I had an interesting, but brief, conversation with two men today about the war in the Delta region of Nigeria. It started when I asked one of them about the design on the t-shirt he was wearing. Even after I read it, I had to ask for an interpretation. Some of us, I’m afraid, are not as up-to-date on world politics as others are.
According to these men, the southern part of the country has the oil fields, and the workers; whereas, the northern part has the power. He said it is the Christian people in the south who are tired of being victimized by the Muslims in the North who run the government. They take the profits from oil and do not use it for infrastructure projects. (I haven’t verified those statement, by the way.)
To expand my knowledge of world affairs, I have done a little research which I found interesting:
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) is fighting for a greater share of oil wealth to be spent on the Niger Delta region’s impoverished civilians….There is an inevitable and serious conflict of interest between Delta communities that bear the environmental damage of oil extraction and the rest of the nation for which oil money is essentially a free good. Delta populations, clearly a minority, regularly lose these struggles. Had they some authority over environmental issues, many current problems might be more manageable. Lacking this, and given the federal government’s control over all subsurface resources as well as “ownership” of all land, all Delta issues inevitably become national issues. The national government has failed to resolve these. In its campaign to “buy off” Delta discontent on the cheap, earlier administrations frequently corrupted Delta community leaders. There is a deep distrust in the Delta concerning the federal government and a feeling among local populations that most other Nigerians care little for their problems, so long as the oil flows. Delta populations constantly campaign for a larger share of the federal cake, most of which originates in their homelands
This leads me to thoughts about mankind and its responsibilities to every member of the “family of life”….and to the role of money……lots of it…….the more the better…..profit is king. I wrote a previous post entitled “When is enough, enough?” which dealt with those questions. So for now, I look more toward our responsibilities to one another. If the guy at the top of the food chain makes a million dollars a year, let’s say, what should his attitude be toward the guys at the bottom of the food chain? Does he have any moral obligations to them, or are they merely poor, uneducated, lazy people who should be glad to be employed for any amount of money? Not that I think we lowly working people are lazy (How can working people be considered to be lazy?); poor (poorer, for sure than the CEO); uneducated (maybe not, and certainly not always less skilled than the boss); satisfied working for any salary (Get real).
So, the big guy drives his luxury car (which was built by the little guys), from his multi-million dollar home (which was built by the little guys), to the office (which was built by the little guys), so that he can begin his day. His whole business exists because a whole lot of little guys way down the food chain buy a product, or use a service, that his company provides. Without the little guys, this big guy would be a little guy, too. Did he forget that? Maybe he is smarter, or more clever, or has more ambition, or was lucky enough to have those all-important connections that helped him rise about the ranks of the little guys. Or maybe he is just one hard worker who created his own opportunities and took full advantage of all of them. No matter how you look at it, big guys exist only because of little guys. Big guys should kiss the feet of every little guy who helps him drive that nice car and live in that expensive house, etc. There should be an air of gratitude and thanksgiving toward the people who are helping you create success.
Unfortunately, mankind rarely seems to function from that perspective, however. I never liked history classes because it always seemed that it was story after story of how mean and cruel people could be toward other people. I honestly just don’t get it. Why are people so mean to one another? Why can’t the money generated by the oil production in Nigeria be somewhat equally divided among all of the people in the country? When is enough, enough, for the big guys? How can they sleep at night knowing that what they have is at the expense of even the most basic needs of the little guys?
Here are some comments from a blogger from Nigeria:
What is actually needed in the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria is a total transformation of lives into that which is worth living. The targets should include letting clean water run in every home, to provide decent schools for the children, good roads and modern hospitals.
Really, is that too much to ask of anybody in any country?
