Black in College

Like so many countries occupied by Western forces, Nigeria is in turmoil. When countries are occupied by foreign forces, they become increasingly conservative in order to protect what they see as the occupiers infringing upon their rights to their own culture and political systems. I have no doubt that things like spousal abuse and rape have escalated in Nigeria in addition to this surge of violence–that is also a by-product of colonialism.

Yet again, the Western media has made it seem like these conflicts are something new–that unrest is something Nigeria has been unfamiliar with for some time. But for anyone who knows anything about the countries and history of the African continent, it’s pretty damn obvious that Nigeria is notorious for terrible acts of violence. And all of this violence is coming from the exploitation of Nigeria’s resources. Oil companies not only drain the area of it’s so-called “black gold,” but they destroy the local environment, making in impossible for farmers to maintain their crop. They pretend to care about building schools, educating the youth, and investing in the area–when really, all they’re doing is sucking it dry.

And just like their counterparts in the Middle East, the people in Northern Nigeria are reacting against all things Western in an attempt to take back control of their lives and their countries–but it’s not going to happen. Keeping the local people uneducated and in poverty is what makes it possible for oil companies, and consequently, Nigerian politicians to rake in the dough while their citizens are stranded in squalor.