal Bunkering. This act of valor in some eyes or thievery in others began around the turn of the 21st century. For a better historical understanding of illegal bunkering, we will go back to the early 90's. The Umuechem massacre (October 29th) has been etched into the roots of the Niger Delta as well as those from the Etche tribe where allegedly 495 houses were afflicted and 80 members were slaughtered because of nonviolent protesting (Ghazvinian). Year after year the same sorry story reoccurred with slight variations to what really happened on those tragic days. This is what the Human Rights Watch has to say on the matter, "Under the Nigerian constitution, all minerals, oil and gas in Nigeria belong to the federal government. Oil extraction outside the framework of an agreement with the federal government is illegal, as is the possession of crude oil by anyone not licensed to do so…" In layman's terms, people were taking oil that legally was not theirs to sell for a profit. Now there are many active organizations (peaceful and violent) throughout the Nigeria Delta and in the greater part of Nigeria that would argue that Shell and other oil companies alike are stealing the oil from the Nigerian people and it is up to the local community to take back what is rightfully theirs. Ghazvinian states that "By 2003 an estimated 200,000 barrels of oil was disappearing every day in Nigeria, causing a loss to the national treasury of some $100 million a week" (Ghazvinian 29). From an economic standpoint, both the oil companies and those "illegally bunkering" are not benefiting from the situation. It simply leads to oil rigs being shut down in some areas and being put up in others. Not only does it affect those directly involved in the conflict, but the country as a whole loses revenues which theoretically could be put into programs such as education or infrastructure or even possibly into the pockets of government officials.
MoU is an acronym for 3 seemingly important but utterly useless words, Memorandum of Understanding. Over the years, ethnic minorities in the Delta such as Urhobo, Ijaw, Etch, Itsekiri, Ogoni, Edo, Efik, etc - all have lived the same story over and over again. Shell or another oil company settles in a village, makes promises to the people about the good that will come from their oil rig, and ultimately disrupts the lives of the people living their forever. It was said that a Memorandum of Understanding would do the trick. The companies would be forced to sign it, thus holding them to their end of the bargain which would include things like "compensation and infrastructure projects for the community" (Ghazvinian 31). An MoU was also an alternative to having the Nigerian government stick its fingers in the pie which usually ended up in bloodshed and condemnations. This beloved memorandum was a way for local Delta communities and big name oil companies to work it out in a peaceful manner. Like always, the bigger, more powerful, and more privileged man or in this case consortium won the battle by agreeing to things such as an HIV/AIDS clinic in return for millions of barrels to be pumped and billions of dollars to be pocketed.
ReplyDeleteInternational Oil companies, whether they like it or not, disrupt the lives of the people living in the Niger Delta. Now whether it is for better or for worse can be argued, but the disruption remains the same. Ghazvinian takes a hard stance on the issue and says that "International oil companies... made it their unofficial practice to pay off village chiefs to ensure that local youths did not disrupt their operations" (Ghazvinian 25). I honestly couldn’t agree more. This then led to brothers turning on brothers, families on families, and Nigerian people on Nigerian people all for money, protection, and tangible rewards that mean nothing in the long run.
Ghazvinian states that "nearly everyone who visits the Delta begins by flying into Port Harcourt, the unofficial capital of Nigeria." Not only is the city home to Port Harcourt International Airport which serves well over a million people a year, but the city is home to well over a million people as well. After the "oil boom" in Port Harcourt, people swarmed the city and made it grow from a city of "200,000 to one of 1.1 million within a few years" (Ghazvinian 36). To say that there is poverty in Port Harcourt is an understatement. Children are dying from water-borne diseases, adults are being forced to beg just to live another day, and oil companies are thriving off the land. It is quite the depressing town.
In response to your compliment, I feel that you did an outstanding job. You did not simply do the homework, but you went above and beyond with this assignment and wrote with a specific style and tone. In addition you had a stance on the issues, showing your care and concern with the subject. This was a very conversational yet content heavy piece, you went in depth and still managed to keep it interesting. Props, bro!
DeleteExcellent work Tony! A very real description of Port Harcourt
Delete1. To quote directly from Mr. Ghazvinian, “trouble is a word that people use when they are trying not to say war.” What is happening in Nigeria could most definitely be called a war. It is a war between the people of Nigeria, and the oil companies who seem to have annexed the country. Gang violence has skyrocketed in Nigeria, and there have been many instances of oil installations being attacked, and oil workers have being kidnapped or killed. This is definitely war.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is basically the illegal trade of crude oil. Many organized groups in Nigeria are tapping into pipelines that are carrying oil, and stealing the oil from right under the government’s nose. Approximately 200,000 barrels of oil go missing every day (It is most likely more since 2003). Because oil has become such a staple in the Nigerian economy, Nigeria’s treasury has been losing about $100 million every day due to illegal bunkering.
3. An MoU is a Memorandum of understanding. MoU’s have become a standard procedure for oil companies. They are a series of informal documents that outline what has been agreed upon between the local community and the company. Basically, they are just documents filled with empty promises. However, in exchange for MoU’s, oil companies are granted a peaceful environment for them to set up their operations. When these empty promises are not met, the oil companies “peaceful environment” goes up in flames (sometimes literally). Oil companies most likely prefer these because they do not actually have to strictly follow the guidelines set up. On the flip side, the people might prefer these MoU’s because they are filled with these great sounding promises that they think the oil companies will fulfill.
4. Oil companies have essentially ruined the communities of the Niger Delta. Villages have been destroyed, there are piles of burning garbage everywhere, and countless oil spills in the delta have shockingly deteriorated the standard of living in local communities. As Ghazvinian said, “the journey from the Delta to Lagos literally bleeds with misery.” I think that gives us a pretty good idea of just how much these oil companies have devastated the Delta communities.
5. Ghazvinian describes Port Harcourt as Nigeria’s Houston. It is a city that sprung up during Nigeria’s oil boom in the 1970’s. It went from a city of 200,000 to 1.1 million. Now it is where oil executives "set up camp", because of how close it is in proximity to the Delta. Like much of Nigeria, there are only a few in the city who have become exceedingly wealthy, while the rest of the people are desperately poor. Everyone came to Port Harcourt during the oil boom because they thought that some wealth could be achieved. However, this idea turned into the opposite of what they thought. Overall, the discovery of oil in Nigeria became a curse for Port Harcourt, and continues to be.
1) Mr. Ghazvinian believes that by anyone’s portrayal on the word “trouble” the Niger Delta is a place that is dripping with it. He mentions that the entire area is covered with violence and corruption, which gives it its very name the “place of troubles.” More specifically, Mr. Ghazvinian digs deeper into the issue and gives examples of the trouble. “Gangs of teenagers cruise the creeks and swamps in speed boats armed with automatic weapons, oil is siphoned at night and sold at the black market, Foreign oil workers are kidnapped, flow stations and other oil instillations are attacked and vandalized, and all of the chaos affects everyone and everything directly. Essentially, in order to attempt to decode the utter complexity of the Niger Delta, it must be established that it is due basically to “Money, land and ethnic rivalry.” He then goes on to put the blame on the foreign oil companies. He states they have “spent millions of dollars on imported equipment to steal hundreds of millions of barrels of Nigeria’s oil. Then they sell it on the international Market for hundreds of billions of dollars, without giving any of the benefits to the people of Nigeria.” Although some of the money is going to the corrupted military leaders, they have used it on mansions in the capital of Abuja, whereas the people of the delta are living in broken shacks, similar to that of their ancestors hundreds to even thousands of years ago. The difference between the upper and lower class is extreme and the word “trouble” only scratches the surface of the deep issue regarding the Delta. Essentially when anything affects the people of the Delta or they begin to protest, they are “bought off, set against each other or shot at.” The use of money for manipulation is absolutely insane, and it is a very common form of control in the area.
ReplyDelete2) The idea of “Illegal bunkering was first made known by local Nigerian gangs that would steal crude oil from rigs and sell it on the black market. By 2003, 200,000 barrels of oil was disappearing per day in Nigeria, which came to a total of $100 million lost per week to the national treasury. The economy of Nigeria feel deeper into a troubled state as the gangs of Nigeria simply hurt the oil companies forcing rigs to be shut down, and relocated to other areas. No one benefits in this situation as this quick income is attained through stolen oil. Although it can be argued that the gang members are simply taking oil that is rightfully theirs, there are other ways of dealing with the situation in a non-violent, or more lawful sense.
Bryan I love the enthusiasm in your writing and the depth of your responses! You clearly have a strong understanding of the material we read as well as a passion for Post-Colonial Africa. Though I enjoyed your entire blog post, one of my favorite parts was in the first sentence with your description about the Niger Delta and its relation to trouble. You said that the "Niger Delta is a place that is dripping with it [trouble]" which applies both literally and figuratively. Well done good sir.
Delete3) MoU or Memorandum of understanding, has become “a standard operating procedure for international oil companies” that want to do business in communities around Africa. These informal documents outline principals that are promised to both parties, basically acting as a contract for oil companies to exploit an area without the risk of violence. It is beneficial to both the oil companies and the communities because in the case of the Kula villagers, it allowed a decent settlement to protest, and something in return. The oil companies were allowed to continue their work, and there was a clear guarantee of “compensation and infrastructure projects for the community.” These are not always productive, in fact it is common for communities to take over flow stations or sabotage operations if they feel that their written and legal promises in the MuO are not being met. This in turn draws attention to the issue and could in fact create a larger problem for both parties.
ReplyDelete4) It is written in several parts of the reading; in short, large multi oil companies use their money to get their foot in the door. Paying “village chiefs: off, companies are able to take the natural and precious resources of the land which always hurts the community. It creates conflict, brings up gang violence, increases pollution, off balances the economy, and crumbles the Nation. Around Nigeria alone, there are 160 fields and 1500 wells in which large operations such as Shell and Exxon are drilling.
5) “A tangle of fading expressways and overpasses” sprang up during the oil boom of the 1970’s. Port Harcourt became flooded with infrastructure and the gap between the “lucky few” wealthy and the grindingly poor increased. The town is pulsing with overpopulation as Ghazvinaian mentions how it turned from a city of 200,000 to 1.1 million in a mere few years. This impoverished city is suffering due to the oil businesses and their monopolies in the country of Nigeria.
Sarah Means
ReplyDelete1. Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles” because of the constant crime and violent conflict in the Niger Delta. “‘Trouble’…is a word people use when they are trying to not say ‘war’.”(Page 18) A lot of people live in poverty in the Delta. This and ethnic-related tensions/rivalries and frustration with foreign oil companies in the Delta lead to a lot of violence. There are at least a thousand deaths a year which makes it a “high intensity conflict”.
2. Illegal bunkering is when people illegally tap into the oil pipelines and steal crude oil to sell on the black market. This is usually done because people in the Niger Delta are angry with foreign oil companies and believe that it is their oil because it came from their land. This effects Nigeria’s economically because nearly 200,000 barrels of oil are stolen daily, which causes the Nigerian treasury to lose about $100million a week.
3. MOU stands for Memorandum of Understanding. An MOU is an informal agreement, like a contract that implies no legal commitment and cannot be legally enforced. They are preferable to other agreements because MOUs are done without government involvement. Both the oil companies and the local communities felt that “dealing with each other directly is infinitely preferable to leaving things to the Nigerian government.” (Page 31). The oil companies like MOUs because they don’t have to deal with the Nigerian government and they don’t legally have to keep their promises to the communities. The local communities like MOUs because they don’t have to depend on the corrupt Nigerian government to make sure their rights and wishes are fulfilled and they feel that they can take matters into their own hands.
4. A lot of environmental damage has been done because of the foreign oil companies. Oil from oil companies pollutes the water in the delta. 1.5 million tons of oil has been spilt over the past fifty years. “occasionally, oil has been spilled into the creeks, and fishing communities disrupted, dislocated, or plunged into conflict with one another over compensation payments” (pages 19-20). Communities would turn on each other trying to get company handouts. People are in poverty and sewage and trash line the dirt roads.
5. Port Harcourt’s population has grown from 200,000 to 1.1 million within a few years because of the “oil boom”. Young people in the Delta treat Port Harcourt “as a default destination when all else has failed” (page 36). Except for a select wealthy few, the majority of these people live in poverty. The town is described as really poor with lots of beggars in the streets.
1:Mr. Ghazvinian refered to the niger delta as a place of troubles because of the oil boom. HE described a safe area, and a not so safe area. Parts of the delta are relatively safe however the vast majority of it is unsafe. it is particularily dangerous for white men to travel without an experienced guide that knows what to do with armed militants and knows the swamps because that is the only way for them to be "safe".
ReplyDelete2: Bunkering is the illegal practice of tapping into the oil pipeline under the cover of darkness and stealing oil to use for sale on the black market. its affects the nigerian economy because they reportedly lose 200,000 barrels of oil per day, the equivalent of $100 million per week.
3: An MOU or Memorandum of Understanding is an informal agreement. its the standard operation technique of the oil companies. it would be preferred by oil companies and communities because of their simplicity and being able to trade services for the oil instead of large sums of money. Oil companies would prefer it because they can often get an MOU through a tribe leader by bribing him for the oil.
4: The oil companies affect the communities heavily when they enter the delta. They bring money to the communities which creates fighting between communities for oil company payouts. the crime rate also increases because of bunkering. There are also severe environmental affects on thee communities by the oil companies equipment and by potential spills caused by the pipelines or drilling.
5: Port Harcourt has been affected by the discovery of oil. Its population went from 200,000 to 1.1 million within the first few years after the discovery of oil. it is riddled in poverty with the exception of a few incredibly well heeled oil execs.
1.Explain why Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles”
ReplyDeleteMr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a Place of trouble because the Delta has been at the heart of some of the nigeria’s greatest problems and tragedies. For instance, the Delta was annexed by Biafra during the fledgling naitons brief existence and got much more than its fair share of pain and suffering in the ensuing war. the delta is also home to the vast majority of the nations oil. This has meant that the area is chock full of foreign oil drills and pipelines, which in tern means that the area is full of organized crime seeking to steal oil and rebel groups seeking to remove the oil companies by force.
2.Explain illegal bunkering and how it affects Nigeria economically.
Illegal bunkering is the practice of drilling into a oil pipeline, attaching a separate pipe to the main pipe, pumping out the oil from the main pipeline, then taking the stolen crude out to oil tankers where it will be shipped to refineries in other nations. This practice is estimated to steal 10% of all of nigerias oil. This massive theft ends up denying nigerais government hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, every single week.
3.What is an MOU, and why would oil companies and local communities prefer these to any other agreement?
A memorium of Understanding (MOU) is a non-legal agreement between two or more parties. Oil companies prefer these forms of agreements because they are non binding and are much easier to create than a traditional legal agreement, like a contract. Local communities in Africa prefer these to other forms of agreements because these can be made without knowledge of the legal code.
4.Describe how big multinational oil companies affect local communities in the Niger delta
The one way that Multinational oil companies affect local communities is by introducing relatively large amounts of money into the communities. Often times these companies pay the leader local communities a hefty sum to keep the rest of the community in check. This often leads to people violently fighting over the now lucrative position of leader. The oil companies also pay villages money for the land they are using for their oil operations. Unfortunately, the boundries between rival villages are often not well defined and the introduction of money into the equation leads to violent clashes between neighboring settlements.
Multinational oil companies also affect villages with their oil opperations. Often times the companies hardware and safety standards are not up to par, and as a result oil and other dangerous chemicals leak into the marshes. These chemicals can kill wildlife that the villages are dependant on and can cause serious health problems for the people who come in contact with it.
5.Describe how Port Harcourt has been affected by the discovery of oil in Nigeria
Port Harcourt was once a shipping town in the Nigerian delta. However the discovery of oil in the delta made Port Harcourt Nigeria’s oil capital and a center for organized crime and corruption. In the center of the city the people who made a fortune on oil drive around in luxury cars, while only a few miles out, people live in squalor on less than a dollar a day
1.Explain why Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles”
ReplyDeleteMr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a place of troubles because of the oil troubles Nigeria is having. The oil companies are taking all of this oil from the Niger Delta and leaving them with nothing which causes great damage, war, and trouble on the Niger Delta. The oil companies have started a war in Nigeria. Fights break out on the streets, and oil workers are getting killed.
2.Explain illegal bunkering and how it affects Nigeria economically.
Bunkering as defined by Wikitionary, Bunkering is the illicit removal of oil from a pipeline or other distribution system. Which means there is illegal trade of crude oil. This affects the Nigerian economics because their treasury is losing about $100 million every day because of the illegal trades.
3.What is an MOU, and why would oil companies and local communities prefer these to any other agreement?
MoU is a memorandum of understanding, a program that allows international oil companies to sell to business all around Africa. Oil companies and local communities prefer these because of the Kula villagers.
4.Describe how big multinational oil companies affect local communities in the Niger Delta.
Villages in the Niger Delta have been destroyed by the oil companies. War has broken out and the villages are literally trashed. Ghazvinian even agrees that the oil companies have done too much damage to the Niger Delta that it will be hard for them to come back.
5.Describe how Port Harcourt has been affected by the discovery of oil in Nigeria.
Port Harcourt is a big “city” in Nigeria. It formed during the time of the oil boom. Since it is a bigger city lose to the Niger Delta, oil companies owners, managers, etc. have created their offices here to maintain their businesses. People originally came to Port Harcourt because they thought it would be a place of safety during the oil boom but they were wrong. Since they discovered oil in Nigeria it has been a bad place to live.
1. Ghazvinian refereed to the Niger Delta as a “place of trouble” because there are various types of violence and oppression. For example, the book states that gangs are stealing oil from the pipelines, which is then sold on the black market. On top of stealing, these gangs are kidnapping foreign workers and holding them ransom. Obviously the vandalism and various attacks are making the Niger Delta a “place of troubles” and a place of war.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the act of attaching an unintended pipeline to a mainline in order to steal oil. If a gang is caught in this action then the witness is usually paid off or even killed. Since illegal bunkering is a part of the black market, which endorses theft and violence, it does not contribute to the GDP of the country, thus inhibiting it to stimulate the Nigerian economy.
3. MOU stands for Memorandum of Understanding, which are basically informal documents that outline generally agree-upon principles. Oil companies would prefer this type of agreement because if the situation does not ultimately benefit them they can back out and nothing is lost.
4. The environmental damage is one of the affects from the multinational oil companies affect local communities in the Niger Delta. As the oil is obtained the environment is diminished and so are the natural resources that provide different communities with basic everyday needs. This leads to the survival of the fittest when it comes to natural resources such as food and water, which eventually leads to separation of different communities and tribal groups.
