Slick: 1. The great white hope

The Compass

When oil company, Shell D’Arcy first struck black gold in Nigeria, there were celebrations on the creeks of the Niger Delta. Many of the locals had no idea what this thick black substance was, but it would go on to shape their lives and those of everyone in the region for decades to come.

BBC West Africa correspondent Mayeni Jones hears about how hope and hospitality turned to resentment in the early days of oil in Nigeria.

Reporter, Mayeni Jones Producer, Josephine Casserly Editor, Bridget Harney

(Photo: A man holds a pool of black oil in the palm of his hands, collected from oil pollution caused by a damaged pumping station in Nigeria. Photographer: George Osodi/Bloomberg, courtesy of Getty Images)