Okrika, Rivers State, Children wash tent covers on pipe-lines. Capital of Okrika kingdom since the 17th century, it is the only place in Nigeria crossed by pipelines. They connect the Alesa-Eleme refinery built in 1965 by SHELL-BP and located at the gates of the town, to a jetty built on Okrika Island, where ships are loaded.
Bonny island, located in the Gulf of Guinea, Rivers State. During a rite of possession, the untouchable dancer, vehicle of a spirit, turns to the distant flare at the Bonny Island gas terminal. Bonny Island is home to Nigeria's most ambitious natural gas project. The $3.8 billion Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project, completed in 1999, processes 11.3 billion cubic metres per year.
Me Mujahidat Daba ASARI-DOKUBO, at her home in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Her husband, Alhaji Mujahid ASARI-DOKUBO, leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, an armed Ijaw militia, was arrested on 20 Sept. 2005 by Nigerian law enforcement agencies in Port Harcourt. His trial for treason and sedition is ongoing. Mujahidat has been in hiding for several months in the south-west of the country, while the federal government has placed her husband in solitary confinement. The release of her husband is with the control of oil resources by the Delta producing states, a claim of the MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta) which since Jan. 2006 has been attacking oil installations in the Delta and kidnapping expatriate workers.
Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, first oil well dug in Nigeria in 1956 by SHELL, operated until the company left in 1972. Few compensations were paid. Today, local leaders are wondering whether the deposit is dry. A few years ago, a nearby well, which was also closed down, leaked heavily. The neighbouring community of Otabage disputes possession of this relic, arguing that it is located on its territory. It is said to bear the name Oloibiri because SHELL's offices were located there at the time.
Chief WALLSON Ibegu, 70 years old, leader of Oloibiri community, where the first oil well was dug in Nigeria, by SHELL in 1956, Bayelsa State: "When SHELL prospectors came in 1953, we didn't even know what oil was. We thought they were looking for palm oil. We were farmers and fishermen. Life was sweet then. Nature was taking care of us. Since then, SHELL has polluted our river and our land. No way to make a decent living anymore. The day they discovered oil, we saw Europeans gloating for the first time. They jumped to the sky and shouted: Oil, oil! We had no idea then that this substance was the one that enriches a country, a city, a community. “
Oil wells of Italian AGIP, in the local community of Ebocha, Rivers State. 24 hours a day, in an irritating smell, the gases from the oil exploitation are burning at the top of four flares. A joint World Bank/UN report from 2004 points out that Nigeria annually burns 70 million m3 of gas or nearly 55% of its current production (130 million m3). While the World Bank estimates that 75% of Nigeria's 136 million people live on less than a dollar a day, the annual financial loss due to this combustion amounts to about $2.5 billion, or $50 billion over a 20-year period.
Local community of Ebocha, Rivers State. Oil well flares from the Italian company Agip, light up the surrounding bush. According to the World Bank and the UN, Nigeria releases 70 million m3 of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, contributing substantially to the volume of greenhouse gases around the globe. In addition, the flaring fumes spread a range of toxic materials that damage health and expose Delta residents to increased risks of premature births, childhood respiratory diseases, asthma and cancer.
Ebocha, an oil exploitation of the Italian company Agip, whose torches have been burning, according to the "host" community, since the early 1970s. The torches seem to have inspired the name of the place. Indeed, Ebocha means "place where there is light"! Ebocha is a symbol of how the Nigerian government and its oil multinational partners derive great wealth from oil and leave the communities living around the extraction sites to suffer the environmental consequences and reap only crumbs of the huge profits made.
10 years after the execution by hanging of John B. KPUINEN her husband, an anti-Shell activist, Blessing KPUINEN, his widow buries him. The Federal Government of Nigeria recovered and returned the remains to the family. The body is now only a skeleton. According to tradition, the coffin has just been opened. In the corridor of the family home, in Ogoni territory, still in shock from this vision, Blessing, collapsed, sat down. Behind her, relatives.
