So it has come to this. Nigerian militants have taken four oil workers hostage and are demanding that the wealth that the indifferent oil empire stole from their land be returned. They tried peaceful protest in the 1990s; three-fifths of the population of the Niger Delta turned out to protest the environmental destruction the oil companies were causing while giving none of the land's wealth back to those that live on it. Their demands were ignored, government troops protecting the oil companies killed protesters and razed homes, and the leaders of the protest were hanged. In the last year, the people of the Niger Delta have become more desperate, and here we are today.
Check out this entry I wrote for WiredOpinion for more information on the subject, including sources.
About the author.
- J-901
- Providence, RI, United States
- My number is J-901. I only have a name at Burning Man. I am concerned with the dignity and freedom of all other numbers, and I submit this Internet record as the last vestige of free humanity left.
2 comments:
and let us thank the media for covering this story in the same detail they covered the last decade's events in the region. When four oil company workers are put in harm's way, it's a news story. But hundreds if not thousands of nigerians arn't worthy of public outrage. i know this is a cliche anger, but it's a rather cliche problem.
Absolutely true. I forgot to mention that. At every point over the last ten years, the media have only reported on the events when westerners are in trouble. Even at the time of the MOSOP protests, the media angle was that these people were interfering with western economies by threatening oil interests.
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