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 LIFE
DOWN ON THE DELTA.
by Tejas Jones.
A Little Overview
The Niger Delta…
The mention of this wild land conjures up images of destitute, lawless
millions; massive industrial complexes and lush green areas that
can easily conceal both oil spills and bodies. Why is this Africa's
answer to South Louisiana, USA?
 Now,
for an individual with a truly ambitious exploratory nature, this
is a land that is still far from conquered. Even getting here is
a truly wild ride in itself, and just being here is an incredibly
high and accurate indication that one has truly lost his grip on
reality.
Nigeria is, of course,
world renowned for corruption that begins at the top and permeates
society at every level and facet. This is an area where con men
and thieves change and alter their means and methods as often as
bacteria mutate in a laboratory petri dish. The country gives the
resemblance of a hierarchal, oversized rat cage that has been denied
food for two weeks. Babies are still being born in mass and whichever
rat does not have his back strategically placed into a corner has
probably been jumped and eaten alive.
 Although
Nigeria's problems are too numerous to list, the relatively wealthy
Delta region is free of religious violence between Christians and
Muslims that plagues areas to the North. However, it has all the
rest of the problems and one large one that is exclusive to the
area: The warring Itsekiri and Ijaw tribes. Yes, it is comforting
that the more this crazy world changes, the more it stays the same.
As the 21st century is dawning and globalization is undeniably taking
us in the direction of global government and unification, there
are still tribes fighting over the same patch of jungle that they
have competed for, for a thousand years.
 Thank
God someone holds on to their traditions. Heated competition for
land and resources that result in the deaths of hundreds takes place
as often as and with the international attention of a Red Sox-Yankees
baseball game. It is cyclical and will not go away. Though the excuses
used change frequently enough, the basic hatred and revenge that
drives these warring factions will never go away. It is a sad epiphany
but soon after arriving in the country it occurs to the visitor
that Nigerians have learned the only way to gain anything in this
life is to outmuscle the next man. Very few are ever provided with
an alternative opportunity and the communities prey upon each other.
Delta Geography
 The
Delta is dominated by two large cities. The first and more dirty,
dangerous, and lawless of the two is Warri. This is the area where
Itsekiri-Ijaw violence is localized and is also the area where offshore
and swamp oil field development was first established. Following
years of difficulties in the Warri area that included seizure and
mutinies of oil field facilities and installations, murder and kidnapping
of expatriates, and the eventual completion and utilization of local
swamp oil field developments, most oil companies relocated to the
second city of the Delta, Port Harcourt. Port Harcourt is a well-established
city of the Delta with good port facilities that offered an escape
from the tribal violence that plagues Warri. Not that Port Harcourt
is without its fair share of problems. This becomes blatantly apparent
as one sits in "no-go" traffic at Elimay Junction watching
your mobile policeman whip fellow motorists that have not gotten
out of the way quickly enough, being extorted for money by customs
officials in the Port Harcourt international airport at gun point,
or having the infamous skateboard boys accost you outside of "Cheers"
or "The Barracuda" after an evening of cocktails and discussing
world affairs with Nigeria's young socialite ladies.
Three-Day Cruise (A
Short Narrative).
 If
you have ever gone on a vacation cruise, it usually begins something
like this: In early, celebratory exuberance, one wakes up slightly
hung over. After fighting against slight traffic and dealing with
the hassles of the ticketing agencies, one is at ease taking a slow,
rolling ride out to sea. That does not even come close to this morning.
While the hangover (compliments of the Tiki Bar and the boys at
Intel camp) is equivalent, the similarities begin to diverge from
there.
Travel via the roadway
in Port Harcourt is a wonder to behold. Not only are there literally
hundreds of thousands of 30 year old compact cars, transport and
tanker trucks, motorcycles, bikes, people and animals on the road,
they are all on the same road.
Why? Two reasons: The Saturday marketplace where many will end up
is located along this road, and most of the other roadways are impassible
to all vehicles except the 4x4 wheel drives due to the rainy season.
All relief this morning stems from the fact that the vehicle of
choice is a 4x4 Land Cruiser.
 While
a Land Cruiser was available, unfortunately a mobile policeman was
not. The concept of a mobile policeman is an interesting one. This
is an individual that was formerly in the Nigerian military and
was recruited to be an autonomous civil authority within a given
state of Nigeria. They are employed by companies to circumnavigate
the street-level incompetence of local policing authorities. In
practice, they range from compound security to traffic directors
to hired muscle. The only ones that can be trusted, and that is
a relative term, are those in your employment. All others will rob
and kill you. The most highly visible, public action taken by these
individuals is traffic direction. It is often achieved with rapid
results due to the three-strand horse haired whip that they carry
to flog those that do not immediately respond to their directives.
It also helps as an initial attention grabber. While these men are
vicious and despisable, they are also indispensable for security
reasons. They are armed at all times with an AK-47 with three taped
together clips and dissuade all but the most determined attackers.
After a 45-minute ride
along every side road and two bit jungle trail that my driver knows
while pushing through five foot, rain filled pot holes that would
give most overland adventure race expeditions a run for their money,
there is the port terminal entry. Now to check in with dispatch
and away we go. But, not so fast! The customs agent at the entry
is looking for passport and visa papers and in the rush to leave
the office before sunset last night, none were photo copied. After
a brief conversation, the fact that this agent is an easy man to
get along with is expressed to me with the price of his ease being
something in the $5-10 dollar range. What a day to have no money.
After hours of trying to contact associates and a belligerent, threatening
attempt by the officer to separate me from my driver and only eye
witness in order to achieve getting me into the customs house all
by my lonesome, contact is established, papers are received, and
the prey slips away. The parting is a smiling-through-gritted-teeth
wonder to behold.
Finally,
up the gangplank and onto the back deck of the workboat that serves
the capacity of supply and lifeline for the offshore workers. The
Captain is American, the Chief Engineer English, and the First Mate
Peruvian. All are great individuals and there is not another passenger
onboard. The boat itself is new. It is capable of reaching 35 knots
when pushed to full throttle. This is highly desirable for several
reasons. First, crews and equipment can be moved around the contracting
companies' fields at a much greater rate. Secondly, if a smaller,
lighter boat with a motor and boarding party gives chase, it will
be easier to throttle the engines and build escape speed quickly.
This speed is specifically why this boat is here.
While pirating is always an unspoken concern, there are also legal
requirements within the Delta. These regulations deal with the locals
concerns for travel, fishing, and commerce, which utilize the Delta
regions with only canoes. From sunrise to sunset, ships and vessels
have the right of way on the Delta waterways. The other half of
the day, the right of the way belongs to the canoes adrift on the
waterways. This effectively requires ships to be in the Delta waterways
by 1600 hours or to spend the night at sea and come in the morning.
It also means that once in dock, no matter what the reason (such
as attack), a ship cannot cast off from its moorings.
The ride through the
delta and out to sea is relatively serene. The tide is out, storms
are sitting on the coastline, and the traffic on the waterway is
light. Lush green foliage, picturesque, National Geographic style
fishing villages, canoes, and rolling brown water is the view for
the most part. Occasionally, port facilities and scuttled ships
pulled to the shore and left to rust on sand bars are passed. The
sea is calling. The calmness is overwhelming. Out there are men
and equipment pushing frontier boundaries. Was this the way Ishmael
felt coming from New Bedford? Thank God this time all the Quequeg's
are still on shore.
Author:
Tejas Jones
Contact:
tejas@polosbastards.com
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