5. Like any other region that has been affected by the discovery of oil, the people of Port Harcourt are devastated. The population of Port Harcourt has grown significantly and it has also surpassed the greatest amount of poverty. Since it is the capital for oil, life has been resorted to the attempts of the town trying to gain back their pride through their religious actions.
1.) Mr. Ghazvinian makes it quite clear that the Niger Delta has been a “place of troubles” for years and continues to be a site of intense conflict even today. In fact, if one looks at the history of the Niger Delta it would be quite clear that there has been strife for years. For example, wars have been fought in the Niger Delta that were motivated by ethnic rivalries. This is just the surface of the troubles, as the discovery of oil in the region has further complicated matters. In fact, the region has become full of pipelines and oil wells. Not only has this had a catastrophic effect on the surrounding environment, and thus crushed people’s livelihoods, but it has sent Nigerians into an uproar. In essence, Nigerians are very unhappy with their country being raped and pillaged of its resources when they see no direct positive impact. This attitude is essentially centered in the Niger Delta, as this is where oil companies center their extraction.
ReplyDelete2.) There has also been an implicit effect from all the oil extraction occurring in the Niger Delta, organized crime. In fact, the Niger Delta is now teeming with organized crime groups and gangs, as steeling oil has become a very profitable “business model”. The act of steeling oil is referred to as Bunkering. In essence, organized crime groups will go out and tap into oil pipelines and siphon oil out. This oil is then put in drums and floated out to boats that will the transport it and sell it later. It was estimated that in 2003 200,000 barrels of oil were illegally stolen every day, which calculates to a $100 million loss every week. Obviously, this puts enormous stress on the already strained government of Nigeria, as they now collect even less tax dollars. Arguments are made that these gangs can rightfully take the oil because it is theirs, but the only people that benefit are the organized crime groups.
3.) The acronym MOU stands for Memorandum of Understanding. These “contracts” have become standard operating procedure for oil projects in the Niger Delta. In essence, a MOU is an informal document that promises the people, whom the oil companies would be encroaching on, compensation. These promises are usually never met. Clearly, oil companies prefer these agreements because of how informal they are. Essentially, this document means next to nothing to the oil companies, thus they are preferred because they are not bonded to do anything. On the flip side, these agreements are very attractive to the people living in the Delta because these promises are very appealing. Moreover, they also keep the government out of matters.
4.) The multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta have had a tremendous and far reaching impact on the surrounding community in Nigeria. On just an explicit and surface level the Niger Delta has been altered permanently from an environmental standpoint. Some people who are native to the Delta follow the fish every year and are completely dependent on the delta for survival. Now with thousands of barrels of oil being spilled the native Delta people’s ways of life have been obliterated. Moreover, the multinational oil companies have caused enormous conflict and poverty in Nigeria. The Niger Delta is now home to many organized gang groups, which wreak havoc on everyone in the region. In effect, the oil companies have altered the local people’s lifestyles completely and have created an utter struggle of survival for them.
5.) Port Harcourt has boomed as a result of the discovery of oil, but benefited only a few. Since the discovery the population has increased form 200,000 to just over a million. This has resulted in overpopulation and poverty for many. It is also important to note that the gap between the wealthy and the poor in Port Harcourt has become increasingly large since the discovery of oil.
Blog Post #2
ReplyDeleteAdwoa describes that there are two parts to the Niger Delta; trouble and peace. However, Mr. Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta as a place of “troubles” for many reasons, the three most important being the ethnic wars, money, and land. The introduction of foreign oil companies engendered bloody wars, economic inflation, and have “sucked the life” out of Nigeria. Foreign oil companies use their money to pay off the
Illegal bunkering is a term used to describe the tapping of oil pipelines. Nigerian gangs would steal up to 200,000 barrels of oil every day, causing the national treasury to lose upwards of $100,000 per week. Often, this illegal bunkering is part of a protest to warn the oil companies to leave and other times, the oil is sold on the black market, in hopes of generating enough income. Illegal bunkering is a huge problem in Nigeria; the gangs are taking away money from their local government as well as the oil companies.
MoU stands for Memorandum of Understanding. Local communities and oil companies prefer this method of agreement because for local communities it is direct communication with the oil companies and they can lay out the terms of their agreement. Oil companies prefer this method because the agreement is informal and vague, with no legal value. When the community feels that the terms of agreement are not being met, villagers will often take over the oil rigs until they feel a compromise has been met.
The multinational companies have had a major affect on the local communities. The oil companies use their money to pay off tribal chiefs and the government. The introduction of these oil companies has widened the gap between the few that are rich and the millions that are poor. The road to the Niger Delta is emotionally miserable; starving people line the streets in hopes that someone will throw loose change at them.
Ghazvinian describes Port Harcourt as Nigeria’s “Houston”. It is considered Nigeria’s oil capitol, where infrastructure was built and the economy boomed during the discovery of oil. Thousands of people migrated to Port Harcourt, in hopes of finding wealth, but today Port Harcourt is home to thousands of impoverished people.
1. The Niger Delta is a place of “troubles” because most conflicts between the citizens, military, and foreign oil companies revolve around the rich pockets of oil in the Delta itself.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is when people unassociated with the oil production line tap into one of the pipes and steal oil from it. Approximately 200,000 barrels worth of oil were being stolen daily in 2003, resulting in a weekly $100 million.
3. An MoU is a Memorandum of Understanding, a set of general terms reach between the oil companies and the citizens without the government playing the middleman. This is preferable for the people because it is direct assurance that their complaints have been heard by the heads of the local oil tap. and the oil companies may prefer these due to the lack of red tape and extensive terms that the government may require to reach a similar agreement.
4. Multinational oil companies have instilled sectarianism amongst small Delta-based villages. This is because, due to the prior indeterminate territories of each tribe, the tribes scramble to claim new pockets of oil near their land, often resulting in tribal conflict.
5. Port Harcourt revolves entirely around the oil industry. It is the “unofficial oil capital of Nigeria”. Though the Nigerian oil industry has its roots here, most of its citizens are poor, having rushed in to grab their oily ticket to success.
1. The Niger Delta is a place with many problems. Today, anger toward oil companies leads to disaffected Nigerian youth turning to violence as a means of revenge, organized crime syndicates siphoning oil illegally from pipelines, and oil companies facing kidnappings, sabotage, and other dangers. Ever since the influx of oil companies and the subsequent conflicts over oil revenue, land ownership, and tribal relations in the 1960s, the Niger Delta has seen almost continuous suffering and hardship. The lack of infrastructure, tribal tensions, and disaffected attitude toward the current government and oil companies is why the Niger Delta is a “place of troubles.”
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is when a crime syndicate siphons oil from a pipeline in order to make its own profit. Approximately 200,000 barrels disappeared each day and the Nigerian government lost around $100 million a week.
3. An MOU or Memorandum of Understanding is a contract signed directly between a local community and an oil company that states that in exchange for permission to drill undisturbed in the local area, the community will receive guarantees of compensation and infrastructure projects. Communities and oil companies prefer to operate in this manner so as to avoid having to deal with the Nigerian government, who they do not trust will work out a fair or uncontroversial deal.
4. Increasingly, local communities have been seeking to become known as “oil-producing communities” in order to obtain the benefits that come with the title. The oil company would be made to follow international guidelines in order to determine possible negative impacts on the local community, listen to grievances from community members, provide jobs, and provide compensation in the case of an oil spill. This had the effect of making local communities dependant on oil companies for development, and even led to disputes between communities over which would obtain an oil company’s aid. This led to multiple riots and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and created a tension that constantly threatens to disrupt oil production and the uneasy stability that exists in the Niger Delta.
5. The discovery of oil in the Niger Delta prompted many Nigerians to move to Port Harcourt in order to find jobs and money. The city grew from 200,000 people to 1.1 million, and while some became very wealthy, the majority of people remained in abject poverty. Port Harcourt has now become a city where people come when every other option at success has failed. In all, the oil boom expanded the population of the city, but did not effect any major changes, such as in infrastructure or average income.
1. Troubled is a very general word to use in such an instance as the Niger Delta, an area in which gang war has turned into a civil war. This conflict in Nigeria has caused thousands of deaths and left the country more distraught and corrupt than ever. Gangs steal from oil pipelines and sell thousands of barrels on the black-market. Some gangs that claim they are fighting for Nigeria kidnap foreign workers for a ransom. Extremely tense situations like this give every Nigerian the allusion of being corrupt and desperate. Scenarios such as this in fact worsen the situation in the Niger Delta.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the act of drilling into an oil pipeline and stealing crude oil to be sold in the black markets. Bunkering is a huge problem in Nigeria. It is argued that this theft costs the government money, which can be given back to help the people of Nigeria. I think that the people of Nigeria have really given up hope in their government and realized that it is everyman for himself.
3. (MOU) memorium of understanding is a non-legal agreement. What this means is that a company and an oppositional group can come to some agreement that does not involve the law. It is almost like a verbal agreement where if something goes astray, one side can retreat with no legal ramifications.
4. As a whole, the oil boom has affected Nigeria negatively. Not their oil boom, but the oil boom happening in their country. With this in mind, I do not think what was done was executed with negative intentions. Nigeria has something that people want. Nigeria did not have the means to get this material out of the ground so what makes it theirs? The fact that they were sitting on it? I think that the situation should have happened very differently, as to benefit the people of Nigeria.
