As we pulled into our small village in southern Nigeria, throngs of shanty houses made of little more than driftwood and aluminum shingles gave way to spacious compounds surrounded by ornate concrete barricades. We drove through the roundabout that divides the urban areas from our posh suburban compounds followed closely by throngs of women and children who offer peanuts, water and cake bread. Most wore little more than bed sheets and many of the women had gaunt babies tied to their backs.
That was my mother's hometown five years ago. During our stay, we encountered protesters who blocked the roads for those who didn't display tree branches on the windshield — a ceremonial show of support. We crossed military checkpoints where guards armed with M-16 rifles demanded American dollars in exchange for quick passage. One perfect blue day, we drove with our host to a beach town, where she had a meeting with oil company representatives. We sat 500 yards from the refinery on a vacant beach along the Atlantic Ocean — alone save for an ice-cream vendor circling us with his bicycle. The fire from the refineries' lone enormous smokestack burned through the postcard-like setting and the black smoke faded across the sun.
As we search for an end to the Iraq war that doesn't include terrorist control of its oil reserves, our politicians ignore the conflict around the corner. Radical groups in the Niger Delta operate outside the reach of government. They kidnap oil workers, randomly kill Nigerian troops and bomb oil refineries.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta demands equal redistribution of oil wealth. A good percentage of its members are educated Nigerians who can't find jobs or support their families. They are disgusted with the opulence of upper-class compounds and the fenced-in paradises of oil-company managers within sight of shantytowns where children starve and die of preventable diseases. They watch as the oil beneath them adds to the bottom line of foreign companies and select elites. They wait in line for hours to refill motorbikes and drive them past decrepit highways lined with abandoned gas stations.
The free-market policies the World Trade Organization demands of Africa in exchange for debt relief have helped fuel the instability in Nigeria. The West promotes economic systems that, however efficient, are incompatible with the cultural narratives of too many African nations. These policies have spawned the dependence on foreign actors that makes Nigeria one of the most corrupt countries on earth.
Despite the audacity of The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta's methods, how can Americans blame educated people for the desire to control their own resources? Didn't we have a revolution over less? As oil companies continue to post some of the largest profits in Earth's history, they hide behind the principles of capitalism as corporate coffers fill with money from countries where kids starve in the streets.
Stability in Nigeria is vital, because if the Middle East continues to spiral out of control, the market will enter an unparalled tailspin if the world's sixth largest oil exporter falls apart. This is yet another unseen consequence of getting bogged down in an unnecessary civil war. As we divert our diplomatic and military resources to Iraq, our neglect of Africa will cause more problems down the road. We continue to ignore the long-term consequences of U.S. policy for the stake of short-term stability.
These days, every time someone proposes military intervention in even legitimate humanitarian crises on the African continent, someone mentions "Black Hawk Down." These fears stick because we don't see any imminent economic interests in the region.
If the Nigerian government cannot appease radical elements in the Niger Delta, we will be forced to consider military action in the region. It is nearly certain that terrorist groups will find more soldiers to recruit as the population becomes increasingly radicalized. Meanwhile, our state department refuses to engage in any meaningful diplomacy toward stabilizing Iraq, and won't even offer the concession of conversation. Then, they leave the matters of Africa to low-level deputies. We are spawning the next war by fighting this one.
We need to connect these abstract policies to the indirect impact they have on daily life around the world. By allowing corporate interests and an uncompromising free-market philosophy to dictate our foreign policy, we fuel the cycle of military intervention. So long as the oil wealth of the underdeveloped world goes to those best at playing the games of patronage politics, the United States will have to cope with regional instability, and more children will starve needlessly beside the bustling streets of Uyo, Nigeria.
