Guys and Gals.

Its a very interesting drama, but lasts over 1 hour.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rw5mp/Blood_and_Oil_Episode_1/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rw69w/Blood_and_Oil_Episode_2/

A bit too realistic for my liking,


But I enjoyed seeing the 'Oyibo Shell Guy's Hanging'

I must admit,

Their pidgin isn't authentic as expected. Or maybe, no be 9ja pidgin. I'm just 8 mins into watching though.

8 mins in and you dey summarise?

Watch on,

Grasp the story line - I think that's very real and authentic.

Its on again tonite by 9pm, a pity i will be watching Man U. The drama is just as it is Nigeria. From Corruption to deception

Good, I must say. Really insightful for numerous BBC 2 watchers on the numerous issues surrounding Niger Delta. I particularly enjoyed the conversation between Tobodo and Alice - the PR consultant.

The British position has changed otherwise the BBC would never air such a series. The truth about the Niger Delta is being told to British people in no uncertain terms?. . . And MEND are depicted as the heroes they are! Nigerian politics has just turned full circle. Power to the people!

Even the British have realised that politics as usual has failed woefully.

The last episode for those in the UK is tonight at 21.00 BBC2.

Otherwise I will post the link for iplayer after the programme for those outside the uk.

I am not sure if you can watch it live somehow.

on point!!!

frosbel:

Guys and Gals.

Its a very interesting drama, but lasts over 1 hour.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rw5mp/Blood_and_Oil_Episode_1/

Thank you for posting this. I watch it with my family. Nothing I saw there is news to be having related to one of the Nigerian governor and based on what he tell me at times. I think most Nigerians has no idea what there so called country is all about. We must separate, go our ways and let each group or groups that agree to live together under one roof design a way of solving their problems.

What you saw in that film is reality of what is happening every in oil producing villages in Delta/East and it very unfamiliar to Nigerians mostly from Est/Delta to some of them, it something from  another land. If ordinary Nigerian is given a glimpse of what their country is all about, they will go mad in seconds.
Most of the artrocities blamed on the militants are done by the Nigerian govt and one day you also hear thee full story of MASSOB.
The British govt is slowly coming to their senses that they cannot join the looters of Nigeria in their evil ways forever. Thanks to the internet.

^
Precisely! This is a welcome u-turn, especially from things like the recent BBC Hausa service Yar'Adua "phone call".

Episode 2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rw69w/Blood_and_Oil_Episode_2/

Nigeria is being exposed thoroughly,

The whole scam of Nigeria, Politics and Oil has been laid out bare -

It deserves an award - BBC - 9/10 for effort.

The show is rubbish.

doyin13:

The show is rubbish.

are you ok?

I don't understand how an informed Nigerian
can be impressed with the show.

Sensationalist liberal tosh for a white British audience.

And I am a liberal.

Tears almost came to my eyes. That was 100 percent Nigeria and a good summary of Niger Delta issues.
Yes, we will build a nation! The struggle continues!

After so long, the World is beginning to admit what is going on in the ND.

I just finished watching the final episode. I must confess, I was almost crying. The story might not be accurate enough, but at least it gave an insight to what is really happening. I like the final speech by kene said it all. It is true both the government(indigene & non indigenes) and the international community are to be blamed , but for us to be a nation we must consider each ethnic group as part of us.

doyin13:

I don't understand how an informed Nigerian
can be impressed with the show.

Sensationalist liberal tosh for a white British audience.

And I am a liberal.

Watch carefully, the bbc do not just show random programmes like this.

It has a political message !

Beaf:

Tears almost came to my eyes. That was 100 percent Nigeria and a good summary of Niger Delta issues.
Yes, we will build a nation! The struggle continues!

After so long, the World is beginning to admit what is going on in the ND.

When I recently watched the Bayelsa governor showing around a news correspondent his palatial building, I was so upset that he seemed so detached from the day to day struggles of the people.

Surely leadership change has to occur first with the cooperation of the people before any visible difference can be made.

Lets hope Goodluck will brings these realities to bear on our leaders.

Pk001:

I just finished watching the final episode. I must confess, I was almost crying. The story might not be accurate enough, but at least it gave an insight to what is really happening. I like the final speech by kene said it all. It is true both the government(indigene & non indigenes) and the international community are to be blamed , but for us to be a nation we must consider each ethnic group as part of us.

Anything more accurate would have left you not just in tears, but in full scale riot mode.

frosbel:

When I recently watched the Bayelsa governor showing around a news correspondent his palatial building, I was so upset that he seemed so detached from the day to day struggles of the people.

Surely leadership change has to occur first with the cooperation of the people before any visible difference can be made.

Lets hope Goodluck will brings these realities to bear on our leaders.

The timing of the shows airing cannot be a coincidence.

Pk001:

I just finished watching the final episode. I must confess, I was almost crying. The story might not be accurate enough, but at least it gave an insight to what is really happening. I like the final speech by kene said it all. It is true both the government(indigene & non indigenes) and the international community are to be blamed , but for us to be a nation we must consider each ethnic group as part of us.

