Women as Eco-Activists in Selected Niger Delta Novels and Plays PDF

WOMEN AS ECO-ACTIVISTS IN SELECTED NIGER DELTA NOVELS AND PLAYS BY Nkechinyere CHUKWU B.A Hons (EBSU), M.A. (Ibadan) Matric. No.: 166051...

WOMEN AS ECO-ACTIVISTS IN SELECTED NIGER DELTA NOVELS AND PLAYS BY Nkechinyere CHUKWU B.A Hons (EBSU), M.A. (Ibadan) Matric. No.: 166051 A Thesis in the Department of English, Submitted to the Faculty of Arts, In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN APRIL, 2021  CERTIFICATION I certify that this research was carried out by NKECHINYERE CHUKWU of the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, under my supervision. ________________________________________ Supervisor Prof. Remy Oriaku B.A (Hons) Benin, M.A. Ph.D. (Ibadan) Department of English University of Ibadan ii  DEDICATION To God, My tower of strength And to Uchenna Chukwu and Amb. Matthias Okafor iii  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere appreciation goes to my supervisor, Prof. R. O. Oriaku whose diligent supervision, thorough corrections and competent directives have made this research a success. I appreciate his attention, encouragement and guide. I thank the Head of Department, Prof. A. Kehinde and the immediate former Head of Department, Prof. A. Ogunsiji for their support throughout my programme. My special gratitude also goes to all my esteemed lecturers, Prof. A. O. Dasylva, Prof. O, Oha, Prof. R. Raji-Oyelade, Prof. E. B. Omobowale, Prof. N. Fashina, Prof. O. B. Jegede, Prof. Odebunmi; Dr. A. Sunday, Dr. D.Aguoru, Dr. K. Adebiyi-Adelabu, Dr. A. Osisanwo, Dr. T. Akinseye and other lecturers in the Department of English, University of Ibadan for their intellectual and moral impact. My unalloyed gratitude goes to the members of my immediate family, Mr Uchenna Chukwu, Makuochukwu Daniel Chukwu, Chibikem Emmanuel Chukwu, Chinedum Paul Chukwu for their love, prayers, support and encouragement throughout the time of this research work. They made the home conducive for this study. May God answer them whenever they call. I am also grateful to Mr & Mrs Anthony Chukwu, Mr & Mrs Justina Adolphus, Mr & Mrs Okechukwu, etc for their moral support and prayers. My special thanks go to Mrs Nnenna Celestina Eze who always calls to inquire the progress of this research and also to lend her moral support. Her good wishes and encouragement kept me going and made the completion of this research a reality. I thank Prof. G. M.T. Emezue, Dr. R.U Enyi, Dr. A. O. Awelewa, Dr. I. Okolo, Dr. Ezeife, Dr. Solomon, Rev. Fr. C. Osi, Rev. Sis. C. Okorie, Daniel Olowookre, Mrs Helen Nwaimo, Tomi, Bimpe, Charles, Alfred, Grace, Yinka, and other friends of mine whose help and support have made this research a success. They are friends indeed, God bless them all. I am indebted to all the members of Redeemed Christian Postgraduate Fellowship, University of Ibadan; I thank them for showing me true love. I also appreciate the love of members of Assemblies of God, Agbowo Special for their prayers and moral support. To other individuals or groups whose names are not mentioned here owing to space iv constraint, may God bless and reward them greatly especially for their moral and spiritual back up. v  ABSTRACT Eco-activists, including those portrayed in Niger Delta literature, are advocates of sustainable environmental practices. Existing studies on the struggle against environmental degradation in Niger Delta literature have concentrated on men as leading eco-activists, while women are marginalised and treated as victims. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the roles of women as eco-activists in selected Niger Delta novels and plays, with a view to establishing the significance of women in the struggle for environmental regeneration. Ecofeminism was adopted as framework, while interpretive design was used. Six novels: Vincent Egbuson’s Love My Planet, May Ifeoma Nwoye’s Oil Cemetery, Helon Habila’s Oil on Water, Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow, Tanure Ojaide’s The Activist, and Promise Ogochukwu’s Outrage; and two plays: Tess Onwueme’s What Mama Said and Then She Said It were purposely selected for their shared thematic foci on ecological issues and women’s eco-resistance activities. The texts were subjected to literary analysis. Collectively and individually, eco-activism is championed by women in the selected texts. In Love My Planet, Outrage, The Activist, Oil Cemetery, What Mama Said and Then She Said It, women collectively protest against environmental injustice. In Love My Planet, women engage in tree planting activities to enhance environmental regeneration. In Outrage, women halt the activities of KP Oil in protest against environmental pollution. In Oil Cemetery and The Activist, women's nude protests show the seriousness of their agitation against environmental pollution. However, in Love My Planet, Oil Cemetery, Oil on Water, and Yellow-Yellow, women individually protest against environmental degradation. Toundi, in Love My Planet, protests against environmental despoliation by creating awareness on the effects of gas flaring in Daglobe Delta. She also, through her article entitled, “I care for the environment”, sensitises the people on the need to care for the environment. In Oil on Water, Boma joins a religious group to preserve Irikefe Island. In Oil Cemetery, Rita sues and wins her law suit against Zebulon Oil Company for degrading the environment of Ubolu community. Zilayefa, in Yellow-Yellow, courageously extricates herself from the web of financial dependence on environmental exploiters in Port Harcourt, which metaphorically suggests that the Niger Delta should severe herself from any relationship that encourages environmental pollution in the region. In all the texts, except Onwueme’s What Mama Said and Then She Said It, women privilege non-violent protest in their resistance against environmental degradation. In What Mama Said and Then She Said It, women uphold a more radical approach to eco-activism by abducting the exploiters of environment to demand the stoppage of environmental pollution in Sufferland and Hungeria respectively. Female