“This is not a private complaint. It is an act of historical justice.”
After more than 20 years of struggle against the longest-standing dictatorship on the African continent, I hereby announce the launch of a dual public and political initiative targeting:
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The regime of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in power since 1979;
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The American company ChampionX, successor to Nalco, implicated in illegal exploitation, political collusion, and endangerment of an African engineer.
This initiative marks a turning point—where silence is broken, truth prevails, and Africa refuses to remain a stage for impunity.
A Personal Story, A Matter of State
I am Raimundo Ela Nsang, son of a brilliant agronomist trained under Spanish colonization, committed to the fight for independence and betrayed, like many others, by those who hijacked our people’s dream. My father, elected deputy in 1968, was a pillar of the first republican institutions. Like many patriots and intellectuals, he was silenced at the end of Francisco Macías’s first dictatorship. This strategy of elimination continued under his nephew, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in power for 46 years after serving as the brutal enforcer of his uncle’s regime for 11 years.
From this wounded memory, my vocation was born. I became a petrochemical engineer in Paris, out of conviction and loyalty to the values of justice passed down by my father. In 2003, without even applying, I was recruited in Paris by the American multinational Nalco for a post in Equatorial Guinea. Upon arrival, I discovered the company was not registered and operating illegally. It was I who initiated the procedures with the Ministry of Mines to obtain the provisional authorization that allowed Nalco to legalize its operations. Without this step, it could never have collaborated with ExxonMobil or entered the national oil market.
But this founding role brought me only harassment, dismissal, political blackmail, and professional sabotage. In Obiang’s system, competence without allegiance is a crime. It was Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, son of the president and then Minister of Petroleum, who took control of Nalco and personally orchestrated my exclusion, imposing a logic of cronyism, submission, and humiliation.
I was banned from working in the oil sector—even though at the time, I was the only nationally trained petrochemical engineer at that level. This exclusion was not a mistake but a clear message: no competent professional may exist outside the ruling circle.
Refusing humiliation, I resisted. But persecution escalated—mistreatment, threats, isolation, psychological pressure. I was forced to flee the country clandestinely. Even in exile, the pressure continued: first in Spain, then in France, where I was finally granted political asylum. There, I launched an active opposition movement, driven by the belief that change is possible.
But with the security disengagement under Emmanuel Macron, my protection weakened. A suffocating silence took hold. Despite this, I resumed the fight and founded MILIGE: the International Movement for the Liberation of Equatorial Guinea.
It is in this context that I now announce two founding actions:
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An official letter addressed to President Obiang,
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A public legal notice addressed to ChampionX, formerly Nalco.
My Claims
To President Obiang Nguema:
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Open a national truth process on the crimes of both dictatorships (Macías and Obiang);
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Initiate a sovereign and peaceful transition, in line with African traditions;
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Allow the opening of legal proceedings against ChampionX for illegal exploitation and contractual abuse.
To the company ChampionX (formerly Nalco):
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Official recognition of economic exploitation, illegal instrumentalization, and complicity with an authoritarian regime;
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Recognition of my status as a legitimate partner and co-founder of Nalco in Equatorial Guinea, given my key role in its establishment;
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Retroactive reinstatement to my engineering position and full payment of the wages due since my illegal dismissal;
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Full compensation for moral damages, loss of opportunities, and forced exile;
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Public clarification of your ties with Gabriel Obiang Lima and commitment to cease any collaboration with oppressive and corrupt systems.
The Fight is Public—and Personal
I have documented this case in my book:
“Macron’s France: The Extension of the Dictatorship of My Country”
An autobiographical and political account that retraces my journey as an exiled engineer, my battles, the persecution I endured, and the complicities I confronted.
This book is not just an exposé of the practices of multinationals like ChampionX, nor merely a technical report:
It is a testimony of a life disrupted by injustice, a call to conscience, and an act of resistance.
Combining personal narrative, documented evidence, and political analysis, this work is a tool for truth,
a manifesto for restorative justice, and an instrument for collective mobilization.
Call for Support
This struggle goes beyond me. It concerns all of Africa. It concerns every African professional, engineer, doctor, and researcher excluded or destroyed by systems of favoritism.
I call upon:
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African and pan-African citizens, guardians of our dignity and builders of our liberation;
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Intellectuals, legal experts, journalists, artists, parliamentarians, influencers, NGOs, athletes, and engaged consciences across Africa and the diaspora, to echo this truth and demand justice;
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African states and institutions to fulfill their duty to protect against abuse by multinationals and oppressive regimes;
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French parliamentarians and international institutions, as my exile has not stripped me of my right to protection, nor France of its duty to uphold it;
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Conscientious media outlets to expose mechanisms of complicity and amplify the voices of the oppressed.
The time has come for truth, memory, and justice.
This fight is not mine alone—it belongs to a people, a continent, and to History.
RAIMUNDO ELA NSANG
Founder of MILIGE
ren@milige.org | www.milige.org
Petrochemical engineer – political refugee – former executive at Nalco/ChampionX