Forget that politically correct crap until there are enough people who can reason rationally across ethnic boundaries, otherwise you will become the next victim.
It will do you well to listen carefully to the groups Keme mentioned will form the new nation. It will also do you well to sift through Nigerian politics with great wisdom. . . Then your eyes will open and never shut again.

I think the BBC researched this issue well and have applied minimal cencorship in portraying the goings on surrounding oil and Nigeria.

Even their own nationals (Oyibo) have been exposed for their greed, lust and immorality - Not just Nigerian politicians.

The momentum for change is growing - And I cant see what will stop the change required in Nigeria from becoming reality.

On a lighter note Nollywood scriptwriters, producers and directors this is the kind of drama your audience expect from you! Not the usually junk been produced on a daily basis.

The Immigration and Airport experience are just so real and shamefully true.

by the way will we expel BBC from Nigeria for this revelation ?

or do we only get excersized when Gaddaffi speaks?

A Guardian Analysis of the Drama



I'm not sure the Nigerian Tourist Board had much to do with the political thriller Blood and Oil (BBC2). It looks like a terrifying country. Foreign oil-workers live in gated, air-conditioned compounds and are ferried around in 4x4s with police escorts. Their companies, meanwhile, drain the Niger Delta of oil, while being fiercely resisted by militant groups such as Mend. Corruption runs so deep, it's part of the national fabric: everyone, from the government down, takes a cut – except that, when it reaches the man and woman on the street, there's nothing left. And scary-looking guys in suits with sunglasses and guns hang around on every corner – even in hotel corridors – looking menacing. Hmmm, Wales again this year, I think.

A British electronics worker is called out to fix something. It's a trap, though: Mend show up in their canoes, bullets fly. The Brit and a couple of other foreigners are taken hostage. No matter, it happens all the time, the company will pay the ransom, they'll be released. The Brit's wife, played by Jodhi May, flies out, along with Naomie Harris as a PR executive for the oil company.

May is very good at being hysterical, which she is throughout. Well, it's not surprising; her husband's been kidnapped in the middle of Africa. Then, when she goes along for the happy reunion, he's unable to throw his arms around her, on account of being dead. Hanging like a weasel left by a gamekeeper as a warning to other weasels. Oops, that wasn't meant to happen.

And Harris is very good at being in the shower, which she is often. Well, twice, but that's twice more than anyone else. Get the pretty lady's kit off. To be honest, I'm finding it hard to disapprove, but at least I know I should. Boo. And when she gets her kit on, sometimes it's the wrong kit. When she goes along, by boat, to the hostage-handover-turned-hanging-husband episode in the delta, she's wearing an immaculate, crisp white trouser suit. Somehow, in spite of the unfortunate events that unfold, it remains unstained by either blood or oil.

Who cares, though? She's wonderful. And she does an excellent comedy Nigerian accent, which she's allowed to because her character's father is a Nigerian immigrant to Britain, and she's imitating him, in a fond, daughterly way. Less easy for the rest of us to get away with; probably best not even to try. Stick to Welsh (and then only with caution).

Guy Hibbert's drama grabs you by the cojones and drags you along at 100mph. The tension leading up to the discovery of the dead husband is almost unbearable. A river bend is slowly rounded, distant figures come in to view, it becomes clear they're not standing but hanging, then comes May's horror as she realises who one of them is. It leaves your stomach in knots. It's also contemporary, relevant, slick, and utterly thrilling. No bad thing in a thriller. Can't wait for part two tonight.

CCTV – normally a way of solving crime or an affront to civil liberties, depending on your point of view – gets a whole new purpose in Panorama: Passports to Kill (BBC1). It becomes a window on to Mossad. We're in Dubai, for the killing of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh earlier this year. Once Dubai police established that he hadn't died of natural causes in his hotel room, but had been injected with a muscle relaxant before being suffocated with a pillow, they were able to piece together the events leading up to the murder, using footage from cameras around the city.

It's extraordinary to watch it all: the staggered arrivals of the assassination team at the airport; meetings; the hotel being staked out; even the moment a tourist almost disrupts it all. Sometimes it's almost comedic – as when a suspect goes to the loo and comes out wearing different clothes and a wig. Is this really Mossad? Or Clouseau?

It must have been an incredible task, going through the footage of so many cameras, to piece it all together. And a job that's only really of use in documenting the event, rather than in bringing anyone to justice. Because the other thing that everyone seems sure of, apart from the fact that it was Israeli intelligence agents whodunnit, is that none of the assassins will ever be caught. Oh well, at least one Israeli diplomat was expelled from London, in response to the passport cloning. Maybe he got sent to Nigeria.

This story is a call to action. I feel like crying

Its the union of the son of an Oil Broker educated on stolen wealth and the Duagther of an Ambassador who understand that their own freedom is threatened when everyone elses is threatened.

I hope those who think they benefit from the current status quo will come to realise this truth too.