Bori, Rivers State, 40 kms of Port Harcourt. In the streets of the traditional capital of Ogoni people, a small ethnic group in the Delta, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) is organising a candlelight march to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the hanging by the then ruling military junta of Ken SARO-WIWA, a writer, environmentalist and political activist. He was the driving force behind the protest movement that drove Shell out of Ogoni territory in the mid-1990s. The small crowd, far from the mass movement of the past, is mainly made up of children and elders.
Bori, Rivers State, 40 kms of Port Harcourt. In the streets of the traditional capital of the Ogoni people, a small ethnic group in the Delta, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) is organizing a candlelight march to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the hanging by the then ruling military junta of Ken SARO-WIWA, a writer, environmentalist and political activist. He was the driving force behind the protest movement that drove Shell out of Ogoni territory in the mid-1990s. The small crowd, far from the mass movement of the past, is mainly made up of children and elders.
Bori, traditional capital of the Ogoni, an ethnic group from the Delta, who chased Shell out of its territory, thanks to a movement of peaceful mass protest led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), but at the cost of the hanging of nine of its leaders, including Ken SARO-WIWA, after a mock trial. Ten years later, the body of John B. KPUINEN, one of the condemned, was returned to the family by the Nigerian Federal Government. In the courtyard of the mortuary, relatives bearing the portrait of the deceased, came to collect the remains and bring them, in a procession of cars, to his grave, dug in the compound of the family home, in a nearby village.
Ten years after the trial and hanging by the regime of General Sani ABACHA of leaders of MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People) who peacefully managed to drive SHELL out of Ogoni territory, Blessing KPUINEN, widow of John B. KPUINEN, one of the convicted, then vice-president of the Ogoni youth movement, buried her husband in the compound of the family home. The federal government recovered the remains and returned them to the family. "Ten years later, the living conditions of my people have not improved. The only difference is that now I can say that. The struggle must continue. And the government must rehabilitate the condemned! "says heavyhearted Blessing, who now lives in voluntary exile in Canada.
On the road to Bori, traditional capital of the Ogoni, an ethnic group from the Delta who chased Shell out of its territory, thanks to a movement of peaceful mass protest led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), but at the cost of the hanging of nine of its leaders in November 2005, after a parody of a trial. Ten years later, the body of John B. KPUINEN, one of the hanged anti-Shell leaders, was returned to his family by the Nigerian federal government. A motorcade takes the coffin from the morgue to the grave dug in the compound of his family home in a nearby village. The remains of John B. KPUINEN, then Vice-President of the National Ogoni Youth Council (NYCOP), are escorted by a myriad of okada (motorcycle taxis) driven by young people.
Memorial church service in honour of Ken SARO-WIWA at the Anglican Church in Bori, traditional capital of the Ogoni land. Ten years ago, the ethnic group from the Delta expelled SHELL from its territory, through a movement of peaceful mass protest and civil disobedience led by MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People). The demands of some 500,000 Ogoni people received international attention when the champion of their cause, the writer Ken SARO-WIWA, an environmental activist, political activist and soul of the movement, was hanged with eight of his comrades on November 10, 1995 after a parody of a trial organized by the military regime of the time.
Memorial church service in honour of Ken SARO-WIWA at the Anglican Church in Bori, capital of the Ogonis Territory. Ten years ago, the ethnic group from the Delta expelled SHELL from its territory, through a movement of peaceful mass protest and civil disobedience, but at the cost, after a parody of a trial, of the hanging in November 2005, of nine of its leaders, including Ken SARO-WIWA, writer, environmental activist, political activist and soul of the movement. Ken SARO-WIWA, according to his father, saw himself as the Wiayor, a mythical figure who came from the sky to liberate his people.
Memorial church service in honour of Ken SARO-WIWA at the Anglican Church in Bori, capital of the Ogoni land. Ten years ago, the 500,000-strong Delta ethnic group expelled SHELL from the territory in a major movement of peaceful protest and civil disobedience, but at the cost of hanging nine of its leaders in November 2005 after a mock trial, including Ken SARO-WIWA, a writer, environmental activist, and politician, the soul of the movement.
MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People) demonstration in the streets of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the oil capital of Nigeria, to commemorate the hanging of Ken SARO-WIWA, leader of the Ogoni protest. In the 1990s, he led his people against Shell and drove the Anglo-Dutch oil company out of Ogoni territory.
On 4 January 1993 MOSOP gathered 300,000 people (two thirds of the Ogoni people) in the same streets in an unprecedented demonstration against Shell. Since then, the oil company has officially left Ogoni territory. Ken SARO-WIWA died along with eight of his companions who were hanged at the end of a parody of a trial decided by the military junta in power at the time. The movement is divided. The objectives of the struggle are no longer as clear as they once were...
MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People) demonstration in the streets of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the oil capital of Nigeria, to commemorate the hanging of Ken SARO-WIWA, leader of the Ogoni protest who in the 1990s led his people against Shell and drove the oil company out of Ogoni territory. Members of the NYCOP (National Youth Council of the Ogoni People), the Ogoni youth movement, hold up a poster of the activist.
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the oil capital of Nigeria. End of the demonstration organized by MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the hanging of Ken SARO-WIWA, leader of the protest that in the 1990s led his people against Shell and drove the Anglo-Dutch oil company out of Ogoni territory. MOSOP President Ledun MITEE, hanging from the gates of the public park which is closed to the crowd, harangued: "I thank you for coming and especially thank the police for not using tear gas and batons against us. They showed a restraint today that we are not used to. »
Along the banks of the fish farm of Chef Bavizaa M.T. DOOH's, built on his ancestor's land near Gokana, in Ogoni territory. The farm was destroyed and its activities destroyed by a huge fire caused by an oil leak in a nearby Shell pipeline in August 2004. The mangroves were consumed by the flames. The only visible after-effects were the brown roots that had bathed in the swamp, which no longer produced any trees. Chief DOOH no longer uses his boats. The fish have died. Shell did not compensate the farmer, arguing that the devastating fire was due to sabotage. Therefore, Shell could not be held responsible.
Chief Bavizaa M.T. DOOH, 73 years, contemplates the ruins of the vast henhouse of which he was so proud, in the farm he built with his hands, on the land of his ancestor, in the traditional kingdom of Gokana, in Ogoni country. A large fire caused by a leak from a nearby Shell pipeline in August 2004 devastated the farm, killing all the animals. Chief DOOH lost everything and received no compensation. The oil company claimed that the devastating fire was due to sabotage and therefore could not be held responsible.
Bomu fields, near the village of K-Dere, kingdom of Gokana. Historic Shell oil facility where the Anglo-Dutch company made its first crude oil discovery in Ogoni territory.
Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt, Nigeria's oil capital, Rivers State. A choir of Ogoni women sing songs in praise of Ken SARO-WIWA and the struggle of MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People) against Shell in the 1990s, at the launch of the SARO-WIWA Foundation, run by the son of activist Ken SARO-WIWA Junior. Demonstrations commemorating the tenth anniversary of the hanging of Ken SARO-WIWA by the Sani ABACHA dictatorial regime in November 1995 reveal the fractures. The MOSOP, a historic political movement and theoretically the sole representative of the cause, was not invited to the launch of the Foundation.
Village of K-Dere. Since the mid-1990s, following the struggle led by MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People) and Ken SARO-WIWA, Shell has literally abandoned its oil wells in Ogoni country. But drop by drop, some are leaking. MOSOP President Ledun MITEE takes a picture of the pollution created by one of them. Shell, having been driven out, is in no hurry to repair its "forgotten" wells.
In a cove in Ogoni country, children bathe in the river, from which villagers draw water for cooking. "The water smells like oil and leaves a greasy feel on the skin," says one of them. They say that since the big fire in August 2004 caused by a leaking pipeline, small particles have been deposited under the sand of the riverbed.
Like all villages in Ogoni country, Sii suffered ten years ago from the violent campaign of military repression. Misery continues to reign there today. Sitting on the stoop of her house, the mother of Chief Benedict DEEZIM, the village chief, is waiting. "The iiS is the oldest community, the first Ogoni kingdom," says Chief Benedict, Chairman of the Council of Elders and a strong supporter of the SARO-WIWA legacy. "All the Ogoni are from MOSOP. Ken was our king. He wanted to make the iih the main port of an autonomous Ogoni country. » The dream disappeared with him ten years ago, but the fantasies remain. "Shell pumps our oil by helicopter," says a member of the village elders' council, peremptorily.
Although since the mid-1990s and the execution of Ken SARO-WIWA, the Anglo-Dutch giant Shell has not resumed operations in Ogoni territory, its pipelines run underground, connecting wells outside Ogoniland to the Bonny terminal open to the Atlantic Ocean further south. Near the farm of Sunday NAANAA and his son, an unearthed pipeline was leaking. To contain the oil spill, it was set on fire. The leak was probably the work of bunkering enthusiasts. This technique consists of siphoning off the pipelines without depressurizing them, thus avoiding alerting the operators. The community denies any attempt at bunkering or sabotage and blames the obsolescence of the equipment.
Although since the mid-1990s and the execution of Ken SARO-WIWA, the Anglo-Dutch giant Shell has not resumed operations in Ogoni territory, its pipelines run underground, connecting wells outside Ogoniland to the Bonny terminal open to the Atlantic Ocean further south. Near the farm of Sunday NAANAA and his son, an unearthed pipeline was leaking. To contain the oil spill, it was set on fire. Shell sent a team to put out the fire and stop the leak. At the end of the day, villagers watch as a stream of chemical foam is spread to stop the black gold bleeding.
Firefighters from the Total oil platform at Amenam/Kpono in the Gulf of Guinea, in a position to intervene during the rotation of the helicopter that drops off part of the relief. Expatriates working on the platforms barely set foot on Nigerian soil. Arriving at Port Harcourt International Airport, they are transported under armed escort to a living base (a fortified residential village where all amenities are available), before flying to their work stations off the Nigerian coast. They work on the platform for four weeks, without a day off, and then fly back for their leave.
Total's Amenam/Kpono platform in the Gulf of Guinea. As a member of the Opec, Africa's largest crude oil producer, Nigeria extracts 2.5 million barrels per day from wells in the Delta region, the country's poorest region. It hopes to extract 4 million barrels a day by 2010. However, attacks, kidnappings of expatriates and sabotage of pipelines by the MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta), an armed Ijaw militia (the largest ethnic group in the Delta with 12 to 14 million people), is striking at the output. Thus, the hostage crisis in early 2006 forced Shell to suspend operations at the Forcados terminal (380,000 barrels per day) and the EA oil field (115,000 barrels per day), de facto reducing Nigeria's daily production by 21%.
Total's Amenam/Kpono platform in the Gulf of Guinea. Twins whose specialty is scaffolding assembly. Nigerians often feel that they are the forgotten ones in the oil job market. In fact, structurally, the oil industry is capital-intensive, but generates few jobs, only 5% of the working population. However, from oil to gemstone mining, wages in extractive industries are generally much higher than in manufacturing sectors (textiles, construction or food processing). The wages received by oil companies thus contribute to accentuating wage and social inequalities, fuelling the aggressiveness of those left behind by development.
Au large des côtes nigérianes, un bateau fait la navette entre la plateforme Total Amenam/Kpono et une extension en phase d’achèvement. Prévu pour durer 25 ans, le champ pétrolier Amenam/Kpono doit permettre à la compagnie française de produire 125 000 barils quotidiennement, grâce à ses 34 puits. Si le coût d'exploitation du pétrole nigérian a toujours été supérieur à celui des pays du Moyen-Orient, sa prospection reste une des plus productives du monde. Seulement 5% des forages n'obtiennent aucun résultat.
In the Gulf of Guinea, inside the vessel carrying technicians from the Total Amenam/Kpono platform to an extension that is nearing completion.
Total's production platform and two extraction platforms, the Amenam/Kpono offshore complex, known as OML 99 (Oil Mining Lease), in the Gulf of Guinea. The insurrectionary situation in the delta is prompting oil companies to reposition their offshore production units. Indeed, the states of the Nigerian federation most affected by the tensions are those where the majority of the deposits (75% in Delta state, 60% in Rivers and Bayelsa states) are onshore. On the contrary, the sites least affected by the protests and guerrilla actions are at sea, as they are remote and difficult to access.
