"If this Gulf oil spill had happened in Nigeria, neither the government nor the company would have paid much attention," said the writer Ben Ikari, an outspoken Nigerian. "This kind of spill happens all the time in the Nigerian delta." "The oil companies just ignore it. The lawmakers do not care and people must live with pollution daily. The situation is now worse than it was 30 years ago. Nothing is changing. When I see the efforts that are being made in the US I feel a great sense of sadness at the double standards. What they do in the US or in Europe is very different."