characters in all the texts resist environmental despoliation. The selected novels and plays depict women as eco-activists, and the significance of their resistance and pro-active initiatives in checking environmental degradation in the region of Niger Delta. Keywords: Niger Delta literature, Eco-activism in literature, Women and the environment Word count: 459 vi  TABLE OF CONTENTS Title i Certification ii Dedication iii Acknowledgements iv Abstract v Table of contents vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.0 Women and Nature: An Overview 1 1.1 African Literature and the Environment 5 1.2 Niger Delta Women and Eco-activism 11 1.3 Statement of the Research Problem 13 1.4 Aim/Objectives of the Study 14 1.5 Research Questions 14 1.6 Scope of the Study 15 1.7 Theoretical Framework 15 1.8 Research Methodology 16 1.9 Significance of the Study 17 1.10 Justification of the Study 17 1.11 Organisation of the Study 18 CHAPTER TWO 2.0 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 19 2.1 African Writers and Eco-consciousness 19 2.2 Emergence of Ecofeminism 25 2.2.1 Tenets of Ecofeminism 27 2.2.2 Types of Ecofeminism 27 2.2.3 Critiques of Ecofeminism 29 2.2.4 Ecofeminism in Practice: Women Environmental Movement (Global Perspectives) 30 vii  2.2.5 Women Environmentalists: A Global Perspective 32 2.3 Ecocriticism 33 2.4 Waves of Ecocriticism 35 2.5 Literature of the Niger Delta 36 2.6 Environmental Degradation: The Niger Delta Experience 46 2.7 Niger Delta Crisis: Roles of Literary Writers 53 2.8 Nigerian Women and Activism 55 2.9 Image of Women in Literature 58 2.10 Review on Previous Studies on the Selected Novels and Plays 86 CHAPTER THREE 3.0 FEMALE AGENCY IN THE STRUGGLE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REGENERATION IN LOVE MY PLANET, OIL CEMETERY AND OIL ON WATER 94 3.1 Poverty and Hardship in Love My Planet 96 3.2 Unemployment, Armed robbery and Kidnapping in Love My Planet 99 3. 3 Militancy and Hostage-taking as Strategies in Love My Planet 102 3.4 Environmental Degradation: Women’s Predicament in Love My Planet 105 3.5 Toundi as an Eco-activist in Love My Planet 108 3.6 Struggle against Women abuse in Love My Planet 113 3.7 Environmental Degradation in Oil Cemetery 116 3.8 Unemployment, oil Pilfering and Tragedy in Oil Cemetery 119 3.9 Prostitution and Health implications in Oil Cemetery 122 3.10 Women as Eco-activists in Oil Cemetery 124 3.11 Ecocide: Militancy and Oil Pilfering in Oil on Water 131 3.12 Boma Preserves Irikefe Island 141 viii CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 REPRESENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ON NIGER DELTA IN OUTRAGE, THE ACTIVIST AND YELLOW-YELLOW 143 4.1 Consequences of Despoliation of Nature in Outrage 144 4.2 Joblessness, Militancy and Insecurity in Outrage 147 4.3 Women’s Eco-activism in Outrage 149 4.4 Devastated Ecosystem and the People’s Frustration in Ojaide’s The Activist 153 4.5 Ecological Despoliation and Women’s Protest in The Activist 159 4. 6 Ecological Despoliation and Women’s Predicament in Yellow-Yellow 163 4.7 Depiction of Eco-resistance in Yellow-Yellow 172 CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 POINTS OF CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE BETWEEN WOMEN’S APPROACHES TO ECO-ACTIVISM IN WHAT MAMA SAID AND THEN SHE SAID IT 177 5.1 Oil Exploitation, Pollution and People’s Predicament in the Plays 178 5.2 Insecurity and Leadership Insensitivity in the Plays 182 5.3 Sexual Abuse of Women in the Plays 187 5.4 Niger Delta Women as Eco-activists in the Plays 188 CHAPTER SIX 6.0 CONCLUSION 193 6. 1 Conclusion 193 REFERENCES 198 ix  CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.0 Women and Nature: An Overview Women have deeper affinity with nature. This is because they depend on nature’s resources for meaningful existence. They rely on land, forests, rivers and air for provision of food, clean water, fuel, medicinal herbs, income generation and fresh air. Dankelman and Davidson (1988) support this view by acknowledging that ninety percent of women from the third world depend on land for their survival. As a result of these benefits, the women tend to preserve the environment more than anyone else. Certain roles and features that women and nature share in common also contribute to knit their relationship. The connection between women and nature is attributed to similar nurturing characteristics that they share in common. In the wake of technological advancement, land, rivers, forests and air, which serve as sources of women’s needs are degraded and the effects are greatly felt by women. They suffer unemployment, poverty, diseases as well as gynaecological problems. This explains why Jahan (2008) asserts that women suffer most from degradation of the environment. Also, such roles as “daily manager of natural resources, caretakers of environment and decision-maker of domestic consumption and production patterns” [played by women] “become harder through environmental degradation.” Nasrin (2012: 151) 1  Advancement in science and technology also contributes to displacing women of the above roles as pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, hybridisation of crops, and mechanisation of agricultural activities are introduced. These deny women natural knowledge and techniques of conservation of natural resources. It also has unemployment implication for people in general and women in particular, especially in some parts of Africa where the responsibility to provide for the family is more on the woman. Dankelman and Davidson (1988) observe that as a result of the above, women’s only means of control over their livelihoods is threatened; their sources of resources continue to dwindle while their responsibilities continue to increase (Jahan, 2008). The above problems that affect women physically are also reflected in their image in literary representation. Women, especially in literary works, are sometimes portrayed as victims. Such an image is perhaps incontestable due to societal vices and environmental decadence which principally affect women, especially in the developing countries of the world. These