Our votes must go together with our guns. After all, any vote we shall have, shall have been the product of the gun. The gun which produces the vote should remain its security officer–its guarantor. The people’s votes and the people’s guns are always inseparable twins.
Robert Mugabe, 1976
Categories: Africa · Zimbabwe
Tagged: Robert Mugabe
When journalist John Ghazvinian found out that the United States might soon be getting as much as twenty-five percent of its imported oil from Sub-Saharan Africa, he set out on a six-month information gathering journey through twelve African nations. Ghazvinian’s narrative is filled with the history, facts, and back story of oil in Africa. His interviews with community activists, warlords, oil-rig workers, industry executives, villagers, and others provide insight into what Africa’s oil boom means for Africa, Africans, and the world.
I really enjoyed this book, and feel much better educated about what will no doubt be an increasingly important issue in coming years. Ghazvinian’s interviews and anecdotes from his journey provide the real meat of this piece. The author helped me to understand that I am linked by the gas I put in my tank, to companies, professionals, equipment, the environment, and many serious human rights issues. Fascinating.
Categories: Africa
Tagged: John Ghazvinian, Oil, West Africa
