Oil On Water by Helon Habila Book Review — Bagi Ali
The story is set in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and told through the mind and experience of a Journalist, Rufus, who was on a quest of uncovering the truth about the kidnap of the wife of an expatriate visiting her husband in Nigeria for the first time.
Rufus, a young and ambitious journalist embarked on a dreadful mission to uncover the kidnap of a white woman in order to prove himself to his employer, make a name for himself in the media business, as well as money to save his impoverished family. The story takes us on a journey through the creeks and oil damaged lands of the Niger Delta region, exposing us to the sufferings and travails of the people as well as trying to create a balance in the minds of the reader between the militants and the Army.
An interesting character is Zaq, Rufus’ partner and mentor who had extensive experience in journalism and was pulled out of the limelight as a result of disturbing circumstances, who also on a quest to getting back on his feet in the industry, remained on the dreadful assignment for the same reason as Rufus. Zaq, a once known journalist now lost in drunkenness as his therapy to forget his past co-journeyed with Rufus and ended up getting exposed to the illnesses in the region which eventually led to his untimely death, leaving Rufus to apply the lessons learned from him in attaining success.
Then there’s Boma, Rufus’s sister who was a victim of one of the gas explosions which led to the damage of her once pretty face and had to suffer rejection from her once loving husband.
An interesting character I would have loved the writer to have built upon is Koko, the White man’s Drivers Fiancée, who took in for her boss, the event of which led to the entire story. I would have loved to see through the mind of Koko and understand the rationale for the steps she took and the reason for the abrupt change her attitude.
The writer’s style is quite simple, Very descriptive and Expressive and brings one into the mind of the writer, taking one into the story and making it an adventurous and captivating read.
The themes of the book include Poverty, Greed, and Bad governance, Corruption, Betrayal and War. The main theme being Bad governance/Corruption, is expressed in the attitude of the government to the travails of the people of the region. The government only concerned with the revenue generated from the region ignored the effect it had on the people and gave no compensation to them. The activities of the militant being an offshoot of the government’s nonchalance was paid back by the kidnaps of expatriates with the aim of getting returns for their wasted lands.
The reader will get persuaded at some points as the writer expressively and intentionally tries to express the ideologies of both sides (the militants and the Army). At some point I started to see the rationale for the incessant kidnaps in the region which was clearly expressed in the class of the kidnap victims. The Deltans were forced out of their lands as a result of the activities of the government in collaboration with the white men to extract their oil rich soil and in the process of doing that, their lands became infertile and could no longer support crops growth: the gas flare was harmful to the health of the indigenous people thereby leading to severe illnesses killing a large number of people.
The indigenes in a quest to partake of the benefit of their lands sold their lands to the government for sums that ended up being wasted, those that refused were forced out of the land to enjoy unhindered oil extraction. The greedy amongst them, vandalized pipelines to extract oil for sale at cheap prices, unaware of the grievous danger of their acts of vandalism that led to the death of many.
The writer told the story through the mind of the most suitable character, as Rufus who grew up in the region had been personally affected by the ills of the failed system. He lost his father to it and his once beautiful sister lost her pretty face during one of the gas explosions.
The story is quite an interesting and captivating read and I will most likely recommend it to friends and family.
The sequence of the narration was perfectly done because it captures the reader’s attention, as it sheds light into the back and forth events preceding the main story while showing us the rationale for the actions taken by interesting characters as, Salomon, Zaq and the White Woman.
The writer is exceptionally expressive and takes the reader on a journey through the travails of the region, the cause of corruption and the effect of a failed system, creating a perfect picture of the region and the general demeanour of characters.
There were few typos in the book which implies that the book was poorly proofread and in need of proper editing.
Even with the cliff hanger in the end, one can without bias predict the end of the book.
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