In Cameroon, Oil Exploitation Brings No Benefit

See this heartbreaking story of a thrown-away village in Cameroon, living medieval life in the 21st century, in spite of the fact that the oil in their region is being exploited with the blessing of the government of Cameroon:

 "Oil exploration here comes with soil and water pollution as well as various gases. We are no longer safe because the oil in our land seems to be a curse rather than a blessing. The ecosystem is affected, our once fertile soils are going barren, yet we don't have anything. These are the words of Chief Joseph Fete of Boa-Bolondo village in Bamusso Sub-division. Boa-Balondo is a village along the Nigerian borders with an estimated population of 3 500 people.

Here the Nigerian Naira is threatening to floor the Cameroonian FCFA in a show of the legal tender strength. But trade by barter is what moves and shakes the local economy here. "We exchange cassava, plantains for fish with Nigerian Fishermen at the bench," Chief Fete told The Post. Though a border village, Boa- Balondo is at the mercy of fate. It has no police post and it is still the traditional institution, the local Epke society that handles criminal offences like adultery, abortion, murder and theft.