Abstract
The oil-rich Niger Delta region in Western Africa is in crisis. Economic disparity and corruption are the main features of the nation that is constantly ranked as one of the most corrupt in the world. Global capital, manifested as powerful and all-encompassing transnational corporations play out a struggle for national power in an increasingly poverty-stricken and disaster-prone country on the brink of a civil war. This results in a widening gap between the rich and the poor. This gap has attracted the international attention of news media and of several art house filmmakers who are eager to shed light on the shady oil business operating in one of the most polluted nations on earth. In this context, resistance takes center stage, thus enabling political and environmental activism to contest the capitalist ideology driving the nation into the abyss of hatred, violence and killing. Besides exploring the complexities of enduring conflict, the documentaries The Naked Option, Delta Boys and Big Men explore the human face of work in Nigeria revealing the spirit of cooperation, caring and fellowship that supports the Niger Delta people’s desire to catch a glimpse of a better future. This paper analyses said documentaries as evidence that in the intolerable political and economic environment, the Niger Delta’s people experience a social connection that transcends their desperate circumstances.
Author Information
Óscar Ortega Montero, University of Barcelona, Spain
Paper Information
Conference: Global2018
Stream: Postcolonial Studies
This paper is part of the Global2018 Conference Proceedings (View)
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