societal deformities include various forms of abuse, human trafficking, sexual harassment, verbal assault, violence of all kinds, intimidation, among others affect women most. Nasrin (2012) has identified western colonisation, technological advancement in agriculture, the sharpening worldwide division of labour, religious fundamentalism among others as some factors that have brought extra problems for women. Among them, she agrees that “environmental degradation is the most and latest threat to women” (165) especially with the increase in climate change. In recent times, climate change induces threats to the existence of human and non-human entities. This has attracted global attention such that environmental regeneration has become urgent and paramount in global discussion. As a result, every field of study deems it necessary to participate in the creation of awareness on the need to care for the environment if planet earth must continue to exist meaningfully. Literature is not left out in this project. Creative writers engage literature towards achieving this goal. Considering the fact that women suffer victimisation most in time of environmental crisis, writers deploy their artistry to interrogate the women’s space with regard to championing the cause of protecting the environment. In the late 1960s, women’s awareness and their connection with the 2 environment were primarily initiated by Boserup with a book titled Women’s Role in Economic Development (1970). She argues that the role of women in terms of environmental sustainability is undermined and therefore, requires some sort of awareness. In “Eco-feminism: role of women in environmental governance and management,” Mukherjee (2013) admits that women are closer to nature than men and this makes them perfect managers of the eco-system. They try to preserve the eco-system because their survival is tied to it. The rural women, for instance, largely depend on the forest to meet her daily needs of water, food, fuel, fruit, condiment, medicinal herbs, and others. The attitude and perspective of women to the environment is different from the men’s. Women view the environment as an important resource for survival. As a result, there is an immediate instinct towards preserving and regenerating it for sustainability of life. Annabel (1991) affirms that in India, rural women collect dead woods in the forest for fuel rather than cut down live trees. This preservative instinct is also common in many rural as well as urban communities in Africa. The dependence on nature for survival is common among Third World women (Agarwal (1997). As a result, they play essential roles in the preservation and management of natural resources such as soil, trees, forests, water bodies and others. Literature is used to capture this reality. This study, therefore, explores how the roles of women in regeneration of the Niger Delta eco-system are depicted in selected novels and plays on environmental crisis in the region. Phallocentricism simply relates to privileging of the masculine (the phallus) in terms of social relations or bias towards male power. Feminist discourse reacts to the physical, economic and politcal tyranny of patriarchal states. From the pioneer feminists such as Virginia Woolf, Mary Wollstonecraft to the contemporary exponents of feminism, emphasis has been on emancipation of women from the grip or control of male dominated society. This control is however not limited to women but extends to the environment. Human beings, out of quest for power and control and for the acquisition of material things, tend to forget the foundation of their existence which is located in a healthy ecosystem. Ecosystem is a web that comprises human and non-human members that live and interact interdependently. The interdependent relationship that exists among 3 human and non-human beings is what makes the ecosystem complete. If by omission or commission the ecosystem is distorted, survival of humans alongside the non-humans would be at risk. This explains why Okuyade (2013: ix) opines that “the non-human world appears to be more important than the human since it provides the material support base for the latter”. This simply foregrounds the significance of environment and importance of environmental preservation and sustainability. Mishra (2011) concurs with this opinion by stating that: Today we live in a world of tropical warmth, chronic drought, desertification, deforestation, acidifying of oceans, frequent coastal inundation, tsunami, cyclones, increasing food and shelter shortage. It is a global phenomenon. Hence, the whole world whether partially or fully affected, should come forward and launch a global campaign with honesty for the service of environment and the restoration of healthy environment. (1) This foregrounds that irrespective of race, gender, tribe, and religion, everyone requires a healthy environment to make a worthwhile existence. Environment plays a significant role in the life of every human being. For this reason, care for the environment becomes the responsibility of all human beings. The link between women and nature is metaphorically expressed in literature. Such feminine attributes of fertility and nurturing are associated with both women and nature. Hutner (2010:2) further elucidates that: The Earth is depicted (both currently and historically) in and protective (stereotypically maternal); sexualised and feminised terms. …nature is portrayed as fertile, nurturing, seductive (observed and possessed by men); and wild, dark, and dangerous (needing to be tamed and civilized). The association between women and the environment is not passive but saturated with creativity which leads to the maintenance of life (Shiva, 1994). Shiva’s postulation is quite different from most views on women and the environment, which usually portray women as victims of environmental degradation. Domination of nature is akin to oppression of women. Just as women are treated as objects to be used and dumped, nature is exploited and abandoned when it becomes irreparably degraded and unproductive. This explains why women feel most the effects of environmental degradation. In such a situation, it 4 appears that they are overcome by the situation evident in their emotional outburst of weeping or lamentation. Their voices are of the frustrated, helpless, marginalised, hopeless and victimised. The same portraiture is noticed in the literary works that are produced about such situations. But Shiva seems to have a counter view when she asserts that “the women who participate in and lead ecological movements in different parts of the world are not speaking merely as victims. Their voices are the voices of liberation and transformation which provide new categories of thought and new exploratory directions.”