A review by leonieborsch
Oil on Water by Helon Habila

3.0

In "Oil on Water" by Helon Habila, which was published in 2010, we meet the young reporter Rufus. He tells the story how he and his burned-out colleague, the legendary reporter Zaq are on their way to find the perfect story - about Isabel Floode, the kidnapped wife of the british oil-operations manager James Floode. On their way through the Niger-Delta they do not only encounter the military, but also the militants, who do not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for their self-declared "freedom-fight". The polar opposite to this violence is the fictional island Irikefe, a place where peaceful worshippers live, who value nature and each other. The paradise that has been in the oil-polluted Niger-Delta, is still existing on Irikefe. The novel adresses Nigeria's biggest problems: the environment-polluting Oil-industry and the fight between the government and the militants, who do not care if they kill or hurt innocent people. It is a warning and a scream for help at the same time. The novel is a mosaic of flashbacks and the things happening at the moment, which creates confusion and turbulence matching the one in the book. Unfortunately this was a bit too confusion, so I could not really enjoy reading it. Also there was no "flow" in creating tension. There were some spikes which were thrilling but all in all it was a bit boring and unemotional. To conclude, the book was okay, but I would not recommend reading it in school, as it was too complicated to follow the plot / story, which makes it a challenge to read (the story was really great tho).