A Swamp Full of Dollars
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Review
'A compelling and well-written account. In this long awaited book, Peel has told the history of Nigeria and oil in a way that makes this important subject accessible to all. In doing so, he has done a service to everyone who is interested in development and in Africa' --Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, Economics, 2001
'...a compelling journey through the oil-filled chaos of present-day Nigeria' --Louis Theroux
'A fascinating insight into Africa's wild west' --Giles Foden
'...a compelling journey through the oil-filled chaos of present-day Nigeria' --Louis Theroux
'A fascinating insight into Africa's wild west' --Giles Foden
Product Description
Nigeria is a country where petroleum and polio have both boomed, where small villages challenge giant oil companies, and scooter drivers run their own mini-state. The crude-rich Niger Delta region at the heart of it all is a troublespot as hot as the local pepper soup. Through a host of characters, from the Area Boy gangsters of Lagos to the civil war general with a penchant for 19th century British poetry, Peel tells the story of this extraordinary country and how it has been shaped by the oil that pumps through western cities. Weaving reportage, oral history and investigative journalism, Peel illustrates the dark side of the global oil economy, and the unseen consequences of reckless resource extraction.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oil and Troubled Waters,
This review is from: A Swamp Full of Dollars: Pipelines and Paramilitaries at Nigeria's Oil Frontier (Hardcover)
Michael Peel, the former West Africa correspondent for the Financial Times, has written a fascinating book. Part travelogue, part insight into big oil and the multinationals that produce and market it, the book is also a story of admiration for Nigeria with all its chaos, corruption and injustice. Peel travels the (often dangerous) world of the Niger delta where Shell, AGIP Chevron and other companies are tapping one of the more important reserves of crude oil in the world. The light, sweet crude is readily refined into petrol and there are considerable reserves in nearby Sao Tome, Gabon and Cape Verde. Yet the vast oil revenue that has come to the Federal Government (and the states) of Nigeria has done little to raise the living standard of the poor people who live in the delta. Quite the opposite, in fact. Pollution from the oil and the disinclination of the oil companies to clear up have turned the delta into something of a wasteland. And the story of theft by successive Nigerian government officials is staggering. Yet at the end of his story, Michael Peel is optimistic. Nigeria is a new country; its injustices and problems and abuses of power are more open, more blatant but in a way more honest. Legitimacy is really longevity, as it is in the West. People in newer countries can offer fresh ways of thinking and a hunger for reform. As the need for oil grows, and the need for this reformation, we shall surely hear a lot more about Nigeria.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Firsthand account of crude oil in a crude spot!,
By
This review is from: A Swamp Full of Dollars: Pipelines and Paramilitaries at Nigeria's Oil Frontier (Hardcover)
Some say the history of crude oil extraction has a dark and seedy side; most say nowhere is it more glaringly visible than in Nigeria - a confused ex-colonial outpost with a complex ethnic and tribal mix turned into a unified nation and given its independence by the British some five decades ago.In this candid book, Michael Peel, a former FT journalist who spent many-a-year in Nigeria, presents a warts n' all account of this most chaotic and often fascinating of African countries shaped by oil, driven by oil and in more ways than one - held to ransom by oil. The author dwells on how the discovery of crude oil has not been quite the bonanza for its peoples who remain among the poorest and most deprived in this world. End result is growing dissent and chaos. The book has its 220 pages split into three parts, comprising of nine chapters, containing a firsthand and first rate narration of the violence, confusion, partial anarchy and corruption in Nigeria where its people who deserve better have to contend with depravity and pollution. Some have risen up and abide by their own rule - the rule of force, rather than the law. If the reader seeks insight into this complex country, Peel provides it. If the reader seeks a travel guide - this is one candid book. If the reader seeks info on what went wrong in Nigeria from a socioeconomic standpoint, the author duly obliges. Hence, this multifaceted work, for which Peel deserves top marks, is a much needed book. It addresses an information gap about a young nation, its serious challenges, addiction to its oil endowment and the sense of injustice the crude stuff creates for those who observe the oil bonanza from a distance but cannot get their hands into the cookie jar. Peel notes that the chaos of Niger delta is as much a story of colonial misadventure, as it is about corporate mismanagement, corruption in the bureaucracy and a peculiar and often misplaced sense of entitlement that creates friction between the country's haves and have nots. Drop into the mix, an unfolding ecological disaster and you get a swamp full of dollars whose inhabitants range from impromptu militias with creative names to Shell, from terrorists to ExxonMobil, from leaking pipelines to illegal crude sales. It demands to be read and I am happy to recommend it to a very wide readership base not just those interested in African history and that of crude oil.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By
This review is from: A Swamp Full of Dollars: Pipelines and Paramilitaries at Nigeria's Oil Frontier (Hardcover)
A good book which reveals another side to Nigeria which has been hidden for more than fifty years.Definitely recommend to anyone with a conscience, especially those in Government.
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