(5) She further illustrates that in the perspective of women’s involvement in survival struggles, which are simultaneously struggles for protection of nature, women and nature are intimately related, and their domination and liberation are similarly linked. She goes further to explain that: In their fight to survive the onslaughts of both, women have begun a struggle that challenges the most fundamental categories of western patriarchy – its concepts of nature and women, and of science and development. Their ecological struggles are aimed simultaneously at liberating nature from ceaseless exploitation and themselves from limitless marginalisation. They are creating a feminist ideology that transcends gender and a political practice that is humanly inclusive.” (ibid) This ecological struggle by the women that is aimed at liberating, restoring, and preserving the essence of nature is now recognised as ecofeminism. At the forefront of such struggles are Rachel Carson, Vandana Shiva, Wangari Maathai, Petra Kelly, Loi Gibbs, Julia Butterfly Hill as well as many other women around the world who channel their activism towards environmental preservation and regeneration. Eco-activism, any effort that is made by an individual or a group of people to preserve or regenerate the environment, is depicted by the above-mentioned women and others in one way or another. This study, therefore, examines the roles of women as eco-activists in selected Niger Delta novels and plays. 1.1 African Literature and the Environment African writers are important in society; they remind the people of the past, make them more aware of their present in order to usher them into the future. They are 5 conscious of their responsibility to the society. Echenim (2004:21) corroborates this view by admitting that “writers consider that theirs is a sacred mission which involves imparting knowledge on social and cultural phenomena which characterise society, and thereby creating social and political awareness in their readership.” Nigerian writers have continued to rise to the occasion by using their works to make the people to become more conscious of the current state of things especially in their locality. One of Nigeria’s great literary writers is Tanure Ojaide whose poetry finds expression in his advocacy for environmental resuscitation in the Niger Delta. He is regarded as an environment- conscious poet. Perhaps more famous is late Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer cum activist, whose literary and physical activisms centre on the struggle against the despoliation of Niger Delta eco-system. Therefore, the searchlight of Nigerian writers has continued to exaSmine diverse socio-political and cultural issues which have emanated in the region as a result of environmental degradation. African literary writers respond to the issues of environment in their writings. They use their works to reflect the significance of the environment to African communities. For instance, the caves and groves (forest) have both cultural and religious significance. An instance is seen in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, where Agbala, the oracles that presides over the affairs of the people of Umuofia, is said to live “on the hills and in the caves.” (1958:39) Also, in Ojaide’s The Activist, Ezeani, the traditional herbalist who cures Udoma and his wife of barrenness, lives in a cave that is situated inside the forest. This is indicative of the importance of the African environment in meeting the socio-cultural and religious needs of the people. It is worthy of note that in many African settings, the herbalist is believed to be inspired supernaturally, this explains why they usually live in a forest or a cave, places that are believed to be the abode of supernatural beings. In this case, caves and forests become spiritual house power of the herbalists. But in a situation where caves and forest are destroyed, the people are bound to be faced with a lot of crises. The problems that the spiritual beings would usually guide people to solve are now rampant and unattended to. Herbs which serve medicinal purposes for the African people are got from the natural environment. Yero (2019) in Naja explains that herbs are used by midwives to make 6 delivery faster for women in Northern Nigeria. For instance, Mai Faskare’s daughter was given a cup of herbal medicine made from a herb called ‘hannu’ and “she delivered in no time.” (64) In East Africa, Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of the most influential writers who use their works to raise consciousness about the environment, land especially. His works centre primarily on the struggle for land between two races, Africans and Europeans. He makes this point clear when he explains that “the basic objective of Mau Mau revolutionaries was to drive out the Europeans… and give back to the Kenyan peasants their stolen land.” (1982: 28) Simon, Akung and Bassey (2014) lay emphasis on the significant role that land plays in the lives of Africans. The study submits that land is tied to people’s cultural, spiritual and physical heritage. Simon (2010:155) also opines that “land … is regarded as a sacred entity as well as symbol of life and status”. This is why struggle for land ownership has always led to conflict among people in Africa. In the case of the Niger Delta, struggle for ownership of land where crude oil is found has generated conflicts and its impact has made life totally