Home » Nigeria » Pole of Peace

An idea, the design, research on the Peace Pole Project, a new design--and then the chainsaw; a three and a half foot blade warped in a tooth of knawing metal. We were supposed to have had the materials, and the paints, but there were none. So we improvised, Peter Titcomb and I, finding resources, scouring the bush. And with the help of three large muscular black men of the Ijaw tribe in the Niger Delta. The engine hummed, filling a quiet room of books and cataloging. Wood split, poles shaved, materials produced. The Niger Delta Friendship Library Peace Pole of Oporoza was underway.

Pole of Peace

Camron Karsten
2006-02-18 20:12:18

Displayed times (last time: )

Farms were built, land prepared, and educational tools taught. This was sustainable development, one with a promising future in the eyes of the Itsekiri, through the tinted bifocals of Chevron Nigeria Ltd., and from the lens NGOs and humanitarians strive to clean. At last a community of locals were being recompensated for the wealth extracted from their land, but it was only one community within a whole region of exploitation. The Ijaws grew restless in the shadows and made their move within the darkness.

In 2003, over 1,000 Ijaw and Itsekiri militia were killed. During the fighting, waterways were stalked by pirates, AK-47s, Itsekiris in Mandagho. Incredibly friendly, knowledgable, and intense souls.assault rifles, RPGs, and machetes patrolling the area. The air was still, but dirty as violence cut oil supply up to forty percent and oil installations some thirty miles off shore had to be evacuated. An estimated $20 million a day was lost in revenue.

All peoples of the Niger Delta suffered tremendous loss. Lives disrupted, shattered, lost. The oil companies' facilities damaged; Chevron estimating repairs to cost around $600 million. More oil, gas, and blood shed on the earth's surface. Not solely in Nigeria, but beyond to the economies in supply of this region's high-quality crude felt the effects. Nigeria was a bridge to the world at large.

As Peter Titcomb and I sketched, painted, and assembled the Peace Pole for the Ijaws of Oporoza, the project's adage began to press its full impact:

"May Peace Prevail on Earth"--eight of the panels, written in eight separate languages, each relating this message in its own tongue. English, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Arabic. We had eight panels, painted appropriately, and one pole. Together, with the help of Ijaw villagers, the Peace Pole came alive, rose like a Frankenstein with a bunch of daisies, and stood at the front of the Niger Gas flares seem to loom around bends in the Creeks. A strange sight, hissing and spitting 24 hours a day.Delta Friendship Library.

We stood back, Peter and me silent. But our smiles shone through like little children with hands of chocolate behind their backs. Peace was our sweet. We tasted it, we savored it, we knew it was no longer ours--never was--but it was the people's, and this was the cocoa of the dessert.

Simultaneously, the two of us turned to one another and hugged. We congratulated not ourselves, but the world within us for the advancement of peace felt in every heart.