From the late 1950s to the present day, numerous oil reserves have been discovered in Nigeria. Today, Nigeria is among the most oil-rich countries in Africa. But, as “The Plantation” makes clear, many Nigerians view these discoveries with ambivalence, as affluence still eludes much of the population. When Namidi first notices “a puddle of fluid gathered around him,” he remembers that “men from the city in khaki uniforms had come to the village with long pipes and heavy trucks” (77). Years later, though the pipeline carries vast wealth beneath his farm, Namidi still cannot afford to send his son to the missionary school.

Indeed, the village seems to lack any wealth derived from petroleum or the pipeline that runs under their lands. Namidi describes the village as “a cluster of thatched roofs, no more than a clearing in the jungle” (78). These huts, “stretched on a paltry piece of land with miniscule space between them” (78), are signs that little has changed for the villagers. In the end, an explosion destroys much of the village and many of its inhabitants. The 1998 Jesse explosion resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 people.