unbearable for the people. Ojaide (2013:vi) sums up the point thus: The Niger Delta area of Nigeria [is] where multinational oil corporations have done massive environmental damage through oil spills, blowouts, gas flares, and other forms of ecological despoliation. …. The health hazards are enormous and go unchecked, such as the methane and other chemicals that poison the people from air they breathe, the land they farm, and the water they drink. The people of the region are faced with a deleterious situation owing to the degradation of the environment by gas flaring and oil spillage. The exploration and exploitation of crude oil has brought a lot of woes to the people. Due to release of dangerous gas into the air, ailments like asthma, bronchitis, cancer and their likes are commonly suffered by the people. Chinaka (2011: 30) unveils that: The flaring of gas has the tendency of unlashing such diseases as cancers, asthma, bronchitis, blood disorder, etc. subsequently, against the region’s ecosystem, the people are forced to share their neighbourhood with such unfriendly phenomena as acid rain, global heat, deforestation, wildfires, contaminated toxic waters, etc. 7 The negative impact of oil exploitation seems to have out weighed the benefit. Despite the fact that the Niger Delta is a host to the major source of the country’s revenue, the discovery and exploitation of oil in the region turned to what Ushie (2011:531) and Ojaruega (2011:496) describe as “a curse.” The resources obtained from the region are used to develop other parts of the country. Nevertheless, the region still remains underdeveloped and backward in terms of education, infrastructure, socio-economic progress, health facilities, political stability, etc. No wonder Ojaide (1996:122) and Awhefeada (2013:96) describe the situation as “oil boom that has become doom” for the people of the region. The exploration and exploitation of oil in the Niger Delta has negative effects on the environment as well as the people of the region. This has attracted attention from writers and critics. Oil politics and its attendant struggle is what give the literature of the Niger Delta its uniqueness. What is commonly noticed in the literature of the region from the colonial to the post-independent eras is the lachrymal voice of protest. The writers nostalgically lament degradation of the pristine environment that made life more meaningful in the pre-colonial era. Niyi Osundare (1986: xiv-xv), in his poetry collection, Eye of the Earth, vividly describes this past as: A remembered landscape, echoes of an Eden long departed when the rain forest was terrifyingly green though each tree, each vine, each herb, each beast, each insect, had its name in the baffling baptism of Nature. Left mostly now are echoes whispered in the stubborn ears of memory. Most of those trees so vivaciously native to this forest have met a rapid death in the hands of timber merchants [with their] exploitative improvidence. The colonial and post-independence periods provide the roadmap which set the African literary landmark as it is today. Colonial effects, among other postcolonial experiences, are vividly reflected in African literature. The African literary writers lament the loss of individual as well as collective independence and every other negativity that come with colonialism. In East Africa, the loss of land is greatly mourned. To East Africans, loss of land means loss of identity, dignity and the very human essence. This is one of the pronounced thematic preoccupations in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s literary works. In South Africa, excruciating pains suffered from apartheid practices are vividly reflected in the works produced within that period. Writers lament a great deal the inhuman treatment 8 suffered by South Africans as a result of racial discrimination. In West Africa and Central Africa, the effects of colonialism, especially the ‘loss’ that Africans experienced during colonial period are glaring in the works that are produced in that period. In Ferdinand Oyono’s The Old Man and the Medal, the protagonist, Meka, is a quintessential example of victim of loss. Nnolim (2009:257) rightly illustrates that: Having lost her pride through slavery and colonialism, modern African literature arose from the ashes of her past experiences. It becomes a literature with a strong sense of loss of dignity; loss of our culture and tradition; loss of our religion, loss of our land; loss of our very humanity. This loss also reflects in the Niger Delta ecosystem. Literary writers use their works to mourn the loss of pristine Niger Delta ecosystem. The disappearance of flora and fauna, and rapid depreciation of human life is lamented in their literary works. Tone of lament is greatly reflected in most of the titles of literary works produced about environmental crisis in the region. Okpewho’s Tides suggests instability of life in the region. Obari’s Canticle of a Broken Glass suggests chattered dream of better life the people expect from oil exploitation. Also, Okere’s The River Died reflects the termination of hope. While Ogbowei’s Song of a Dying River revolves around subject matter of the aquatic life that is going into extinction, Onyema’s Crude Waves of the Delta portrays impaired hope of the people of the region who thought that exploitation of crude oil in the region would bring a better future but that hope is dashed. Abagha’s Cry Niger Delta suggests frustration. Ikiriko’s Oily Tears of the Delta focuses on the emotional distress that the Niger Delta people have been subjected to because of environmental degradation. In Bassey’s We Thought It Was Oil but It Was Blood, readers relate with the themes of deceitfulness and disappointment that come with establishement of oil business in the region. Ogochukwu’s Outrage is indicative of the tone of ‘anger and bitterness’ expressed by people of the region against environmental injustice. Nwoye’s Oil Cemetery x-rays characters battle with hopelessness and pathetic death caused by explosion of oil pipes and oil related crisis. Nengi-Ilagha’s Condolence suggests mourning of