A French Total technician on night shift at the production platform of the Amenam/Kpono offshore complex (OML 99 - Oil Mining Lease) in the Gulf of Guinea. The African continent is not visible to the naked eye.
Total OML99 (Oil Mining Lease) offshore complex in the Gulf of Guinea. Using the flare as a giant alewife, Nigerian fishermen from the continent want to cast their lines at the foot of the platform. Sheltered from the structure, the fish thrive and find abundant food there. Every day, the canteen staff throw the leftovers overboard. For safety reasons, a company boat intervenes and asks the fishermen to cast their hooks further out.
Bonny Island, Rivers State. A common feature of the Delta landscape: toilets on stilts and flushing waves. Any islander going to urinate on the brinquebalant planks can meditate on the colossal sums spent on oil, while the public sanitation system is non-existent. Nigeria has six crude oil export terminals, including one at Bonny, operated by Shell. The Anglo-Dutch company is carrying out a $600 million expansion project on Bonny, which is due to be completed in 2006. The island is also home to Bonny Island Liquified Natural Gas, Nigeria's most ambitious natural gas project, costing $3.8 billion.
Bonny Island, Rivers State. Early in the morning, fishermen return from a night on the high seas, the only way to bring back big pieces. Tanker traffic and pollution have driven the big fish from the shores. The investment in a boat that can move away from the coast is very important, so the fishermen are forming cooperatives. From time to time, an oil company will donate a boat. The expense is tiny compared to the huge profits made from the extraction.
Near the coast of Bonny Island, Rivers State, small fishermen are hauling up their nets and the small fry they managed to catch. Pollution and the noise of oil and gas tankers coming around the island to load their cargo have sparsely covered the once-fish-filled waters. Bonny has one of Nigeria's six crude oil export terminals, to which an extensive network of pipelines from the mainland converges. The island is also the site of the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project, which is expected to enable Nigeria's gas resources to account for half of the country's energy revenues by 2010.
Bonny island, Rivers state, 8:00 a.m. In the bay, a brother and sister return home after finishing their morning fishing. They have only a small boat made of one piece of wood, not strong enough for offshore fishing where they can still make big catches. In the once-fish-filled bay, oil and gas tankers are anchored, waiting their turn to load their cargo at the terminals.
Twon Brass, Bayelsa State. 19th century British cemetery where officers and sailors who fell in clashes with the local Ijaw tribes are buried. The Niger Delta has always been a place of trade for the British. Initially, it was the slave trade, which was captured inland by the coastal tribes. After its abolition in the 18th century, the trade was replaced by the palm oil trade, of which the Delta was the largest producer, and the nascent industrial revolution in England, a major consumer.
Agip Oil Terminal, Twon Brass City, Bayelsa State. Dirty water, polluted by crude oil, is discharged into a canal running along the site and into the sea. In a derisory effort, the Italian company pretends to contain the crude oil by means of barriers made of plastic panels supported on wooden jetties. At the same time, it claims that there is no pollution at Brass. It's hard to complain too openly. Agip provides free electricity to the neighbouring community and its presence has some economic benefits for the local small business.
A marigot, at the gates of Yenagoa, the capital of the state of Bayelsa. To connect a well in the bush with the city, Shell built a road, obstructing the traditional way of evacuating water from a mangrove swamp. With the base permanently drowned, the trees have rotted. Fish have deserted the area. To conceal its ecological misdeed, the company cut down the dead trees, too visible from the road. Only stumps barely emerging from the surface of the water remain. Obstinately, an old fisherman with his habits persists in the search for fish.
On the pier of Kongo, Akassa Kingdom, Bayelsa State, Nigeria's second largest oil-producing state and one of the newest. . A cargo ship makes a stop. It is expected the next day at the market of Buoama, the neighboring village. Far from it all, the population, spread over 19 villages and nearly 121 temporary fishing camps, feels marginalized and broods in frustration. "All the money the government gets from our oil is spent on the north! There the towns are developed, they have electricity, water. Here nothing! "Jockey, a young unemployed man.
