The Biafran War (1967–1970) remembered half a century later
STERN Magazine – The Black Scorpion: "we will aim at everything - even if it is not moving"
TV Presenter JULIETTE FOSTER: "an intense, emotional memoir"
Recounted are the lives of a young oil engineer, his wife and newborn child, during the Biafran War, when they inadvertently lived through one of the worst episodes of African history, experiencing first hand a life to which the international media initially had no access.
Working in an industry that has gone on to pollute massively with oil, theirs is a different story of Africa, oil and aid during a conflict that cost over a million lives.
The author also describes the political elites and those, like Ojukwu and Adekunle, who fought them – having himself been captured and detained, one to one, by the mythically ruthless Black Scorpion; this, the strangest of events, enabling him to observe at close range the disintegration of a powerful personality.
This is a different story of Africa and aid during a conflict that cost over a million lives. Black Gold - Black Scorpion closes with the overthrow of Nigeria's government, the demise of industry and European interests, and the start of massive oil pollution and corruption.
More especially, the author's and his family's interaction with the people of the area, the people of Igboland, serves to underline how most of Africa continues to be let down by the pillars of the modern world – political elites, capitalists, the media and warring world powers.
About the Author
Born to English parents in Eritrea, George S Boughton, Chartered Engineer, BSc.MechE(Hons), MIMechE (UK), has had an international education: Les Petit Oiseau (Rome), Roaring Brook Elementary School (New York), Wellington School (Somerset UK), and Northampton College of Advanced Technology (City University, London).
Boughton went on to lead an expatriate life, firstly in oilfield engineering with Shell in Nigeria and the UK and then with Creole Production Services International in Kuwait. He was a partner of Form Arabia Furnishing in Kuwait, a consultant in change management with the Nichols Group in Hong Kong and then in information management services with Azeus Systems in Hong Kong and South Africa.
Now based in the UK, this international lifestyle coupled with his deep knowledge of oil exploration and production as well as dire experiences working in remote areas through the Biafran War have served him well in writing Black Gold - Black Scorpion.
Classifications:
Autobiography: Personal Memoirs
Autobiography: Political
Military history: post WW2 conflicts
African History
True stories
True war and combat stories
Petroleum & oil industries / Science / Energy
Technology & Engineering / Petroleum
Aid & relief programmes / Nigeria c 1960 to c 1970
Nigeria