[longknife]

@ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2KHYzXbmW

Hope you have a strong stomach.

[Americanroyalty]

What's so shocking about those photos? That's how people have been feeding themselves since, well, forever. It's only in todays developed world that the closest people get to dead animals is the butcher aisle at a local grocery store. Those pictures pale in comparison to what you would see in an industrial meat processing plant.
I've butchered deer, birds, small game, and fish and well the work isn't particularly pleasant it certainly is necessary if you wanna eat.

Though it does suck to see that the wealth has done little when it comes to lifting the citizens out of poverty.

[Far-Right Sage]

Interesting and I am glad you have provided the photographs as this is a low activity section of the forum, but I agree that if one is well aware of the realities of the slaughterhouse industry, these pictures are nothing troubling.

On a side note, I find it strange that the article talks about the inhabitants of the Niger Delta being "rich in oil". That means effectively nothing, anymore than Venezuela's OPEC membership and oil exports have effected the crime rate in Caracas or Saudi Arabia's oil industry has effected appalling social conditions for many there.

The problem Nigeria has is that while it may have the finest oil reserves in Africa ripe for exploitation, it is economically undeveloped and lacks advancement, and thus, it has to export all of that oil and have it refined abroad at a cost to Abuja, which it subsequently re-imports as gasoline for the Nigerian people. This exact problem is why Iran is currently working tirelessly on the construction of refineries, and it's a problem all over the world. Even in the United States, gasoline prices in Alaska are ridiculously high for a place which is "awash with oil" because the bulk of the refineries are located many miles southward on the west coast of the contiguous states.

Major train service in Nigeria recently resumed from the capital to Lagos, and even that had to come with over a billion dollars in aid for light rail transport from China. Western companies have been exploiting the cash cow that is Nigeria and the Niger Delta for many years. Chinese companies are now muscling in which doesn't bode much better for the Nigerian people despite some beneficial side effects such as infrastructure development through tied aid extended by Beijing. Quite similar to the process of colonialism in actuality, and why it remains a divisive issue even amongst the local population.

And with Libya destroyed and the African Union as a sovereign entity effectively put out of commission and exposed by the French in Mali as a now toothless organization, don't expect things to change much. This is the least of Nigeria's worries, as it's more upsetting to see the senseless torture cattle routinely endure in the slaughterhouses of Ohio and Michigan.

[longknife]

Thank you Far-Right Sage for a well-thought-out post.

[Igor Antunov]

Seems like a nice place.

[Godstud]

If you're stuck in a first world country where you never actually see animals slaughtered, never go to markets where ALL of the animal is displayed for purchase, and don't understand the levels of adaptation that humans have, then it is surprising.

These pictures would not be surprising even here in Thailand(developing country).

Great pics, though! Here's a few pics of a Thai market, so you can compare.


Rats being sold are not an uncommon sight.

note the Rhino horns, still...

My wife with a bag-o-bird!


Needless to say, if you get to market early you get the choice cuts of beef, pork and chicken. Heads are among the first things to sell, incidentally. I won't even go into how many insects are devoured!

[Igor Antunov]

I grew up with pigs on the spit, slaughtered lambs and chopped chiken heads. I find this scene perfectly normal in a 1st world context on any farm you happen to venture upon. I think people need to get out more, perhaps leave their city for once, maybe visit a slaughterhouse where you can purchase whole freshly butchered pigs and other critters by the kilo. We do it every year here in Australia, visit ranch, pick juicy pig, knife in throat, bleed out and bring back with us for the party.

[Godstud]

A pig roast is awesome!

[Igor Antunov]

My favourite part is the tail. When I'm around the tail always happens to vanish before anybody else notices.

[nucklepunche]

What's so shocking about those photos? That's how people have been feeding themselves since, well, forever. It's only in todays developed world that the closest people get to dead animals is the butcher aisle at a local grocery store.

Indeed. Supposedly this is to show how the people live miserable, impoverished lives. However up until around two centuries ago just about everybody in the western world lived at a lower level than this. In fact the way these people live is the norm throughout history, as opposed to the exception.

It is too bad that they have such oil wealth in their nation and are living like this though. While their conditions are not shocking in a region of oil wealth modernization should be coming more quickly. It shows the corruption at the root of African governments that this oil wealth is not put into the hands of the people.

[Franker65]

Interesting pictures - that black sand looks like Iwo Jima in some places. It's very normal that you'll find poverty and hardship around areas of lucrative oil and energy generation. At least these people seem to have ample food. I have seen worse places.

[Iulius Cuniculus]

There is a documentary that perhaps someone will find interesting. It's about the Port Harcourt meat market, in the Niger Delta: