Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/232

Human Ecosystems: Okoroba-Nembe

'food was surplus during the time of our youths. There was plantain, cocoyam, cassava. Here was the centre of agriculture; now nothing grows fine. We would exchange for fish and outsiders would come to buy. The river water was spoilt in 1991 and now it is just belly-pain.'

'before life was good, food was in abundance, life was easy, productivity in the farm was quite enormous; today the story is different - Shell is here, I am shocked to observe the coincidence of the arrival of Shell and the decline of our Agricultural productivity. I am frustrated at the turn of events: plants are dying, lands are flooded, fishes are killed, water with green colouring matters. We, I, yearn for the time past when we were the centre of agriculture; we do not understand these things, having our baths in the river, our life-wire, is becoming more and more unbearable.'

In local maps of the area such as the one shown as Map 12, the Agip and Shell pipelines are always shown as being much closer than they really are. The "Oil Head" at Okoroba is shown as being as big as the village. In every community, in every conversation, oil is the dominant point as something that is destroying the environment upon which the people depend. There is never any doubt that oil is the cause of all problems.

It is not surprising that the other aspect of the environment permanent in the consciousness of the Okoroba-Nembe people is the rivers as communication, the link with the outside world, and the channels through which bad and good things come. In maps, rivers are always very wide taking up a large part of the landscape.

Generally the landscape is seen in terms of the resources that is gives. Names of places often refer to their uses (e.g. Obiata is Obi-Itia which means River for trapping fish); areas of the forest have their own names and in Okoroba a hunter defines three main types of land, being Main Land, Real Swamp and Mangrove Swamp, (the Main Land includes land that is seasonally flooded).

20.9 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STATUS OF OKOROBA-NEMBE

Except for schools, public services are rare.

Society is run by men who make most of the decisions and who appear to have an easier life than the women who bear the responsibility for raising children and feeding the family. All members of society suffer from poor health, primarily due to poor water (less of a problem in Nembe which has treated water most of the time). Despite the many problems society is self-organised and disciplined to a high degree, but less so in Nembe where young people are able to act more independently than in the rural areas.

The frustration already mentioned has brought together fairly well organised youth groups in Nembe that are held together and given direction by a common detestation of Shell. The frustration in Okoroba is less intense but appears to be more widely spread through the community and has yet to generate any political activity. 230