5. Port Harcourt holds the true wealth in Nigeria. It was described as the Houston of Nigeria. A town of 200,000 sprang up to 1.1 million seemingly overnight. Adjacent to the luxury and wealth of the oil executives staying in Nigeria is the true poverty and affects that the oil industry has had on the people of Nigeria.
1) Mr. Ghazvinian refers to Nigeria as a “place of troubles” because of all of the corruption that is occurring in Nigeria. “Troubles” is used as a replacement word for the word “war”. The problems that are occurring in Nigeria are not publicly thought of as war, although it very well could be, so he, and many Nigerian people, refer to the problems in Nigeria as “troubles”. As he goes on to say, the troubles are because there are “Gangs of teenagers that cruise the creeks… with automatic weapons”, oil is stolen and sold to gain money for warlords, and often oil workers are kidnapped. These are just a few of the problems that are constantly occurring around the oil reserves, which cause it to be a “place of troubles”.
ReplyDelete2) Illegal bunkering is the act of stealing crude oil and trading illegally. Organized groups of Nigerian people pump oil from pipelines to sell it on the black market, or to raise money for warlords. In 2003, 200,000 oil barrels were disappearing daily in Nigeria, which caused the Nigerian government to loose $100 million per week. This greatly affects Nigeria’s economy because if this oil was not stolen, Nigeria could use the money to improve infrastructure, schools, and supply food to their people.
3) An MOU is a Memorandum of Understanding that consists of unofficial documents that address the agreements between the oil companies and the local community surrounding the oil reserves. In these documents, the oil companies make many promises to the local Nigerian villagers. This then allows the oil companies to start drilling oil in peace. Once the local people realize the oil companies are not fulfilling their promises, “troubles” start to occur. These MOU’s have become “a standard operating procedure for international oil companies” and are preferred by the oil companies because they don’t have to go through the Nigerian government to get permission to drill and sell the oil, and since the documents are not official contracts, they don’t have to legally keep the promises they have made to the Nigerian villagers. The local people agree to the MOU’s because they believe the oil companies will follow through on their promises.
4) Multinational oil companies have had a tremendous impact on local communities in the Niger Delta. Pollution from oil spills and air pollution have destroyed the environment of the Delta. With extreme acid rain, diseases, and animals dieing from oil spills, it is a struggle to survive in the Niger Delta. People cannot make a substantial income, or provide food for themselves. Not only is pollution a serious problem for Nigeria, but the stealing, bribing, and illegal selling of oil causes lots of violence in Nigeria. Many gangs and organized bunkering groups have arose since the establishment of huge oil companies in Nigeria.
5) Port Harcourt has been greatly affected by the discovery of oil in Nigeria. Many major oil corporations establish oil reserves there because of how convenient it is to export the oil. Although Port Harcourt has made the oil companies very successful, it is quite the opposite with the Nigerian people. Many Nigerian people moved to Port Harcourt to gain wealth for the discovery of oil. Unfortunately, only a few of the Nigerian people have reaped the benefits. With immense pollution and extreme poverty, the discovery of oil in Port Harcourt has been anything but a blessing for the Nigerians.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles” because of the notorious gangs of armed teenagers, the bunkering of oil that is sold on the black market, conflict between rivalry warlords, the seemingly routine kidnappings of foreign oil workers who are held for ransom, and the frequent attacks on the flow stations. The “troubles” of the Niger Delta are brought down to three main elements, money, land, and ethnic rivalry. The ethnic rivalry is so prevalent because of the vast amount of different ethnic groups, who have different dialects and communities, all contained in a relatively small area of land. All of these reasons are the biggest reasons that the Niger Delta is considered a “place of troubles” by Ghazvinian.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the overarching name for the process of tapping into the production line and stealing crude oil in order to sell it on the black market for a considerable sum. The biggest impact that bunkering has on the Nigerian economy is that the Nigerian government and national treasury lose a sum around 100 million dollars a week.
3. A MoU stands for a Memorandum of Understanding, which is an informal document, outlining generally agreed-upon terms, and don’t really amount to anything more than empty promises. The communities demanded that the oil companies sign these MoU’s stating that they would give the affected communities of the drilling compensation and financing the construction of things such as clinics. Oil companies preferred these types of agreements because they are informal and by law the oil company does not have to live up to any expectations that the communities had agreed upon with them. So while the communities who are affected by the drilling are expecting a huge compensation and an overall positive outcome, the oil companies are simply making empty promises in order to avoid conflict and keep peace.
4. Big multinational oil companies take a heavy toll on life in the Niger Delta. Whenever a new big oil company wants to drill on land in the Niger Delta, they have to receive permission from the community leaders, who are in turn promised a considerable compensation and money for any “damage control” that would need to be done for oil spills and the like. This alone causes great conflict between neighboring communities. The boundaries of where one village starts and another stops is not recorded on any level, so the boundaries are based heavily on violence and warfare, so which village can take over more land. All of this violence is an attempt to gain the money that the oil companies would be giving the village leader for possible issues that would come up in the future. Within the issues of territory and boundaries there also lies the issue of ethnic groups. Within the different communities there are obviously different ethnic groups, some more dominant than others. The more dominant groups tend to show their physical power over the other minority groups by violence and murder in order to expand their own territorial boundaries.
5. Port Harcourt is described as the place where all oil businessmen do their business out of. In general Port Harcourt is considered the unofficial oil capital of Nigeria, which brings a lot of wealthy businessmen into the city. This also means that the poor people are being forced to make way for those who can afford to live in certain places with certain benefits that they cannot afford. Also, it is a very religious place, not necessarily because of a heavy pressed upon religion, but more so because the majority of the poorer people realize that there is not connection between working hard and becoming wealthy, so they believe that they’re poor because they do not pray enough. In general there is a lot of crime that takes place there as well. Port Harcourt is an unforgiving place.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta as a "place of trouble" because of the various elicit activities that are happening there. For example, "Gangs of teenagers cruise the creeks and swamps in speedboats, bristling with automatic weapons. Oil is sucked out of pipelines under cover of night and sold on the black market to warlords Foreign oil workers are routinely kidnapped and held for ransom. Flow stations and other oil installations are attacked and vandalized." (18). All of this aside, most of the causes can be boiled down to land, money, and ethnic rivalry.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal Bunkering is tapping into the production line and stealing crude oil to sell on the black market. It affectes Nigera economically because it is estimated that some 200,000 barrels of oil disappear every day. This amounts to a loss of over 100 million dollars a week.
3. MOU stands for Memorandum of Understanding which is a guarantee of composition and infrastructure projects for the community. Oil companies prefer MOU'S because then they are dealing directly with the people and not the Nigerian Government.
4. The big multi national oil companies have done many things to essentially ruin the communities on the Niger Delta. These companies come in, and give large sums of money to the community leaders, causing fights for this position and causing the value of Nigerian money to decrease. Also, these oil companies are becoming detrimental to the Niger Delta's environment. They are spilling tons of oil into the creeks and rivers each year.
5. Port Harcourt was once seen as a great place to make it big during the oil boom, making the population soar from 200,000 to 1.1 million. But despite all of this, Port Harcourt is very poor, and intact only a lucky few people have money.
Mr. Ghazinian refers to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles” because of the violence raging there. “Troubles,” as Ghazinian states, is simply a euphemism for war, as the Niger delta has been in open conflict for years. The tempestuous conflict in the delta is between natives, who feel that oil companies disenfranchise them of their rights and destroy their lands, and oil companies who resent the obstacles natives pose to further exploration. The region has had historical problems since independence from Britain: there was even an independence movement that was subsequently crushed by the Northern Nigerian junta.
ReplyDeleteIllegal bunkering is the practice of siphoning crude oil from pipelines by attaching a second pipe to divert oil to pirate tankers, which then bring the oil to other ports. It is believed that ten percent of Nigerian oil is “bunkered.”
MOUs are “Memorandums of Understanding,” which establish informal drilling rights in exchange for informal promises made by oil companies to help benefit the Nigerian population. MOS are the preferred form of agreement by oil companies because of their non-binding nature.
The Niger delta’s environment has been devastated by irresponsible drilling practices committed by oil companies. Oil rigs break down, and spill oil into the delta; trash is ubiquitous; and large swaths of the delta are now under corporate control.
Port Harcourt, as described by Ghazvinian, is Nigeria’s Houston. The city experienced unbelievable growth during the 1970’s in the peak of Nigeria’s oil boom. The city acts as the headquarters of many oil companies. The city is extremely divided by class, with an extremely wealthy few, and a majority of people living in abject poverty.
1. Nigeria is plagued by government corruption, militant groups, extreme poverty and the crime that accompanies it, and the Niger Delta seems to be the center from which most of Nigeria’s troubles radiate originate. No matter where you are in the country, you have a fairly good chance of finding trouble
ReplyDelete2. Bunkering is a process in which individuals punch small holes in oil pipelines and siphon off the crude oil as it flows through the pipes. Pipelines span across all of Nigeria, and Nigeria’s government does nothing to discourage bunkering. With 200 million barrels of oil being stolen every week, the government is losing “$100 million a week”. This is money that if it were not to be lost through corruption, would be put towards civil works projects to improve the standard of living in the country.