A petrol station on the outskirts of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, the country's second largest oil state. Of the 36 states of the Nigerian Federation, 9 are oil producing. As such, 13% of the oil revenues they provide to the nation are redistributed to them monthly. This rate of diversion enabled the State of Bayelsa in particular to recover 4.8 billion naira (32 million euros) in October 2005. On 15 September in London, the governor of Bayelsa was arrested and charged with money laundering by the British justice system. Scotland Yard police discovered 1.8 million pounds sterling (2.6 million euros) in cash of dubious origin in his luxury London home.
Ahaoda Local Community, Rivers State. Near the Total extraction station, pipelines run along the road. Total has posted signs strongly advising against fishing in the surrounding waters, thus confessing the environmental damage caused by its activities in the area.
Kongo village, Akassa kingdom, Bayelsa state. Young boys push up the bank of the fuel drums thrown into the cove by a cargo ship. The fuel is intended for speedboats, the only reliable and fast means of locomotion in the Delta, a region of mangroves and swamps. Although Bayelsa State is Nigeria's second largest oil state, there is no extraction project in Akassa yet. Distrustful of oil money, the community calls for it, but does not want the "Ghana must go" system: these huge shopping bags filled with bundles of naira (Nigerian currency) that companies give to local leaders in exchange for the peace of mind of drilling.
Ahaoda Local Community, Rivers State. Near the Total extraction station, pipelines run along the road. Despite a formal ban on fishing in the surrounding waters, young boys try to get something out of the polluted water, throwing their lines between the rusty pipes.
Village of Sangana, Akassa Kingdom, Bayelsa State, a water reservoir, the only achievement of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) created in 1999 with the official objective of allowing a "rapid, regular and sustainable development of the Delta within an economically prosperous, socially stable region, capable of ecological regeneration and living in political peace". The unfinished reservoir has never supplied the community. It rusts on its feet. Surrounding residents wait and fear its collapse.
Former site of the village of Beletiema, Bayelsa State, razed to the ground during a bloody conflict (several deaths) with the neighbouring village of Egwema, due to the murder, in a mangrove swamp, of an Egwema merchant, allegedly by young people from Beletiema. A vague and questionable testimony would attest to this. Anyway, in the Delta, vendettas quickly turn into conflicts over land ownership, as the clan that owns the land is in a position to negotiate with an oil company that wants to prospect on its territory.
Kongo, Akassa Kingdom, Bayelsa State. The sun has just set. Children are scouring the shores with nets. Although there are no oil wells in this community, fishermen from Akassa complain about the lack of fish, blaming leaks from wells in the surrounding communities. In the Delta, all the creeks are interconnected. "The spillage that happens in the village of Sangana, our neighbour, always ends up in our village, but Sangana does not share the money that CONOIL gives her! "says Richard, a facilitator with the Akassa Development Foundation.
Buoama, Akassa Kingdom, Bayelsa State, Nigeria's second largest oil-producing state. A cargo ship, coming from Port Harcourt unloads. Despite 50 years of oil exploitation, the market is only a set of concrete boxes lined up around a shed. The jetty where the boats from several of the 121 fishing camps in the kingdom dock has been subsidised by the European Community. The same week, in South Africa, on a Nigerian request, police seized luxury villas estimated at 322 million naira (2 million euros), belonging to Diepreye ALAMIEYESEIGHA, the former governor of the deposed state who was arrested for corruption.
Kingdom of Akassa. On the road to Kongo, Hausa peddlers (a Muslim ethnic group from the north) push their wheelbarrows on the concrete footbridge that serves as a bridge at the entrance to Buoama on market day. While the motto of Bayelsa State is "Splendour among all countries", it is Nigeria's second largest oil-producing state and as such received 32 million euros in October 2005, 13% of the oil revenues it generates are paid to it monthly, the Akassa kingdom has no roads. Only paths connect the villages to each other.
