“Blossom of all energies
you renew my sense of wonder”

A story on NPR last year said Nigeria was taking in 2.2 million US dollars per DAY in oil revenue.

According to the CIA and the Energy Information Administration of the US, Nigeria holds the largest gas reserves in Africa as well as oil. The Nigerian economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector which, according to the World Bank, accounts for over 95 percent of export earnings and about 85 percent of government revenues. The oil industry is primarily located in the Niger Delta where it has been a source of conflict. The industry has been blamed for pollution that has damaged air, soil and water leading to losses in arable land and decreasing fish stocks. Local groups seeking a share of the oil wealth often attack the oil infrastructure and staff, forcing companies to declare force majeure on oil shipments. At the same time, oil theft, commonly referred to as “bunkering” leads to pipeline damage that is often severe, causing loss of production, pollution, and forcing companies to shut-in production.

Don’t get me started on how there’s no electricity more than half the time in a country with so much oil and gas and how, as a result, people spend a lot of money on generators and are now suffering from severe noise pollution with generators running day and night.

How best to remove these problems? Well, the Nigerian people would first have to hold their government accountable for its massive fraud and failures. But holding the government accountable is a difficult thing to do, it seems, in every country on this planet.

I also think that the Nigerian people could benefit from an awareness that living otherwise is possible. I personally believe that it is ART that makes us value ourselves and our environments more. Give the people ART, I believe, and they will look at themselves and say, “We deserve more than our government gives.”

for additional info on the oil crisis in the Niger Delta:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92155119