3. An MoU or Memorandum of Understanding is a promise of “compensation and infrastructure projects for the community”. These informal documents are used by oil companies to show the local community that drilling will have a positive influence on the area. The reason that MoU’s are popular is that the government does not have to be involved in the agreement. Oil companies enjoy safer work environments, while communities see some funding as a result of their cooperation. Or so both parties hope; in most cases this loose agreement ends with either one side or the other slacking on a promise causing some form of retaliation. Many Nigerians are resorting to violence over MoU’s, while oil companies are forced to involve government security forces.
4. Multinational oil companies have shifted the economy of the Niger Delta in such a way that a return to the simple lifestyle of the past is now impossible. Due to the massive amount of money surrounding oil, gang violence and illegal activity in general have increased. Through bunkering, inhabitants of the Niger Delta have found a way make significantly more money than they would be able to from any legitimate methods. Bunkering also works as income for “organized” crime in the Niger Delta. With a larger cash flow more weapons can be purchased and recruits persuaded. Oil companies have indirectly perpetuated the violence in the Niger Delta, and perverted the local economy. As stated by Ghazvinian, many young adults in the Niger Delta are exploiting the oil corporations themselves, demanding ghost jobs in exchange for their neutrality. Pollution is another factor that comes into play when discussing the impacts of oil. Many freshwater supplies in the Niger Delta have become polluted by oil spills or leakage, forcing local communities to find a new source of water or even relocate. Air pollution created by oil refineries in the area may also cause the health of the Delta’s inhabitants to deteriorate. When communities have attempted to stand up to multinational oil companies either peacefully of violently, the Nigerian government quickly gets involved, recklessly slaughtering villagers. The Niger Delta will never be able to return to its original state, and its inhabitants are being forced to adapt or die.
5. The discovery of oil in the Niger Delta has turned Port Harcourt from a small shipping town into a bustling city filled with all the usual vices and corruption. Due to the oil boom the population of Pork Harcourt jumped from 200,00 to a staggering 1.1 million in only a few years. As many oil executives visit the port regularly, a large disparity of wealth can be seen in the city, and the majority of its inhabitants have only been able to watch as foreign money poured through their city, unable to take part in the riches that others were receiving.
1.For the Niger Delta, a "place of trouble" most accurately sums up the various acts of violence and unrest common to the area. Mr. Ghazvinian goes on to cite the multitude of problems facing the Delta, among them gang violence, the blackmarket oil trade, kidnapping of oil workers and the vandalization of the pump stations. The Niger Delta is a place plagues by these issues (and more) with no real end or authority in sight. The land and people are divided to a point where its become a warzone.
ReplyDelete2. In essence, illegal bunkering is the process of tapping into oil pipelines and stealing crude oil to sell on the black market. Nigerians were driven to this out of desperation, as they saw it as being left no other option by the oil companies. Mr. Ghazvinian states that, by 2000, this practice had caused 200,000 barrels to go missing a day. This translated to "a loss to the national treasurey of some $100 million a week". Whether this money would have been used for the good of the Nigerian people is debateable, but the loss hurt them nonetheless, causing the government to redistribute what goes where with $100 million less a week.
3. An MoU , standing for Memorandum of Understanding, is an agreement between the people and the oil companies outlining a "handful of promises" between the two. While this at first seemed preferable to dealing with the Nigerian government, its come to the point where the MoU's are not much but nonbinding, informal words. More often than not, soon the communities grow unhappy with how the companies are holding to their "promises", and the situation degrades into guerilla warfare once again.
4. Local communities in the Delta now are unrecognizable when set against what they were before the multinational oil companies. The conflict, intially against the intrusion of the corporations, has turned internal as the villages recognize that the "white man with the drill" was their best chance at change. They now vie against each other to be the chosen village for each new drilling project, as it gaurantees certain privileges and is a sort of last hope for many of the communities.
5. Port Harcourt is where one goes "when all else has failed". This is a rather accurate idea of Port Harcourt itself- a town that boomed briefly and unsustainabley with the discovery of oil, and has been on a downhill grade ever since. Mr. Ghazvinian describes the people as "desperately, grindingly poor", reduced to begging or selling houses while the owners are out. There are remants of the time past-unused freeways and those lucky few who enjoy ridiculous wealth. And in the center of it all- the Presidential Hotel, a pinnacle of wealth, luxury and excess.
1) The niger delta is referred to as a place of trouble because that is a polite word for an area that is completely out of control, the niger delta is controlled by warlords and teens with assault rifle basically meaning that anyone who dares venture in there is in trouble
ReplyDelete2) illegal bunkering is when crime groups go out at night and siphon oil from the pumps of the major companies. while it could be argued that the oil should be making profit for Nigeria this practice completely contradicts this because not only does the profit only benefit the warlords, th government can't tax this oil because it is taken illegally.
3) MoU's are memorandums of understanding. This is a way of oil companies and the people of certain drilling areas to interact with each other without the government whom none of them trust having to step in. The documents are informal but basically involve the people letting the oil companies drill in exchange for monetary compensation and improved infrastructure
4) Large oil companies in the Niger delta often effect the surrounding communities in a negative way seeing how a higher percentage of nigerians in the Niger delta are in poverty than the rest of the country. The oil business disrupts local industries such as fishing which leads more people into crime and as history can show us a large population of criminals often does not work out well for the area
5) Port Harcourt is essentially California in the modern day nigerian "gold rush" many came hoping to strike it rich however most were disappointed and stayed in if not worsened their situation in respect to poverty
(1)Mr. Ghazvinian was at lunch with Adwoa Edun whom is a “Ghanaian-born, half-British” person, she said there is “a country with an unparalleled knack for survival.” Adwoa Eduan is an expatriate African, gave Mr. Ghazvinian some advice, there was two lines, one is peace, the other one is trouble. Mr. Ghazvinian talked about British governments was described by Northern Ireland as “the troubles”, “gangs of teenagers cruise the creeks and they were bristling with automatic weapons”. “Foreign oil workers are routinely kidnapped.” All of them related to “trouble” this word, I think Mr. Ghazvinian wanted to use “trouble” to refer how hard Nigerian lives are.
ReplyDelete(2) Some organizations stole crude oil to sell on the black market and youths were affected by gangs, they “occupying flow stations, sabotaging pipelines, and kidnapping even killing foreign oil workers.” “By 2003, 200,000 barrels of oil was disappearing every day, cause $100 million a week.” I think it makes Nigeria gets poorer.
(3)MOU is Memorandum of Understanding, this agreement makes local people and oil companies work together, so that local people can get benefit of it, oil companies don’t need hire foreign workers.
(4)International companies paid money to “village chiefs to ensure that local youths did not disrupt their operations”. They stole the oil of Nigeria and Nigerian didn’t get any benefits, “57% people live on less than $1 a day.” They screwed things on Nigeria.
(5) Because of the oil boom, thousands of people went to Port Harcourt, they “turning it from a city of 200,000 to one of 1.1 million within a few years.” Great number of people didn’t bring wealth; oppositely, the city gets poorer and poorer. Panhandlers were like “the legions”, and in the end of the paragraph, Mr. Ghazvinian made a joke, “IT IS NOT A PLACE TO SPEND YOUR HONEYMOON.” Port Harcourt just get worse and worse by the discovery of oil.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a "place of troubles" because this a key term for war or heavy conflict. The somewhat conservative death toll of about 1,000 (conflict related) deaths per year classifies it as a place of "high intensity conflict." Ghazvinian says that this conflict is due to oil, territory, money and ethnic rivalry.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is "tapping into the production line and stealing crude oil to sell on the black market" (Pg. 29). Many people of the Niger Delta did not initially want to illegally bunker oil. At first, they held peaceful protests. The Nigerian government responded to these protests in a brutal and completely inhumane fashion. They opened fire on unarmed civilians who attended these peaceful acts of discontent. Many people felt mistreated (rightly so). They then formed gangs and organized crime syndicates to perform a complex illegal bunkering system. Approximately $100 million worth of crude oil is stolen every week in the Niger Delta.
3. A MOU is a Memorandum of Understanding. It is a promise to the people in the Niger Delta by the oil companies that is comprised of various types of compensation. This compensation can be monetary, or can be environmental. These MOUs are made for several reasons. Monetary compensation to the people of the Niger Delta is entitled because they are the indigenous people of the land. They have lived on the oil-rich land for centuries and have a right to much of the revenue. Although, often these promises stand unfulfilled and empty. The people of the Niger Delta, as well as the oil companies, prefer MOUs because they do not have to be interfered with by the Nigerian government which is often corrupt and bureaucratic.
4. The oil companies have had an incredibly negative effect on the people and environment of the Niger Delta. As a result of the oil companies' presence in Nigeria, there have been countless murders, oil spills, and widespread extreme poverty. The airborne pollution from the plants is horrendous, as well as the leakage of crude oil into lakes and streams. Another way the companies have affected Nigeria is in the way of hyperinflation. A 500-naira note, once valued at $2,000 has been reduced to less than $2. This is one of the main causes of poverty in the Niger Delta, and is a direct result of the oil companies presence.
5. Port Harcourt has erupted since the discovery of oil there. The population sky-rocketed from 200,000 to 1,100,000. Although, this is not necessarily a positive change. Extreme poverty ravages this area as well. There are a select few who are incredibly wealthy, but the majority of people survive on under 1$ a day.
1. Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta as a place of troubles because of widespread civil unrest there. Gangs roam the rivers, thieves steal oil from the pipelines in the dead of night, the flow stations themselves are damaged or destroyed, and the workers are often kidnapped and held for ransom. Part of the trouble in the Niger Delta stems from its composition – made up of 9 states, 40 ethnic groups, 250 dialects, and 40 million different individuals all packed into 27,000 square miles. Poor education systems only serve to perpetuate the problem – there is only 1 school per 14,000 children in the delta. Another cause for unrest is the perceived (and very real) lack of even wealth distribution. The Niger Delta produces 100% of Nigeria’s oil, but the people that live there are among the poorest in the nation.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the practice of stealing oil directly out of pipelines to sell on the black market. This is predominantly done by organized crime syndicates, who know where to sell the large quantities of oil they steal.
3. An MOU is an acronym for Memorandum of Understanding. It is a contract between the oil companies and the villagers that guarantees compensation and infrastructure in the community where the oil well is located. Villages seek an MOU instead of making a contract with the oil company through the government, because the government has been proven to be generally unreliable and totally on the side of the highest bidder (the oil companies)
4. Multinational oil companies are the root of many problems in Nigeria, and especially the Niger Delta. They obtain drilling permits via bribery of government officials or by making unfulfilled promises to local villagers. Working without regulation, they pollute the environment with perpetual gas flaring or dump excess chemicals into the delta. Heavy dredging machines and oil spills, both accidental and on purpose (by Nigerian Gangs), destroys large swathes of habitat.
5. Port Harcourt has been negatively affected by the discovery of Nigerian oil. In a country with an already huge wealth gap, the bribes and oil payments received from the oil industry go into the pockets of the already wealthy, leaving the poor to scrape out a meager living on the streets of Port Harcourt. Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have left their villages to come find work in Port Harcourt, causing the population to soar from about 200,000 to just over 1 million.
Katie Nardo
ReplyDelete1. Mr. Ghazvinian describes the Niger Delta as “a place of troubles” because nearly all aspects of the society are affected negatively. For example, crime and violence are more prevalent due to living in the heavily bribe-accepting community. People become desperate for financial success that they will go to any lengths to achieve it. This is not simply a drive for wealth, but a drive for survival. The villagers of the Delta have extreme debt and lack of money as a direct result of the hyperinflation in Nigeria. Ghazvinian states that rather than benefitting greatly from the economic successes of having oil, Nigeria came to be known as a weak, destroyed, country in peril. He also pushes his point further by saying that the country would be potentially successful and content without the oil boom.
2. Illegal bunkering is tapping into main line for the purpose of stealing the oil. In the Niger Delta, organized gangs are commonly found stealing the oil and bribing, threatening, and sometimes killing any and all witnesses. Each day thousands of barrels are stolen and removed from their locations. The oil companies argue that this is stealing from the Nigerian’s possible achievements, however it does not matter if the profits are going to the thieves or to the oil companies, bribery plays a major role in the process and the Nigerian people would still suffer.
3. MOU stands for “memorandum of understanding.” They are essentially non-binding, non-legal documents that can be altered at any time. They are preferable for oil companies because they are not forced to follow certain rules and are not obligated to distribute large quantities of money where needed. The informality of the agreements are also a selling point for oil companies who like to control things in their own way. For the people of the Niger Delta, this type of agreement is appealing because it is constructed to benefit the oil companies while remaining desirable for the Nigerians. From their perspective, they are communicating directly with oil companies and having the impression that they “have a say” in the issues which affect them so greatly.
4. The invasive oil companies do not just negatively affect the villagers of the Niger Delta, but even have their lives put at risk from it. Aside from the various types of pollution and environmental destruction from the oil companies, they also decrease the quality of life amongst these people. For example, while other countries are soaking up all the oil from Nigeria and profiting from it, the Nigerians live extremely simple lives, sometimes without clean water or electricity. Education and healthcare are other major issues that lack resolutions. While outsiders may think that Nigerians are benefitting greatly from the oil industry, they are in fact receiving none of the benefits and in fact, facing a worse lifestyle than they probably would without the oil companies.
5. People fled to Port Harcourt in masses in hopes of becoming rich off of the oil there, similar to the minors traveling west to California in search of gold. It is considered to be a “jackpot” of oil in Nigeria. However, in the case of the Port Harcourt people, there was less profit from this, and once again, the large population has suffered.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles” to refer to the war going on in the region. Ghazvinian states ““trouble is a word that people use when they are trying not to say war”, and the Niger Delta can definitely be considered a battlefield. The amount of violence and crime, as Ghazvinian cites, are comparable to notable warzones.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal Bunkering refers to the act of soliciting oil resources without permission. In many cases, organized crime groups like gangs will drill holes into the main pipeline and siphon oil into built-in pipelines, causing a loss of 200,000 barrels a day in “professional” production. These numbers are unbelievably large, when considering the fact that it may amount to over 50% of the oil Chevron produces per day.
3. 3. An MoU is a Memorandum of Understanding— an informal non-binding contract between the oil companies and the people in the area. These MoU’s are the preferred way of operating in Africa because corporations can bypass many government regulations and be able to manipulate the locals more easily. Many times, MoU promises are broken and violence is used to resolve the issue; showing the true nature of inefficiency of these “Memorandums.”
4. Oil companies have brought massive amounts of money to the local communities no doubt; however, as the case always is, this money has prompted large amounts of organized crime and gangs as well. Further, the oil is a massive detriment to the environmental condition of the Niger Delta and beyond, ruining fishing communities, and the general atmosphere of the societies. As a result, this has further plunged the villages into violence and poverty. While most of the money is being drawn out in these wells, the money follows the possession of oil—through corrupt politicians’ hands and into the corporations.
5. Port Harcourt is the very epitome of corruption in money distribution, and here you can see a massive wealth disparity created by the discovery of oil. On one hand, the citizens are begging and shockingly poor, their hands out of the reach of the money their eyes see every day. On the other hand, you see an unbelievable amount of excess and luxury. Initially, the city had boomed and developed. Much more modern construction can be found in the city, and the population had grown multiple times of itself. In the end, nothing remains of its success except the few lucky who were able to keep, accumulate, and absorb the wealth of others over the past years.
1. When one labels a region a “place of troubles,” usually peace and prosperity aren’t the first things that come to mind. Mr. Ghazvinian uses this term to describe a region that has had an extensive history of war, famine, and corruption: the Niger Delta. He cites that the term “trouble” was used to “mask the lurking horrors” that were really happening.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Niger River Delta was annexed as a British Protectorate in 1865, because of the lobbying of palm-oil companies in Liverpool at the time, the ‘troubles’ of the region began in my opinion. The ‘“malarious swamp’” of the Niger Delta did not have any other purpose other than providing resources for British companies (much like the rest of British foreign policy during the years of the Empire). When a region, and the people living in it, are all lumped into a money-making venture, things almost always never bode well for that region. The ‘trouble’ could have started when the British turned the tribal groups against one another, especially when oil was discovered in the middle of the 20th century.
With the discovery of oil, came the culture of terror which was emphasized in both the Ijaw and Biafara conflicts of the 60s. This culture has not ended, with gangs of youth roaming the delta while pillaging, stealing, and killing.
2. When oil and natural gas are a country’s top export, shouldn’t the petrol stations in that country carry petrol made from the oil? Apparently not, as it seems to be the case in Nigeria. The oil money rarely touches the Nigerian populous, and considering Nigeria is one of the twenty poorest countries in the world, while being a top-ten oil producer, the figures simply do not add up. As a result of this gross injustice, groups in Nigeria have resorted to the illegal bunkering of oil. The Niger Delta is criss-crossed with pipelines, some of which have been there since the 60s, and they are very accessible if one has access to water transport. With access to the pipelines, the rebel groups siphon oil into their own drums, and sell it by the barrel. According to an article as recent as June 2012 in the Financial Times, “The Nigerian state and oil companies are losing a billion dollars or more a month to oil theft,” (http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/61fb070e-bf90-11e1-a476-00144feabdc0.html#axzz25fYUCc7t). While the government most likely would not use this billion dollars a month for public works, imagine if this stolen money were invested in the Delta: new schools, infrastructure, the creation of jobs etc.
3. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is an informal agreement, brokered between the oil companies and the communities that they (the oil companies) are affecting with their drilling. Based mostly upon promises and ‘codes of ethical conduct’ produced by the oil companies, the MoU represents a flimsy, yet better alternative to brokering an agreement involving the Nigerian government, as that complicates things tenfold on both sides. From the oil company’s standpoint, bringing in the government just means more bribes, as most likely, the company will have to pay off the village leader as well, as the villagers are the ones sabotaging the oil drilling setup. From the villagers’ perspective, involving the government could ignite sectarian violence, especially if forces sent by the government to oversee the deal were of a rival tribe; as seen in the 90s and onwards, things get ugly when police work and tribal violence come together.
4. Multinational oil companies have destroyed the Niger Delta and its future. In what many call “the most polluted place on earth,” the obscene environmental disasters that are continuing to occur are nothing less than a catastrophe. The aging infrastructure, including pipelines, and the illegal practice of ‘flaring’ are just more causes of the environmental disaster, factored in, of course, with the countless oil spills.
ReplyDeleteFor generations, the people of the Delta relied upon fishing for their livelihood, and most still do today. But as Ghazvinian states in his book, “On a good day, they…will return in the eveming with a few sickly-looking croaker and catfish…On a bad day, they might not come back at all.”
