Wimpy in NIgeria

I feel like a right real wimp today!

I have turned down an offer to go and explore a bit of the Niger Delta. My contact here in Nigeria has decided to go and take a look at a place called Bonny Island. It is probably the most southern land mass of the Niger Delta. The trip to get there involves the normal hell run on wheels through the streets, which is then followed by a speed boat trip down river for about an hour.

From what I understand Bonny Island is the oil centre of Nigeria. Lots of international companies have spent extensive amounts of money developing facilities on this island and then made trillions exporting the crude black stuff far away! Very little has been put back into the country due to the usual tri-factor of greed, bribery, and corruption. Some of the results have included a frustrated populace, one or two fat cats, zero reinvestment into the community and a growing ecological disaster. Sadly nobody seems to care!

Well that is not strictly true. There is an organisation called MEND, short for Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. They have resorted to kidnapping, violence and even murder to achieve their aims. I suppose their strategy is to destabilise the region and ensure that the white man leaves. I have only been in the vicinity for a couple of days and can feel their frustration. The white man has been here for years plundering the natural resources and putting absolutely nothing back. Sadly, for a place so rich in an expensive natural resource, it really is a dump!

There are other organisations who operate in the area but they are simply opportunist criminals looking to satisfy their greed. They are probably a lot more dangerous as their sole aim is to swell their own pockets.

On Friday, Shell declared a force majeure on its Nigeria exports. Effectively MEND has called an end to its four month truce and instead promised a ‘hurricane’ of attacks. Obviously the big fight in this area is between the oil companies, their employees as their proxies, and the militants who want them gone. The results can be seen in oil export sales which are down more than 25%. One might say that the MEND threat is actually working!

In my few days here, I have had various reactions to my presence, from a little girl running up to me and hugging me because I am white to attendants at a shop being openly aggressive about a loaf of bread and a naval intelligence officer trying to wrest my camera away from me. I even had to go to a gym in order to run on a treadmill as I have been advised very strongly not to run on the roads.

And so I decided not to go for a day trip to Bonny Island today. In all likelihood, nothing will happen and no doubt it would have been an incredible trip. There just seems to be too high a chance of something going wrong.

I am very disappointed in myself as I never back away from a challenge. In all honesty, I am scared and feel that I really do not belong here! Now that is an admission that you will not hear often!