disappearing landscape of the Niger Delta. While Million’s Shadows of the River Nun portrays degradation of natural 9 environment. Apoko’s Tears in the Basket shows lamentation over degraded environment which renders the efforts of the farmers and the fishermen futile. These and many other titles of literary works on environmental problems in the region unveil the agony that the Niger Delta people experience as a result of oil exploration and exploitation in the region. The people of the region engage in protest to express their dissatisfaction with environmental injustice. At the initial stage of the struggle, they lament over their fading environment but employ more revolutionary strategies when the lamentation seems not to have yielded the desired result. The people protest to demand for positive changes. The entrapment of the people in a degraded environment as it is captured in their writings has given birth to protest tone that is common to their literary productions. This gives literature of Niger Delta what Onukaogu and Onyerionwu (2011) refer to as dual aesthetics of lachrymal and the revolutionary. Whereas the lachrymal justifies the protest by drawing attention to the suffering, anguish, oppression, dehumanisation, subjugation as well as environmental degradation, the revolutionary spurs the people to fight against such ills. In the world over (literary world inclusive), protest is one of the veritable tools that can be used to achieve necessary change. Ushie (2011) refers to protest literature as a distinct form of writing in Nigeria. African writers adopt this type of writing with the view to exposing ills and deformities in a society in order to demand for changes. Certainly, writers on the Niger Delta adopt protest writing as a means of resistance to injustice in the region. Onuekwusi (1986:212) describes this category of writers as those who “not only highlight in very bold terms the weaknesses and calumny of society and the causes of these, but also propose revolutionary trends that will hopefully restore the permanent values of society – justice, freedom and human dignity.” Udenta (1993: xix) also describes this kind of writing as “the literature of the angst-filled existential despair of critical realism”. Onukaogu and Onyerionwu (2011:55) corroborate this view by stating that “the Niger Delta is a veritable practising arena for revolution-inclined writers” who use their works to demand for positive changes in the region. The creative writers deploy their intellectual prowess towards eco-activism and to achieve what Okuyade (2013: 152) refers to as ‘eco-literacy’; which is not only meant to 10 expose the level of devastation that is done to the natural environment but also to show “the sense of immediacy and compelling urgency needed to remedy the situation.” (Awhefeada, 2013:97) Among these writers are the poets, the playwrights and the novelists who use their creativity to promote the cause of environmental conservation, remediation and restoration (Bassey, 2001) in the Niger Delta. 1. 2 Niger Delta Women and Eco-activism It is on record that in July 2002, over two thousand Niger Delta women converged at Escravos Tank Farm, the largest Chevron oil terminal located in Warri, Delta state, Nigeria to protest against the oil company for environmental damage caused by its activities in the Niger Delta. Participation of women in that protest in such a large number at the time when most of the primary texts used in this study have not been published, attests that women’s eco-activism does not just take place only in literary world. Existence of such acts in literary works is a documentation of actions initiated by women of the region in their physical domain. Since then, women of the region in different approaches engage in eco-activism evident in eco-activism displayed by female characters in the es under study. For instance, Mama Nengi’s environmental activism in Outrage is a good attestation that women’s struggle against environmental injustice in the Niger Delta is as old as the problem itself. It shows that before now, the women have been at the forefront of eco-activism. Boma and the solidarity women group in the same novel also fit into this instance because of the significant roles they play in the protest against environmental despoliation. Niger, Benue, and Obida in Then She Said It and Oshimi, River Niger, Imo and Omi in What Mama Said are examples of women who actively participated in the struggle against degradation of the environment. Rita in Oil Cemetery and Ebi in The Activist just like Toundi in Love My Planet deserve a good place in citing examples of women who dare all obstacles to preserve the environment. The roles played by the afore-mentioned women are indications that women are in forefront of eco-activism. Little wonder Shiva (1994:6) asserts that “as far as the environment is concerned, there is no better person to be informed or used than the woman because her life is closely woven with it.” She equally observes that since the 1970s, women’s groups and organisations have been very active in promoting 11 environmental awareness, education and protection. But before then, Carson from the United States published a book titled Silent Spring (1962), which focuses on the danger of pesticides on the environment and its inhabitants. It creates some sorts of awareness on the need to stop such human activities that have negative impact on the environment. In Africa, environmental activism championed by women cannot be mentioned without acknowledging the remarkable effort of Wangari Maathai from Kenya who through her eco-activism initiated a project of planting trees in order to restore lush vegetation in Kenyan society. With the establishment of Green Belt Movement as one of her eco-intervention strategies, she distinguishes herself as one of the most recognised women eco-activists in Africa in her time. She mobilised other women in Kenya to plant trees in order to preserve the environment. The United Nations conference on Environment and Development, otherwise known as the Earth Summit was held in Rio in June 1992. It was a gathering