Ghazvinian succinctly puts the plight of the Nigerians in the Delta in a morbidly humorous couple of lines, incorporating the political and social climate with the environmental disaster, all of which caused by the multinational oil companies.
5.Usually when traveling to Africa, one cannot simply get a direct flight from say London Heathrow to Arusha, Tanzania, or JFK to Mombasa, Kenya. When airlines offer direct flights from London, Paris, and even Houston, to a city in the middle of the Niger Delta, neither the capital of the country, nor the largest and most diverse city of the country, one can tell that there is something unique about that certain Nigerian city. Port Harcourt is another victim of the oil trade. The ‘unofficial capital’ of the Delta, it is where all of the oil businesses are headquartered, and it is also the site of some of the greatest wealth disparity in the world. In the 1970s, its population grew from 200,000 to 1.1 million in a matter of a couple of years, because of the oil boom.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta, as a “place of troubles” because he is advertising in the most delicate way that the troubles resemble war in the Niger Delta. As Ghazvinian states, “ Trouble is a word people use when they are trying not to say ‘war’. “ How he explains this statement is that trouble is the ability to express that there is conflict and fighting which results in a negative manner, but is not the full essence of a war. I also believe that if they where to state that they are in war, the people who live in the area may start to act in more of a war like manner than just feeling that the area they live in is in poverty and trouble.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal Bunkering emerged from the MOSOP ultimatum. This was a more “confrontational style of activism” say Ghazvinian. This practice consisted gangs of disaffected youth that would destroy oil pipelines in hope for compensation checks for their village. Emerging from this idea they would tap into production lines and steal crude oil that they would then sell on the black market, this was official then result of “illegal bunkering.” The toll this took on the economy was about a loss of $100 million a week.
3. A MoU is a Memorandum of Understanding. This is a preferable agreement between oil companies and local communities because they know dealing with each other directly is more affective than leaving things to the Nigerian government. The Mou is an informal document outlining nothing more than a handful of promises. These promises include examples such as, “ financing the construction of boreholes or clinics--- made by an oil company in exchange for a peaceful operating environment.” When the promises do not seem to be made the communities sabotage operations in attempt to draw attention to the problem.
4. Multinational oil companies affect the villages in the Delta because they are destroying the peace. Huge oil spills have deteriorated the living conditions of local communities and there are piles of burning garbage everywhere. Ghazvinian even refers to the drive in the Niger Delta as, “ Waves of human suffering lap against the edge of the road… Dystopian landscapes flashed by the windows” He also describes the people who are poor believe they are because they have not “prayed” hard enough. The Delta has been destroyed and referred to as a “troubled” place in which no one feels save traveling through.
5. The oil companies in an unpleasant process have affected Port Harcourt. Turning the city from 200,000 people to 1.1 million because of the people who flocked to Port Harcout during the oil boom in the 1970’s . Many people who came had believed that they would become wealthy, but the case was that only a few became exceedingly wealthy while the rest became extremely poor. Port Harcout is the hub for most oil executives because of how close it is in proximity to the Delta. As many villagers hope you, “buy a pen or a phone card or some AA batteries of them.” The village strives in the tropical heat, with a large population, mostly living in mud and straw huts hovering over water. A village can be washed away by sea in a mater of hours. Besides the few wealthy who live there Port Harcout is just another village with the extremely poor and exceptional wealthy who live in the area.
1. The reason that the Niger River Delta is referred as “place of troubles” is due to the fact that this region is where most of Nigeria’s oil is located, along with the social unrest that the oil brings. Many rival ethnic groups call the Niger Delta home, each wanting to control the oil and its associated revenue. This has lead to countless violent conflicts and small wars, as the people of the Delta duke it out with each other in order to obtain as much of this “liquid gold” as they possibly can.
ReplyDeleteApart from wars, the Delta’s oil has caused countless environmental catastrophes as well an exponential increase in the income inequality among the people of the region. The lack of safety and environmental regulations, due in large part to the corruption in the Nigerian government, has allowed oil companies to get away with countless oil spills and wide spread pollution in the Delta. These environmental catastrophes have destroyed most of the Delta’s unique ecosystem, adversely affecting many of the regions residents who depend on the river’s fisheries for their survival. Nigerian oil revenue has caused a large disparity between the Delta’s rich and poor. While most of the Delta’s residents live in squabble, the Delta’s “Rockefellers” enjoy a lifestyle that rivals that of the elite in western nations. This in turn has caused low-income areas in the Delta to become a cesspool of crime and poverty.
2. Bunkering is the process of breaking into oil lines, siphoning out their contents, and then selling the oil in the black market. The oil obtained through bunkering is typically floated out to sea on barges, where it is sold to oil tankers in international waters. Bunkering revenue is the lifeblood of many villages and cities throughout the Delta region, often being to only source of income for the Delta’s most impoverished residents. However, bunkering funds many of the regions’ criminal originations, furthering social unrest. The money that does not fall in to the hands of criminals is often used for purchasing weapons and armaments to fight ethnic wars rather than being used to benefit local communities.
3. MOU’s are unofficial agreements between oil companies operating in the Delta, as well as the Delta’s residents. Oil companies prefer to solve agreements using this method for it is more effective in dealing with the Delta’s locals, mainly due to the fact that the majority of Nigerians are not familiar wit the county’s legal system. It also allows oil companies to bypass the corrupt Nigerian government, which would require them to pay larges sums of bribe money in order to fulfill their agenda.
4. Oil companies, Shell in particular, have affected the Nigerian region through the influx of oil revenue as well as the environmental and social repercussions of their operations. While oil revenue is the basis for the Nigerian economy, most of this money ends up in the hands of only a few individuals, not improving the well being of the rest of the population. Pollution caused by the activities of oil companies has destroyed much of the Niger River’s ecosystem, causing starvation among the communities that depend of the river’s fisheries for sustenance. Nigeria’s rampant poverty and has forced much of the Nigerian population to resort to organized crime and bunkering to make ends met. A large percentage of the oil sought by corporations is found in regions hotly contested by the country’s rival ethnic groups. This has caused the country to become an almost continuous war zone as Nigeria’s ethnic groups fight for oil companies’ compensations and pipelines to bunker. In many ways, oil companies in Nigeria have enflamed the problems that have always lain underneath the country’s surface.
ReplyDelete5. Port Harcourt has become the economic powerhouse of Nigeria ever since the discovery of the country’s oil reserves. The population of the city in recent years has soared from a few hundred thousand residents to a population in the millions. Nowhere is Nigerian income inequality more apparent then Port Harcourt. Gated communities containing multimillion-dollar homes have impoverished shantytowns right up to their walls. While these two aspects of Nigerian society can be seen side by side, to the people of Port Harcourt, these two worlds could not seem more distant.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles” because a multitude of illegal activities occur in the region. Gangs preform many illegal activities such as oil bunkering, kidnapping, murder, and armed conflict. This is the direct cause of the three main problems: money, land and ethnic rivalry.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the act of siphoning oil from pipelines that the major oil companies like Shell use. This oil is then burned at different levels and then sold on the black market. It has severe ramifications, as over 200 million barrels of oil are stolen each week, and the Nigerian government is losing of 100 million dollars a day. This problem breeds corruption and violence in the Nigerian communities.
3. An MOU or Memorandum of Understanding is a between the oil companies and the tribe leaders. This allows the companies to help develop the infrastructure of a town in exchange land and oil. It created a “peaceful” solution between the two groups. The MOU also allows the government not to control the whole situation, and focus on other issues at hand.
4. Large multinational companies like Shell and Exxon affect small communities in a multitude of ways. The first issue that the large corporations cause is the rise of corruption in the small towns. Many poorer individuals defect to gangs in order to make a decent living. This leads to an increase in civil strife and social conflict, directly causing illegal bunkering. Another issue is that of poverty. When a large multinational moves into an area, all other forms of business are usurped; as well as constant environmental damage is done. This has lea to severe pollution in the Nigerian delta.
5. Port Harcourt has become a booming city due to the discovery of oil in the region. The city experienced unbelievable population growth; however, the city was not yet ready for the expansion. There is a large divide between the rich and the poor, as it is the center for the oil tycoons when they come to visit.
Jake Smith said:
ReplyDelete1.) The Niger Delta is a place of troubles because it is very corrupt. Teenagers ride around the creeks and swamps in speed boats with machine guns, they steal oil that often benefits warlords. Oil workers are kidnapped and held at ransom and the crime rates are through the roof.
2.) Illegal Bunkering is the stealing of oil from any oil company. It is done by drilling holes in the sides of pipelines and taking out barrels of oil. This often done by organized crime units who pocket the money made off selling the oil on the Black market, so truly whether or not the oil companies take the oil, the people of Nigeria are still not getting any compensations.
3.) A MOU is, “ Clear guarantees of compensation and infrastructure projects for the community.” MOU stands for Memorandum of Understanding, this is pretty much like a workers Union, but provided by the company and given to the workers. Workers would want this because it would more than likely supply them with fair rights.
4.) Economic, Environmental, and moral issues come to play when referring to the Multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta. Oil companies have brought poverty, issues of health, violence, and pollution to Nigeria, only furthering its total corruption.
5.) Port Harcourt has seen a drastic population boom due to the large discovery of oil. However, this is not a benefit. There is a huge range in contrast between the luxurious rich and the impoverished poor all living in such close proximity. Yet the poor stay poor and the rich get richer.