On the Nun River, Bayelsa State, the country's second largest oil state, in the far south of Nigeria, 7am. A team of several dozen young Ijaw go into the creeks to clear mangrove plots so that a Nigerian oil company, Conoil, can start prospecting.
River Nun, Kingdom of Akassa. In the territory of the community of Kongo, the Nigerian oil company Conoil obtained the right to prospect. In order to allow the landing of heavy equipment, the company employs young people from the community to clear the bush. Each of them pays 1,200 naira per day (8 euros) to clear 60 m2 of bush daily. After a day's work, the teams return home.
Nun River, Baylesa State, Kongo Community. A land-clearing team comes into the bush. The Nigerian oil company CONOIL has obtained the right to prospect. In order to allow heavy equipment to be unloaded, young people from the community are employed to clear the mangrove swamp. Each of them pays 1,200 naira per day (8 euros) to clear 60 m2 of bush daily.
Kingdom of Akassa, State of Bayelsa. In the territory of the Kongo community, the Nigerian oil company Conoil was granted the right to prospect. In order to allow the unloading of heavy equipment, it employs young people from the community to clear the bush. Each of them pays 1,200 naira per day (8 euros) to clear 60 m2 of bush daily. An important indirect ecological impact of the oil industry in the Delta region is deforestation. It is difficult to refuse a job even if it contributes to the destruction of its environment. "We need cash to support our families," says David, a team leader who knows that getting a well-paying job at Conoil if the tanker moves in will not be easy.
Kingdom of Akassa, State of Bayelsa. In the territory of the Kongo community, the Nigerian oil company Conoil was granted the right to prospect. In order to allow the unloading of heavy equipment, the company employs young people from the community to clear the bush. Each of them pays 1,200 naira per day (8 euros) to clear 60 m2 of bush daily. At the end of the morning, the working day that started at 7 am is over. The team of mangrove cutters is waiting for the boat that will bring them back to Kongo.
Kongo, Ijaw Country, Bayelsa State, extreme south of the Delta. Returning from the mangrove swamps where they went to clear the brush for the Nigerian oil company CONOIL, young IJAWs share the crocodile with which they found themselves face to face in the swamps.
Buoama Anglican Church, Akassa Kingdom, south of the Delta. The girls' choir at the Sunday religious service. While communities in the Delta pray in churches, the Nigerian elites see oil as a gift from God, without considering themselves accountable to the communities in the territories from which it is extracted. Indeed, in 2003, a report by the American Catholic Relief Service showed that the level of development in the Delta region was out of all proportion to the huge gains made by oil exploitation. Over a period of 35 years: $350 billion (based on the price of a barrel in 1995).
Robinson UKALIKIPE, public relations officer for the Akala Olu Community Youth Association (Rivers State), the host community of Agip, where a torch burns 24 hours a day, 80 metres from the first houses. This is surprising since flaring has been illegal since 1984 under Part III of the Associated Gas Reinjection Act of 1979, which authorizes companies to use flaring under the condition that they hold legal permits issued by the relevant ministry. Despite repeated requests by NGOs, none of these permits have ever been made public.
Saturday night in a hair salon in Twon Brass, Bayelsa State, Nigeria's second largest oil state. A few hundred metres away is one of Nigeria's six crude oil export terminals. The weekend is in full swing. The oil workers will kill time in the city's bars and spend part of their wages on drinks and other nightly pleasures. Young girls are getting ready.
Michaël, secretary of the youth organization of the Sii village and his family, in Ogoni country, Rivers State. The demands of the 500,000 Ogoni people received international attention when the champion of their cause, writer Ken Saro Wiwa, was hanged with eight of his comrades on November 10, 1995, after a parody of a trial orchestrated by the military junta in power at the time. The Ogoni had provoked the fury of the corrupt military regime by opposing Shell's construction of new oil wells in the region. In spite of the bitter and murderous memory left by Shell, the rate of unemployment and misery are such in Ogoni country that Michaël could not refuse to work for an oil company.
