Oil on Water

Zaq is a famous journalist who made his name by taking a perspective that others didn’t see in a story in and writing about it. His most famous stories, which helped launch his career, were about the sex workers that he befriended at Bar Beach. Other journalists took little interest in such stories, concentrating on hard news only, but Zaq found he had a talent for human-interest pieces and quickly gained fame for his unique angle.

At the time the novel opens, Zaq has come to the end of his career and his life, as some part of him knows. He begrudgingly signs on to find Isabel Floode despite not really wanting to do so. His pride and self-worth are his weaknesses and aid in convincing him to take on the task of finding Floode:

Zaq said it was the tone of the man’s voice that made him look up. The voice was dismissive, almost derisive. And he felt what he hadn’t felt in a long time: pride, vanity—two things he had always tried to avoid because they had no place in a reporter’s life (34).

The mission is dangerous and Zaq quickly comes down with a terrible illness that will ultimately kill him. Zaq also has an alcohol addiction, which furthers his illness. His partnership with Rufus quickly becomes something of a mentorship even though Rufus begins to see the flaws in Zaq the more time they spend together; their relationship is key to the novel’s exploration of The Fallibility of Mentors.

Tamuno is an elderly man who serves as a guide for Rufus and Zaq through the treacherous waters of the Niger Delta. He cares deeply for his son, Michael, and makes the journalists promise that when their quest is finished, they will take Michael to the city of Port Harcourt, where he will have more opportunities.

Chief Ibiram is the chief of a village where Rufus and Zaq rest while on their journey. He is the brother of Tamuno and offers Rufus and Zaq hospitality. Toward the end of the book, he leads his people to settle in a place that has not yet been affected by the violence; it is left ambiguous whether or not they reach such a place.

Boma is Rufus’s sister. Half of her face was badly burned and scarred when an accident occurred at their family home that involved their father accidentally setting a cache of oil on fire with a cigarette. Rufus feels very protective of his sister and very guilty about his absence from her life when she needed him most. Her husband left her to fight with the militants. Rufus believes that when she comes to the shrine, Boma is looking for her husband, but she is instead looking for Rufus. She decides to stay with the worshippers, finding the shrine peaceful.

James is a wealthy oil executive from the UK. He has traveled all over the world. He is no longer interested in being married to his wife, Isabel, and has taken up with one of his workers, a woman named Koko. He wants Isabel’s kidnapping to be taken care of quickly, for even though he is no longer in love with her, he thinks it is right that he save her. In his dismissive and exploitative relationship toward the Nigerian people, he embodies the neocolonial attitudes of the oil companies and contributes to the book’s examination of The Environmental and Social Effects of Neoliberalism.

Isabel is the kidnapping victim whose case brings Rufus and Zaq to the Niger Delta. Her marriage to James is failing, and she travels from London to Nigeria in an attempt to save it; however, she comes to find that James wants a divorce and has already impregnated one of his African workers. After speaking with her driver, Salomon, whose fiancée is the worker that James impregnated, Isabel agrees to fake a kidnapping. However, the plan goes awry and she loses control of the situation, becoming an actual victim of the militants and being captured by the Professor.

Salomon is Isabel Floode’s driver and the closest person she has to a friend in Nigeria. He is tasked with driving Isabel around and ensuring her safety. When he discovers that James has slept with his fiancée, Koko, and that they are having a baby together, he is distraught and goes to Isabel to speak with her about the situation. Together, they decide that a fake kidnapping could work; along with some friends, Salomon puts Isabel up at his uncle’s hotel and sends a ransom. He is betrayed, and the situation quickly becomes a real kidnapping with Salomon going along for the ride, if for no other reason than to try to protect Isabel from any real violence or hardship as best he can. He is the one who initially helps Isabel escape captivity after things have gone too far; however, that safety does not last long.

Naman is the assistant to the head priest of the shrine. Although he refuses oil money and tries to stay out of the conflict to keep his people safe, it appears that he works with the militants, who often stop on the island. He goes along with the plans of the Professor and shows the journalists a fake grave when he is asked about Isabel Floode.

Gloria is a nurse who works at the shrine and assists with the worshippers’ needs. She helps Zaq with the symptoms of his illness and develops a friendship with Rufus. She then has an affair with Rufus despite being engaged to someone back in the city. She seems to find Rufus attractive and interesting, and he in turn knows that he can ask Gloria questions related to his journalistic pursuits. Gloria also becomes friends with Boma once she moves to the shrine. At one point, she is captured by the militants and later released without harm.

The major is a member of the military and a representative of the power of the government in the Niger Delta. After his daughter was raped as part of a fraternity initiation, he became cruel and cold toward anyone he considered a potential enemy. He shot his daughter’s rapist in the groin and broke all of his limbs, which resulted in the major being stationed in the warzone the Niger Delta has become. His job is to protect the oil industry from the machinations of the militants, which he does through terror. One of his favorite tactics is to pour petrol over the heads of his prisoners. He functions as a parallel to the Professor, one of the men who leads the militants.