1) Mr Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta as a place of “troubles” because most of the fighting surrounding the oil in Nigeria takes place in and around the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta is the nexus for which several groups with many different interests are competing. Three of these groups are Nigerian civil militia groups—deemed terrorists and thieves by the government—the Nigerian government, and private militias working for oil companies.
ReplyDelete2) Illegal bunkering in Nigeria is the practice of tapping into oil pipelines to “steal” (this nomenclature can differ depending on your opinion of the situation in Nigeria) oil. Primarily, Nigerian civilian militias (deemed terrorists by the government) engage in illegal bunkering to “reclaim” oil to which they believe they have a primary claim. Bunkering has an adverse effect on oil-production efforts because it is estimated that over 200,000 barrels of oil are stolen per day by crime syndicates and people’s militias.
3) Large oil companies prefer MOU (memorandum of understanding) agreements to formal production contracts because MOU’s allow these companies to create informal contracts. Instead of creating a contract for production with government, a MOU allows an oil company to agree on general production terms with the population who inhabit the drilling area. This allows oil companies to all but assure that people’s militias and crime syndicates will not harass production stations.
4) Though some would argue that the oil industry has had a positive effect on Nigeria, the truth of the matter is that the oil industry has had a profoundly negative impact on the people of Nigeria and on the environmental standing of the country. In particular, the oil industry has been responsible for poignant environmental degradation—oil spills, deforestation, and air pollution all contribute to this.
5) Port Harcourt represents the quintessential resource-driven boomtown. As oil-production and exploratory efforts expanding in the beginning of the 21st century, Port Harcourt has become the de-facto oil capital of Nigeria, with several new airports built there in the last few years, catering specifically to western oil companies. Western oil companies can fly directly to Port Harcourt, bypassing the country’s largest city, Lagos, to gain easier access to the oil-production zones in the Niger Delta.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian refers to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles” because that is the term local people use when they do not want to say that there is “war” in their home. He writes that the troubles boil down to money, land, and ethnic rivalry.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the practice of tapping into production lines to steal crude oil from big oil companies to then sell on the black market. Illegal bunkering resulted in a loss of approximately 200,000 barrels of oil, equal to $100 million loss per week for the national treasury.
3. An MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is an informal document drafting an agreement on behalf of both the oil company and the community to uphold certain promises. Usually, the oil company makes small promises such as commencing community infrastructure projects in return for a “peaceful operating environment” (31). The problem with MoUs is that the promises the oil company makes are often broken, and then the community retaliates by taking over flow stations until the MoU is revisited. Both oil companies and communities prefer MoUs as a means of comprimise because any other agreement is facilitated through the Nigerian government, which, in its corrupt state, and empowered middle-man position, would make both sides of the agreement much less desirable.
4. Big multinational oil companies stir up violence, particularly in adolescents in the Niger Delta. They perpetuate the poverty cycle by taking all the resources out of the Niger Delta with slim compensation and distribution of wealth to the communities that live there. This simultaneously perpetuates and hides the situation, because other nations assume the Niger Delta’s wealth does indeed staying in the Niger Delta, which it does not. Young gangs then try to get some of their money back by going to extremes such as causing oil spills in the hopes of receiving compensation checks for their villages as well as taking over oil flow stations to protest the oil companies until they agree to compensate the communities.
5. Port Harcourt is the unofficial oil capital of Nigeria. Since oil was discovered in Nigeria, human living has descended into absolute squalor, which manifests itself along the road into Port Harcourt. Within a few years of the oil discovery, the population increased from 200,000 to 1.1 million. Poor, young people live on the streets as a last resort when all else has failed them. The entire city is a contrast of extraordinary wealth and unbearable squalor.
1. Mr. Ghazvinian referred to the Niger Delta as a “place of troubles” because it is plagued by foreign oil. Ghazvinian explains how he uses the word trouble as a synonym with the word war. He states that Gang’s of teenagers ride speedboats through rivers and swamps with loaded weapons. Oil is stolen from pipelines, foreign oil workers are kidnapped and offered for ransom and oil factories are vandalized. Ghazvinian later acknowledged that the “troubles” in the Niger Delta are technically classified as a “high intensity conflict” rather than a war. The Niger Delta is a place torn between poverty-stricken gang violence and corrupt oil production. The contrast is quite obvious when a village of mud shacks sits next to a modern oil facility surrounded by razor wire and trained guards on the watch for local goons.
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the act of tapping into oil pipelines in order to steal crude oil and sell on the black market. Ghazvinian states that, “by 2003 an estimated 20,000 barrels of oil was disappearing every day in Nigeria, causing a loss to the nation treasury of some $100 million a week.” The stealing of oil will clearly weaken Nigeria economically.
3. An MoU is a Memorandum of Understanding. MoU’s are not official documents rather they are a collection of, “generally agreed-upon principles.” MoU’s are beneficial to oil companies because they are non binding and cannot be legally enforced due to their nonofficial nature. These informal agreements can be easily exploited. Local Nigerian communities may be drawn to MoU’s because they are most likely naive and do not realize that the promises made to them are not bona fide.
4. Multinational oil companies have ruined local communities in the Niger Delta. Stolen land has raised frustration and anger in many communities in the delta. This anger has resulted in demonstrations (sometimes peaceful and sometimes not). Police forces have responded negatively to these situations often killing and wounding innocent civilians. This is where the Police get their nickname, “Kill and Go.” Oil companies have even caused infighting among different Nigerian tribes over the right to be recognized by the oil companies as, “oil producing communities.” Rather than a gift, Nigeria’s oil has been a curse.
5. Port Harcourt is the main city in the Niger Delta. Oil executives fly into this town when doing business in Nigeria. Air France even has a service to oil towns like Port Harcourt know as Flying Blue Petroleum. During the oil boom in the 1970’s Port Harcourt’s population grew by almost a million. There is a clear distinction between the rich and the poor and there are only a select few on the top. The majority of the town suffers from extreme poverty and overpopulation. Oil in Port Harcourt has reaped nearly no benefits of oil like that of the majority of the country.
1. The Niger Delta is plagued with armed teenage gangs patrolling the waterways by speedboat, attacks on and vandalism of flow stations, theft of oil directly from the pipelines, black market oil trade, and kidnappings of foreign oil workers. There is no doubt that the Delta is a “place of trouble.”
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the process of tapping into the pipelines and other infrastructure of the oil industry and stealing crude oil to be sold on the black market. Illegal bunkering caused Nigeria to lose $100 million each week by 2003, when oil was disappearing at a rate of 200,000 barrels per day.
3. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is an informal document which outlines “agreed-upon principles” and guarantees an oil company a “peaceful operating environment” in exchange for promises to aid the community. MOU’s are preferred by both the oil companies and the local communities because they omit NIgerian government interference, which quickly leads to complications both parties would rather not take part in.
4. Multinational oil companies bring gang violence and crime to communities of the Niger Delta, making many waterways and villages very dangerous. The oil boom has also brought corruption to even the smallest of villages, for the head of the village often receives bribes to keep his people at peace, and mass pollution, which has destroyed wildlife, including edible vegetation and game, and made survival in the tropical heat even more difficult.
5. Port Harcourt has become the “unofficial oil capital of Nigeria,” a city whose population rocketed from 200,000 to 1.1 million rapidly and transitioned into a destination of politicians and oil-industry personnel seeking the riches of the Niger Delta. The airport plays host to daily flights from major cities worldwide, including London, Paris, and Houston, as well as countless more incoming flights from Lagos and Abuja. The city juxtaposes great wealth, accompanied by “gleaming” SUV’s and the like, and overwhelming squalor. Port Harcourt is now largely religious, with the predominant faith being Pentacostal Christianity. The city is criss-crossed by old, deteriorating freeways, next to which stand billboards “flogging holy salvation.” The oil industry has also contributed a large quantity of natural-gas flares to the skyline as well as corruption and crime, including felonious scams.
1. The Niger Delta is an area ridden with gang violence, extreme poverty and major corruption both inside and out of the oil industry. There are kidnappings, many accounts of vandalism and overall acts of violence and hatred that are prominent through the Niger Delta. These among other reasons are why Mr. Ghazvinian refers to this area as a "place of troubles."
ReplyDelete2. Illegal bunkering is the act of tapping into oil pipelines, collecting the crude oil and selling it on the black market. Nigeria loses hundreds of millions of dollars from this illicit activity each week.
3. An MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is an informal document that the oil companies produce promising aid to the community if they are provided with a "peaceful operating environment." MoU's are a method that oil companies thrive on due to their lack of formality and ability to be broken easily, but often communities enjoy their appeal because they leave the Nigerian government, a largely corrupt organization out of the interaction.
4. Multinational oil companies have created much conflict in the Niger Delta. They come into these relatively small and poor communities and invest large sums of money into the leader to convince the leader to keep the remainder of the community under wraps. However, there is often large amounts of violence associated with this due to the fighting that breaks out over the position of leader. Also, the multinational companies take no mind of either the people or environment that they are destroying when drilling for oil, so many habitats and environments are destroyed by these practices.
5. Port Harcourt has become the oil center, and there for the center of Nigeria. There was a large migration into the port of people hoping to get rich quick with the discovery of oil. However, like the majority of the NIger Delta poverty is rampant and the average citizen lives in a version of squalor. The port is also home to a large airport and wealth for the top tier of society who happen to reside in, or travel through there to attend to their various oil-related business needs.