Kongo, Akassa Kingdom, Bayelsa State, Nigeria's second largest oil state. Ghadafi (standing, second from the left) says he controls 300 "warriors". Traditionally, young people defend the interests of the community, weapons in hand if necessary. The Nigerian oil company Conoil has moved into the neighbouring community of Beletiema, west of Akassa, to lay wellheads. As always, employment is a major demand of the surrounding communities. To avoid conflicts, Conoil has developed the system of opportunities (job offers). Three communities received 50 each, while Akassa being a clan (19 communities) received 240.
Kongo, Akassa Kingdom, Bayelsa State, Nigeria's second largest oil state. Joy, a young prostitute dances with her face covered with talcum powder to celebrate the birth of Bongo SMART's boy (sitting behind her in a white T-shirt). While more than two hundred young people from Akassa are clearing the bush and as many are laying wellheads in the mangroves on behalf of the Nigerian company Conoil, Bongo SMART and his friends are suffering from the very common "stay at home syndrom" in the Delta: they get money from a company to stay at home. Officially, they are in charge of a security contract. In fact, Bongo SMART and his friends have command responsibilities in the warrior group, which in case of conflict punches and shoots at neighbouring communities. By paying them, Conoil ensures that Akassa's youth do not rekindle past conflicts in workplaces and homes where former enemies are living side by side.
Ogbokiri, Akassa Kingdom, Bayelsa State. Young people board ships sent by the Chinese oil company CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation). They travel to the nearby community of Beletiema where they will take physical fitness tests in order to be hired. As the world's second-largest oil-consuming country (after the United States), it is imperative for China to find new producing areas to secure its supplies. Its oil dependence is growing rapidly, and it could be forced to import 60% of its demand by 2020. Africa benefits greatly from China's thirst. More than 25% of China's oil imports currently come from the Gulf of Guinea and Sudan.
An employee of the China National Petroleum Corporation, after a day's work, in front of his accommodation in the village of Beletiema, base of the Chinese company, in the state of Bayelsa. Like all the workers from the neighbouring community of Akassa, he was dreading the job, being certain that he would be rubbing shoulders with young people from neighbouring communities, enemies of past bloody conflicts, in his workplace and accommodation.
Alesa-Eleme Refinery, on the outskirts of Okrika City, Rivers State. In 2001, the race for jobs at the refinery led to a bloody conflict between the neighbouring communities of Elema and Okrika. Okrika's militia, the Bush Boys, fought in the mangroves for months. When peace returned from the front, the Bush Boys discovered that Okrika was living under the control of a mafia gang, the "Okrika Vigilante", specialized in bunkering (stealing crude oil directly from the pipeline). A new conflict broke out. Supported by the traditional hierarchy, the "Vigilantes" defeated the "Bush Boys". Hunted by those they had bitterly defended in the swamps against those of Elema, they have since been living in exile in Port Harcourt, 30 kilometres from their home...
His Royal Highness, King Captain, NEMI TAMUNOYAUA OPUTIBEYA X, Amanyanabo of Koniama, the highest traditional authority in the town of Okrika, Rivers State, Nigeria's largest oil producing state. One of the country's four refineries is being built on its territory. With a simple word, he can, thanks to the young people he controls, block the refinery's activities. Aware of its potential to be a nuisance, the management is paying close attention to its illustrious and powerful host.
In Okrika, Rivers State, Nigeria's first oil state, induction ceremony of Chief (Honourable) Alhaji Tam Douglas ORIAGU, now head of his family's gunboat. Capital of the kingdom of Okrika since the 17th century, a bellicose society having had its era of prosperity during the trade then thanks to the palm oil trade around 1830, Okrika does not deny its warlike past. To the question asked by the Council of Chiefs who presented him with a yam and a cannonball: "What is better to use for the survival of the clan? " Without hesitation, Chief ORIAGU brandished the ball over his head.
Okrika, in Rivers State, Nigeria's largest oil state, is the only Nigerian locality through which pipelines pass. They connect the Alesa-Eleme refinery built in 1965 by Shell-BP and located at the gates of the town to a jetty built on Okrika Island, where refined products are loaded onto ships.