The Women Are Coming

True story about the takeover for 10 days of the Chevron/Texaco Oil Terminal in Ugborodo, Nigeria on July 8, 2002 by village women demanding clean water, electricity, schools and clinics.

Article in Corporate Watch: https://www.corpwatch.org/article/nigeria-women-claim-victory-chevrontexaco-oil-terminal-takeover

NY Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/22/world/left-behind-as-oil-riches-flow-poor-village-cries-out.html

Grant tells the story of the women's sit-in at the Chevron/Texaco terminal in the 2nd video above.

Around the corner women are coming, around the corner women are coming ://

A - D - / E - A E

Only a creek separates their village from the terminal of Chevron/Texaco
Pumping oil for 40 years the village watched the oil empire grow
As life for them got harder, the women's discontent grew every day
So they wrote a letter to the corporation hoping someone would listen to what they had to say 

A - D - / E - A E / A - D - / E - - A

Letters, letters, we get lots of letters said teh Chevron CEO
They get lost in the hustle & the bustle—we got a business to run you know?
Mama Ayo felt insulted, she's the one who wrote the letter, to disrespect her made her mad
So she called upon her neighbors & they discussed the options that they had

Woman to woman, shack to shack, from dugout canoe across & back
The rivers & creeks that cross the land, the woman of Ugborodo made a plan
Around the corner women are coming, around the corner women are coming ://

A - D - / E - A E ://

Hundreds of women gathered by the riverfront before sunrise on July 8th
They watched the Chevron boat approach the dock to take their men to work that day
It took the captain by surprise when the women came on board & left the men behind
Sailing past the Chevron guards they set foot on company grounds for the very first time

Well you've been getting rich for 40 years off the oil from Nigerian land
We don't think it's fair & we'll stay right here until you answer our demands
For 10 days & nights they bargained hard 'til the company agreed
To build schools & road & hospitals & to provide electricity

From South Africa - Women are coming
From America - Women are coming
From all of Asia - Women are coming
Around the corner women are coming

In all colors - Women are coming
In all sizes - Women are coming
From all nations - Women are coming
Around the corner women are coming

- lyrics & music by Bev Grant (c) author. All rights reserved.