of women from different parts of the world to deliberate on the issues of environmental health as being critical to meaningful development. It established women as key players in environmental management and conservation of natural resources. The Principle 20 of the Rio Declaration states that: “women play vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieving sustainable development”. The gathering proves that the whole world is more aware and has come to the recognition of the indispensability of women if the Earth and its inhabitants must be preserved. In the same way, the awareness has been recorded in various fields of studies, literature inclusive. The need to preserve the Niger Delta environment and the effort made by the women to that effect is reflected in the literary creativity of the region. The women from the region take active participation in the struggle against environmental degradation. Evwierhoma and Yacim (2011:261) lend credence to this by asserting that “women are not left out of this struggle….The women who have taken up arms alongside their male counterparts defy the stance of dramatic creativity that seeks to limit the Niger Delta women to the periphery of community rather than the centre where power refers”. Environmental degradation has many tentacles, in the form of contaminated water bodies, polluted air, polluted land, deforestation and their negative effects are usually enormous. 12 The Niger Delta is one of the regions in Africa whose ecosystem has been adversely affected. The water bodies are polluted by oil spillage. Land pollution and destruction of vegetation also occur; as a result, land becomes infertile for any agricultural purpose. This goes a long way to negatively affect the Niger Delta people who depend on the land resources for their sustenance. 1.3 Statement of the Research Problem Various studies have been carried out on literature of the Niger Delta with regard to the region’s affiliation with ecocritical issues. Researchers have given special attention to the impact of environmental degradation on the region. Such studies include Aghalino (2011) who explores the effects of environmental crisis on the region from a cultural perspective. He argues that it has led to mutation of indigenous culture and displacement of the people. Religious crises, ethnic conflict and sexual exploitation of women also emanate from it. Ojaruega (2013) and Feghabo (2014) examine the effects of environmental degradation on the Niger Delta from a socio-economic angle. It causes unemployment and poverty, which further lead to vices like prostitution, armed robbery, abduction, restiveness, stealing and others. While effort made by men in the struggle against environmental degradation is illustrated in their studies, women are only treated as victims and their roles in the struggle are not examined. This leaves a gap that this study intends to fill. Orife (2011), Awhefeada (2013), Chuma-Ude (2013), Simon (2010) and Jeremiah (2014) examine the effects of environmental degradation in the region particularly on women. They opine that women experience victimisation most in a region like the Niger Delta that is going through serious environmental threat. The women that depend on nature for provision of food, employment, shelter, portable water, medicinal support and income generation are left to suffer unemployment, hunger, poverty and diseases, because nature which is the source of such provisions has been destroyed. Besides, as a result of economic problems which result from the degradation, women of the region become preys in the hands of financially buoyant oil company workers who offer them financial help in exchange for sexual gratification. Women who are involved in such affairs may end up with sexually transmitted diseases. Also, if a clash occurs in the Niger Delta as a result of 13 struggle for ownership of land where crude oil is found, or between militants and government security agents, women are usually the ones that would die in greater numbers. This is because women are believed to be the most vulnerable. Having exposed the agony that women go through in the Niger Delta as a result of degradation of the environment, the above studies do not consider the women’s roles in tackling the problem.This leaves a gap in their studies. The above studies do not examine women’s roles in the struggle against environmental degradation, giving an impression that women have not shown interest in the issue of the environment, this leaves a gap which this study intends to fill. 1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study This study aims at examining the roles of women as eco-activists in eight purposely selected texts with a view to: 1. establishing the significance of women in the struggle for environmental regeneration in Love My Planet, Oil Cemetery and Oil on Water. 2. investigating the impact of environmental degradation on the Niger Delta in Outrage, The Activist and Yellow-Yellow. 3. identifying points of convergence and divergence between women’s approaches to eco- activism in What Mama Said and Then She Said It. 1.5 Research Questions This research provides answers to the following questions: 1. What is the significance of women in the struggle for environmental regeneration in Love My Planet, Oil Cemetery and Oil on Water? 2. What is the impact of environmental degradation on the Niger Delta in Outrage, The Activist and Yellow-Yellow? 3. What are the points of convergence and divergence between women’s approaches to eco- activism in What Mama Said and Then She Said It? 14 1.6 Scope of the Study This study focuses on eight selected literary works on Niger Delta crisis, with specific attention to roles of women as eco-activists. The texts are six novels : Vincent Egbuson’s Love My Planet, May Ifeoma Nwoye’s Oil Cemetery, Helon Habila’s Oil on Water, Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow, Tanure Ojaide’s The Activist and Promise Ogochukwu’s Outrage; and two plays : Tess Onwueme’s What Mama Said and Then She Said It. The texts were purposely selected for their shared thematic foci on ecological issues as well as their in-depth provision of insights on the roles of women as eco- activists. 