By  JAPHET ALAKAM- VISUAL

The discovery of oil in Nigeria and its impact on the socio-economic development of Nigeria have been seen as a curse instead of the blessing which it, ordinarily ought to be. This is partly due the level of corruption which has enveloped the whole exercise. Presently, the federal government is battling with both the oil thieves and politicians who are behind them and the success of the battle is what many observers are waiting.

A visit to the creeks which is the battle field will help many understand more about what is going on there, but since many will not visit there, award winning photojournalist whose images focus on editorial activism and experimental documentary topics, Akintunde Akinleye has brought images of some of the scenes of the oil war for many to see in an exhibition tagged  Delta Bush Refineries and Other Stories.

The exhibition which opened yesterday at Omenka Gallery will run from December 17 to 31, 2016.

Featuring seventy-five images of the problem-plagued Niger-Delta, captured by the lens of  the artist.  Viewers will be greeted with images that tells better story of the oil war. The story is always good to be told rather than seen and that is what the photo artists has brought to Lagos.

The works deal movingly with the complicated issues surrounding the region, including the illegal refining and smuggling of crude oil by local gangs, amidst the perennial exploitation by international oil exploration and production companies, of the local communities leaving in its wake, polluted waters, barren land and loss of subsistence. Each distinct photograph is a vital chapter in a continuing episode of the consequences of a nation’s reliance on crude oil as a monoproduct to drive her ailing economy. Indeed, each image contributes a layer of meaning to the whole, to create multiple co-existent possibilities for interpretation. Here, the viewer consents to engage in dialogue with the works, despite the disturbing nature of the subject.

Going round the gallery, one will be captivated with bold images that tell visible stories of the issues at stake. For example the work Bush refinery VI, that depicts a typical local refining house with the fire, drums and the smoke going high in the small hut, while Bush refinery I, a man carrying two gallons of crude on his way out of the bush. Other works include, No fuel, Vanishing Wetland 1&2, The polluted creek and many others.

According to the artist, “this exhibition, a full self-exhibit, is not intended to cast the stigma of criminals on my subjects, but to push into the public domain a symbolic illustration of Nigeria’s collective failure to genuinely address corruption—an unholy culture that affronts the collective dignity of Nigerians.”

The story of oil is not new, Oil, crude oil, has provided Nigeria with a surplus economic abundance that has not been utilized since its discovery. However, Nigeria is yet to realize the full potentials of its natural resources.

Bearing down under the unholy trinity of politicians stealing oil money from the central government coffers, the bush oil refiners engaging in illegal crude oil tapping from the creeks, and the oil multinational flouting standard operational policies, Nigeria’s crude oil story is a ‘basket metaphor,’ of surplus waste, environmental pollution and monumental national crisis.

What is the way out, despite the efforts of the military, what is the way out. The artist brings the images with the view that something better be done to stem the tide.

Akintunde Akinleye is an award winning photojournalist. He received the World Press Photo prize in 2007 and the National Geographic all roads award in 2008. He is a recipient of residency fellowships at the University of Texas in Dallas and at the Thami Mnyele foundation in Amsterdam.

His works have been published in TIME magazine, Vogue and the New York Times and exhibited in Lagos and abroad.