BillCosby

We get the oil, the gov gets money...

What is wrong w/ these ppl..??? THis is how it works. THis is free trade......... They are lucky they get to stay on their own land........


Home 'sweet' home
By Roselle Kingsbury
Staff Reporter
April 28, 2008

Documentarian Sandy Cioffi, two crewmembers, and one Nigerian political activist have been released after three days in a Nigerian jail. This development comes after fourteen legislators signed and sent a letter of appeal for the group’s release to the President of Nigeria, Umaru Yar’adua.

Of the fourteen signatures, U.S. Senators to Washington State Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray in addition to Washington State U.S. Representatives Jim McDermott, Rick Larsen, Norm Dicks, Adam Smith, Brian Baird, and Jay Inslee all signed the appeal.

Seattle Central Film instructor Sandy Cioffi was on sabbatical directing the filming of a documentary in Nigeria when she was detained along with her film crew and the founder of a Nigerian community organization on April 12. The group had entered the restricted Niger Delta area upon entering the country legally on April 5.

The Nigerian government arrested Cioffi and her crew during their filming of the final footage for their documentary, ''Sweet Crude,'' about the negative effects of the oil industry on the Niger Delta and its people.

Tammi Sims, producer of the documentary, along with crewmembers Cliff Worsham, who completed Seattle Central’s Film and Video Program in 2002, and Sean Porter, 2004 University of Washington graduate, accompanied Cioffi. Nigerian peace activist Joel Bisina who aided the crew, is also the founder and Regional Director of the Niger Delta Professionals for Development.

A similar situation arose in September 2007 when American émigré Judith Asuni was arrested with two German filmmakers on allegations of aiding the two filmmakers in capturing images of oil-harvesting equipment in the Niger Delta. The Nigerian government considers the filming of certain areas an offence under the Official Secrets Act.

While the German filmmakers falsified their visa applications, Cioffi’s group filed visa applications stating their intention to film a documentary. They were arrested after entering the Delta region ''without military authorization'' says a press release from the Paris branch of Reporters Without Borders.

Cioffi is known for being outspoken and blunt, even with her students. ''She’ll tell ‘em flat out if she thinks it doesn’t work,'' says Bob Ormbrek, who has worked with Cioffi for 15 years.

Cioffi united her passion with the hard truth of the camera lens and Bisina’s goal to, according to his organization’s Web site, ''promote responsive and accountable governance practices in the Niger Delta.''

The ''Sweet Crude'' crew updated their Web site for their last trip with a call-to-action and condemnation of a nascent U.S. plan to spread a branch of the Defense Department, the Africa Command, to the Niger Delta region.

''We urge Americans to voice their opposition to this agenda.'' the Web site reads, ''There is a window of opportunity for preventive diplomacy – for U.S. legislators to spearhead pressure on the Nigerian government for third-party monitored talks that would bring accountability to any dialog with Niger Delta stakeholders.''

''She is one of the most amazing, brilliant, proactive, articulate people you’ll ever meet in your life. To say she’s proactive is an understatement,'' gushes Sarena Schumacher, a second-year film student who worked with Cioffi. ''I think it takes a lot of courage and selflessness in order to put yourself in extreme danger and basically risk your life.''

Upon news of her detainment, local organizations and leaders moved en masse to advocate for her and her crew’s safety.

U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell, Russ Feingold, John Kerry, and Patty Murray with Congressman Jim McDermott had appealed the detainment from the start and along with the American Federation of Teachers, have also been in constant contact with the U.S. State Department and the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile Leslye Wood, spokesperson for ''Sweet Crude,'' has been in constant contact with authorities and press to keep the public current on the situation. Seattle Central’s own president, Mildred W. Ollée has also contacted Cioffi’s parents to convey the college’s ''concern and effort to aid in her release.''

The Paris branch of Reporters Without Borders also called for her release. ''Their papers were all in order and their presence was known to the authorities. It is shocking to have to remind the government that journalism is not an illegal activity in Nigeria and should, on the contrary, be an inalienable right,'' they said.

Crewmember Cliff Worsham’s prophetic blurb on the ''Sweet Crude'' Web site shows just how deeply the instructor has influenced him:

''Whether it be due to procrastination or fate, the fact that I have this opportunity to go to Nigeria and be a part of this documentary is a direct reflection of the decisions I have made, the moment in which I made them, and the people I have met up to now,'' he writes.

''I feel honored to be member of this team and part of this effort to shed light on the unfortunate plight of the people living in the Niger Delta region. Maybe in a Heisenberg-Chaos-Theory kind of way, our small efforts on the other side of the world will cause a torrential cascade of events in this one.''

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror