Thesis Abstract

<p> Ecocoritical studies intensely show the relationship between man’s environment andliterature. In this way, ecocriticism becomes a standpoint that brings environmental discourseto the fore within a literary context; a context that shows the exploitation and decay in man’senvironment. Following this assertion, the themes that border on environmental degradationare routed in migration, pipeline vandalism, blowouts owing to gas flares and pollution. Mostof the analyses on the concept of ecocriticism take the direction of the greenish nature of theenvironment and the extent of the marginalisation of a people. This research views ecocritismfrom a different perspective. It depicts ecocritism as a theory that deploys the tools ofecoactivism and resistance in the reading and analyses of Tanure Ojiade’s The Activist andKaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow. It also shows the manner in which humans strive to unchainthemselves from the manacles that hold them bondage by resisting the discourse ofecotrauma. This study also delves into the negative impacts of oil activities in the Niger Deltaregion of Nigeria by connecting the ecocritical patterns of ecoactivism and resistance to theutterances and actions of the characters in the texts. <br></p>

Thesis Overview

<p> Man cannot be separated from his environment because his perception and interactionwith his surrounding make up his being. The destruction of the natural things that surroundman is caused by man himself by the acts of destroying and recreating his habitat. Thus,ecocritical studies examine the way in which humans and the natural environment interactand counter each other. Byron Caminero-Santangelo will comment in his essay that‘Laurence Coupe sees ecocritism as an approach to literature which considers the relationshipbetween human and non-human life as represented in literary texts and which theorizes aboutthe place of literature in the struggle against environmental destruction’ (705).The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is rich in crude oil, but it is in a state ofomnishambles because of ecological problems. The discovery, exploration and exploitationof oil in the region have affected agriculture, fishing as well as the living conditions of thepeople. With the leakage of oil from pipes and its spillage into lands, farms, and water, theNiger Deltans are faced with a threatening disaster. Best Ordinohia and Seiyefa Brisibe notethat ‘oil spillage affected at least 1500 communities in the eight crude oil-producing states inNigeria, and were mainly from the 5284 oil wells that were drilled as at 2006 and the 7000km of crude oil pipeline that cross the Niger Delta region. Oil spillage often results incontamination of surface water with hydrocarbons and trace metals, as measured usingatomic spectrometry’(4). They further note that ‘the crude oil of the region contains somenaturally occurring radioactive materials. The crude oil spillage reduces soil fertility. It alsosmothers economic trees and food crops, outrightly killing them or reducing their2yield causing a 60% reduction in household food security. The deterioration of the quality ofstaple food leads to a 24% increase in the prevalence of childhood malnutrition’ (4). Crudeoil spillage also results in the bio-accumulation of heavy metals in surviving food crops likecassava and pumpkin. Pat Okpoko in Environmental Impact of Technological Intrusion inNigeria notes that crops and economic trees affected by oil spillage show signs of scorching,yellowing and shedding of leaves, stunted growth and death’ (4). He notes further that ‘fishescaught from the polluted streams are often unpalatable and show signs of reduced growth andreproductive performance and consequently decreased population’ (62).When pushed to the wall, some Niger Deltans try to make the government and theworld to understand their predicament. This has led to untold violence, killing, maiming,gunrunning, destruction and vandalism of pipelines, and the kidnapping of foreigners. Younggirls who cannot find jobs find succour in the hands of foreigners and wealthy Nigerian menwho after sleeping with them give them money that ought to be naturally theirs. ChrisOnyema notes that ‘since the discovery and commercial exploration of oil in this area in 1958until date, the people of the Niger Delta have been suffering from acts of bioterrorism, oilpollution of lands and water, gas flaring, hunger, diseases and poverty. Poverty breedsprostitution, gas flaring breeds cancer and respiratory diseases’ (189). Sometimes, they feelthat violence is the only answer to their problem. After the amnesty that was granted to themilitants of Niger Delta, some of its indigenes still resort to thuggery. Ojaide says that ‘thearea boys were fighters attempting not only to reclaim what had been robbed from them, butalso holding firmly to what was theirs that others were attempting to snatch away’ (55). ForAto Quayson, ‘violence becomes a means by which some people visit displeasure on thoseassociated with the state, particularly minor officials and those seen as colluding with it’ (58).Also, Ngugi wa Thiong’o lends his voice to that of Quayson to say that ‘violence in order tochange an intolerant unjust social order is not savagery, it purifies man. <br></p>