Blood, Oil, and Astronauts

Two weeks in a row I've written some semi-shrill pieces about heart-breaking African injustices that have stuck in my cerebral craw. Last week, I was going on and on about "blood diamonds" and their many but often nameless victims. This week's injustice centres on a name: martyred author / TV producer / businessman / environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa. He took on a corrupt regime and some pretty heartless multi-national corporations whom I've named by name. His courage got him killed. There is so much pain and exploitation in Africa, but it gives one hope to see that there is always someone who rises to meet it, to confront it, and, at least some of the time, to vanquish it. Worried that I might have been a little hard of the Nigerian ruling elite, I decided to offer them some accolades on their small-scale space program. I guess I've always admired reckless ambititon but, ultimately, their arguments in defence of their program made sense to me. Why should every last penny be devoted to debt reduction and food security? Nigeria is making a quantum leap forward - it's a little brazen perhaps, but why the hell not? Not that it's made me forget what happened to Ken Saro-Wiwa.