Abdullmutallab showed this kind of frustrations too, albeit in a very wrong way.

frosbel:

A Guardian Analysis of the Drama



I'm not sure the Nigerian Tourist Board had much to do with the political thriller Blood and Oil (BBC2). It looks like a terrifying country. Foreign oil-workers live in gated, air-conditioned compounds and are ferried around in 4x4s with police escorts. Their companies, meanwhile, drain the Niger Delta of oil, while being fiercely resisted by militant groups such as Mend. Corruption runs so deep, it's part of the national fabric: everyone, from the government down, takes a cut – except that, when it reaches the man and woman on the street, there's nothing left. And scary-looking guys in suits with sunglasses and guns hang around on every corner – even in hotel corridors – looking menacing. Hmmm, Wales again this year, I think.

A British electronics worker is called out to fix something. It's a trap, though: Mend show up in their canoes, bullets fly. The Brit and a couple of other foreigners are taken hostage. No matter, it happens all the time, the company will pay the ransom, they'll be released. The Brit's wife, played by Jodhi May, flies out, along with Naomie Harris as a PR executive for the oil company.

May is very good at being hysterical, which she is throughout. Well, it's not surprising; her husband's been kidnapped in the middle of Africa. Then, when she goes along for the happy reunion, he's unable to throw his arms around her, on account of being dead. Hanging like a weasel left by a gamekeeper as a warning to other weasels. Oops, that wasn't meant to happen.

And Harris is very good at being in the shower, which she is often. Well, twice, but that's twice more than anyone else. Get the pretty lady's kit off. To be honest, I'm finding it hard to disapprove, but at least I know I should. Boo. And when she gets her kit on, sometimes it's the wrong kit. When she goes along, by boat, to the hostage-handover-turned-hanging-husband episode in the delta, she's wearing an immaculate, crisp white trouser suit. Somehow, in spite of the unfortunate events that unfold, it remains unstained by either blood or oil.

Who cares, though? She's wonderful. And she does an excellent comedy Nigerian accent, which she's allowed to because her character's father is a Nigerian immigrant to Britain, and she's imitating him, in a fond, daughterly way. Less easy for the rest of us to get away with; probably best not even to try. Stick to Welsh (and then only with caution).

Guy Hibbert's drama grabs you by the cojones and drags you along at 100mph. The tension leading up to the discovery of the dead husband is almost unbearable. A river bend is slowly rounded, distant figures come in to view, it becomes clear they're not standing but hanging, then comes May's horror as she realises who one of them is. It leaves your stomach in knots. It's also contemporary, relevant, slick, and utterly thrilling. No bad thing in a thriller. Can't wait for part two tonight.

CCTV – normally a way of solving crime or an affront to civil liberties, depending on your point of view – gets a whole new purpose in Panorama: Passports to Kill (BBC1). It becomes a window on to Mossad. We're in Dubai, for the killing of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh earlier this year. Once Dubai police established that he hadn't died of natural causes in his hotel room, but had been injected with a muscle relaxant before being suffocated with a pillow, they were able to piece together the events leading up to the murder, using footage from cameras around the city.

It's extraordinary to watch it all: the staggered arrivals of the assassination team at the airport; meetings; the hotel being staked out; even the moment a tourist almost disrupts it all. Sometimes it's almost comedic – as when a suspect goes to the loo and comes out wearing different clothes and a wig. Is this really Mossad? Or Clouseau?

It must have been an incredible task, going through the footage of so many cameras, to piece it all together. And a job that's only really of use in documenting the event, rather than in bringing anyone to justice. Because the other thing that everyone seems sure of, apart from the fact that it was Israeli intelligence agents whodunnit, is that none of the assassins will ever be caught. Oh well, at least one Israeli diplomat was expelled from London, in response to the passport cloning. Maybe he got sent to Nigeria.

This is a useless analysis of the drama, jus being bais about mend, the guardian are not getting the full story of what is really goin on. In the second episode, the  white lady finally got to find out that her husband was even engaged  in shady deals in the 9ja delta and his company, with the Nigerian government  and the British govenrment decide to take him out because he decided to cut a deal with the chinese who were ready to take over  the oil company. Mend are  only fighting for their rights

doyin13:

The show is rubbish.

Tell me about it. . . . of all the Nigerian actors around, they couldnt even get someone to speak with the proper accent.

I only watched half of the first episode cos it looked like a typical BBC production that cant even tell the story properly.

i thought it was really good, the non nigerian actors all had really dodgy nigerian accents though, perhaps they could have cast a few nollywood actors in some of the roles rather than the black british actors that they used.

i enjoyed it though, although im not sure all of it was shot in nigeria.

David Oyewole (Tobodo) was brilliant as usual, the lead actress - naomi harris, was acting like a typical brainwashed coconut, totally oblivious to the misery and suffering that shell brings to nigeria but apart from that quite good, looking forward to seeing episode two.

not digging all the BS accents but w/e

federalism