Oil On Water by Helon Habila Book Review — Fawziyya Zakariyya
By: The Luminaries Bookclub
Tags: Oil On Water, Review, Prose, Helon Habila, The Luminaries Book Club

Oil On Water by Helon review by The Luminaries Bookclub

Helon Habila takes us through the dilapidating Niger Delta. His vivid descriptions and stories expose delicate stories about the villages terrorized by militants and oppressed by soldiers.

He does this through the eyes of a journalist, Rufus. Rufus is a journalist — yet pubescent in his career — who enthusiastically volunteered for an investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping of a British citizen; Isabel Floode. His enthusiasm is inspired by the presence of a veteran journalist, Zaq who was once a star.

The novel is set in various villages in the Niger Delta region, especially Port Harcourt in Rivers State. It depicts how messy and violent the unjust struggle between the oil companies and the government against the oil rich communities began. He tried to show us the human loss suffered by many people both young and old. In this book, we see the stages of reactions in a village when oil is discovered. First, there is an ephemeral happiness and the purchase of ‘luxury’ household items the villagers could not afford before. The second stage is when the environmental degradation began — the pollution of water, land and air making it difficult for them to fish and sell which is their only source of revenue. The third and final stage is when the village disintegrates and the youths now jobless, take up arms to become the rebel militants. It is implied they mostly do it to ask for their share of the national cake. Some militant groups, however, diversify into violence and kidnapping as a fast and certain way to get money.

He also uses the backstory of one of the main character to show us the emotional toll and loss the violence brought to families in the region. Rufus’ village is destroyed; they move to somewhere called Junction. This place wasn’t spared from a fire.

The author’s writing style is vividly descriptive. He describes the state of villages before and after the discovery of oil. We start the book from the middle of the story, go back to the beginning before moving to the end. Helon Habila also disobeys some writing rules. His characters conversations do not take the expected form of quotation marks or italicizing.

He paints a vivid picture of the world of journalism and journalists. He also delves into the personal lives of his lead characters Zaq and Rufus. This helps us understand their evolution: Zaq from a famous journalist to a struggling drunk and Rufus from a photography apprentice to an aspiring journalist.

The tenets of the book seem to rest on an advice given by Zaq to Rufus. “Remember, the story is not always the final goal.”

One of the problems of this book for me is the constant shift from different places and different timelines. The most confusing one is the time spent going back and forth from Irikefe — one of the major locations of the book.

The themes of this book would resonate with Nigerians and give insights into what goes on in the valuable part of Nigeria. A place that produces the only thing we rely on. The book would open your eyes to government inefficiency, corruption and the decayed infrastructure. Helon Habila shows us what his other novels portray: injustice, oppression, exploitation, and darker things still.