Commentary, Special to The Plain Dealer

Commentary, Special to The Plain Dealer
Daphne Wysham
The Plain Dealer, 8 August 2002

As you contemplate buying a sport-utility vehicle or some other car without regard for its fuel efficiency, consider this: The women of the Niger Delta want you to know there is a human cost for our unquenchable thirst for oil and, to get our attention, they are using a novel technique: They are threatening to disrobe.

When their sons protested in the past, they were beaten, tortured, and killed. So, in mid-July, thousand of women in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta used the threat of public nudity, a traditional form of shaming in Nigeria, to draw the world's attention to their plight.

"Our nakedness is our weapon", the women said. And a powerful weapon it turned out to be. It brought Chevron's oil operations in the Nigerian port of Escravos to a standstill for more than a week.

"Escravos" means slave in Portuguese. It is this port that once sent thousands of slaves abroad. Today, it is oil that is being exported, also leaving misery and sorrow in its wake.

And so the women, ranging in age from 30 to 80 and some with babies strapped to their backs, took over the flow stations. "We are no longer slaves", they said. "Even slaves realize their condition and fight for their freedom".

The ChevronTexaco Corp., one of the biggest oil companies (after Shell) in Nigeria, has pumped oil out of the Delta for decades and destroyed the clean water, clean air and fertile land that the Delta people have depended on for generations, says Environmental Rights Action (ERA), the largest environmental group in Nigeria.

And Chevron and others have given little in return, just a school here, a clinic there, and an occasional job or micro-credit scheme. As the oil is sucked from the ground, the earth itself subsides, and the oily waters of the gulf of Guinea seep deeper inland, poisoning the heart of these once fertile swamps.

The women's young children stand with distended bellies and protein deficiency wracking their small frames. The few fish their fathers catch taste of crude oil. The children have no schooling, because school costs money, an extravagance when the average income is $1 a day.

The young girls chase after the oil men, hoping for a one-night stand, risking bringing AIDs and other diseases home to their villages if it means surviving another day, the environmental group says.

The oil is decimating their people as surely as slavery did. And it's only getting worse. As we drive more gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles and worry about terrorists shutting down our Middle Eastern oil supply, we're pumping more oil out of impoverished countries like Nigeria post-9/11, and inevitably spilling more oil. By 2015, if all goes as planned, Nigeria and other West African countries will deliver one-fourth of America's oil.

The question is, what is more important: Our right to drive sport-utility vehicles or the right of the people of the Delta to control their destiny?

If we want to take action on the concerns of the Nigerian women, lessen our impact on the global environment, and lessen America's energy dependence on foreign nations, here's what we should do: First, write Chevron and other oil companies like Shell and BP, and insist that they clean up their messes in the Delta.

Second, we should do the research, and find cars that are both safe and fuel-efficient. A good place to start is: www. fueleconomy.gov.

Third, we should let our members of Congress know we want federally mandated higher fuel-efficiency standards for all cars and trucks.

Oil is a finite resource. So is the patience of the Nigerian people.

If we don't listen to the mothers of the Delta, we'll only be getting ourselves into hot water down the road.

Copyright 2002 The Plain Dealer