For about three consecutive months, the BP oil spill in the Gulf was the focus of the media; the oil spillage was so intense that CNN's Anderson Cooper dedicated his show to covering the oil spill’s effect on locals, the environment and BP’s progress in trying to rectify the damage. Where exactly did this oil spill happen that it was able to grasp the media’s attention so firmly and for such a long time? Did it happen to have occurred somewhere near the USA, the current 'superpower' nation in the world? Did it affect Americans, citizens of this superpower? The answer for both questions is evidently yes.
Now, BP's oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is definitely not the only offshore drilling site in the world and it is neither the only oil company that has had to deal with oil spillages. Although, it was unfortunately was the victim of spilling its oil in a place where the media alone could devour the company's reputation, talk more of what regulations and restrictions the government could impose on the company. But wait, how about other oil producing countries, like those in the Middle- East and Africa. Have they never experienced oil spillages by expatriate investors/companies? Is it that those less economically powered countries are so special that no accidents ever happen in their country? That since they’re more likely to be exploited for their resources, the huge oil companies would most likely to be more cautious in how they extract oil as to be environmentally friendly? The answer to all these questions is no. Since these countries have less economic power, the environmental and economical impact, such as effects of oil spills go unnoticed, unspoken about and ultimately hidden. Having spent some time in Nigeria, an oil rich nation, I know that there is a concealed side of spillages that are ignored by people who do not know about it or suppressed, by people who know but would rather not speak.