1.7 Theoretical Framework Francoise d’Eaubonne’s approach to Ecofeminism is adopted as theoretical framework. Ecofeminism was coined by d’Eaubonne in 1974 to express connection between oppression of women and domination of nature as well as women’s roles in ending such oppression and domination. According to Glotfelty (1996: xxiv), ecofeminism is a “hybrid label to describe a theoretical discourse whose theme is the link between oppression of women and domination of nature.” Also, Gaard (1993) postulates that ecofeminism is a movement that cuts across a whole gamut of feminist disciplines, activisms and advocacy platforms like peace and anti-nuclear activism, feminist spirituality, animal liberation, environmentalism and antitoxic movements. Eaton (2005:11) opines that ecofeminism is “a convergence of the ecological and feminist analyses and movements.” She stresses further that ecofeminism represents varieties of theoretical, practical and critical efforts to understand and resist the interrelated dominations of women and nature.” The social perception of the connection between women and nature is rooted in patriarchy which other literary theories have failed to tackle; the ecofeminists intervene with an ideology that is “aimed simultaneously at liberating nature from ceaseless exploitation and themselves [women] from limitless marginalisation. They are creating a feminist ideology that transcends gender and a political practice that is humanly inclusive” Shiva (1994:5); this is now known as ecofeminism. In line with ecofeminists’ vision, Reuther (1975: 204) insists that: 15  Women must see that there can be no liberation for them and no solution to the ecological crisis within a society whose fundamental model of relationships continues to be one of domination. They must unite the women’s movement with those of the ecological movement to envision a radical reshaping of the basic socio-economic relations and the underlying values of the … society. Some scholars like Agarwal (1997), Biehl (1991) and Nanda (1991) corroborate the view of Jackson (1993:398) who points out that ecofeminist perspective is “ethnocentric, essentialist, blind to class, ethnicity and other differentiating cleavages, ahistorical and neglects the material sphere.” Rao (2012:128) concurs with the above view by asserting that “ecofeminist literature portrays the historical exploitation and domination of women and nature as going hand in hand, and both are seen as victims of development.” She further stresses that “none of the ecofeminist literature attempts to establish this linkage through concrete evidence or strong argument.” (128) For this, she insists that interrelatedness between domination of nature and that of women is an ideology, and fails to take into cognizance what Agarwal (1992:122) refers to as “interrelated material sources of dominance based on economic advantage and political power.” Biehl (1991:15) extends this argument by stating that ecofeminist image of the women still “retain the patriarchal stereotypes of what men expect women to be” and “they …freeze women as merely caring and nurturing beings instead of expanding the full range of women’s human potentialities and abilities.” This study corroborate Biehl’s position; instead of entrapping women in the web of nurturing which undermines their real identity and ability, it is better they are viewed as personalities with human capacities effective enough to make significant contributions to the progress of the society. 1.8 Research Methodology This is a qualitative study, a literary analysis of texts. Ecofeminism was adopted as theoretical framework and interpretative design was used. Six novels: Vincent Egbuson’s Love My Planet, May Ifeoma Nwoye’s Oil Cemetery, Helon Habila’s Oil on Water, Kaine Agary’s Yellow Yellow, Tanure Ojaide’s The Activist and Promise Ogochukwu’s Outrage; and two plays: Tess Onwueme’s What Mama Said and Then She Said It were purposely selected owing to their common depiction of ecological issues. Besides, women’s eco- 16 resistance activities are meticulously reflected in the selected novels and plays. The tenets of ecofeminism were deployed to interrogate the interphase between environment and the roles of women in its ssustainability. Secondary sources include library books and essays in journals. 1.9 Significance of the Study This study contributes to the current global project of using literature to create awareness of the need to promote a healthy environment; this is one of the visions of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), an international body. This need arises as a result of multifaceted environmental problems ravaging the earth. To make the earth a habitable place, it is necessary to sensitise human beings on the need to care for the environment. Besides, the findings of this study will encourage further studies by future researchers who would like to undertake ecocritical studies. 1.10 Justification of the Study The exploration and exploitation of crude oil in the Niger Delta have led to environmental degradation. Unemployment, poverty, armed robbery, hostage-taking, sexual exploitation, diseases and insecurity are some of the effects of the degradation. Existing studies on the selected novels and plays with regard to the struggle against environmental injustice in Niger Delta have concentrated on men as leading eco-activists while women are presented as victims without adequately highliting the roles of women as eco-activists. This gives an impression that women are passive and less concerned about the situation. This study argues that it is not enough to show that women are victims of environmental degradation; there is also a need to illustrate women’s roles in the struggle. Against this backdrop, this study becomes necessary as it focuses on the roles of women in the struggle for environmental health in order to prove that women make significant efforts in the struggle against environmental despoliation as well as its regeneration. Also, there is dearth of study on the selected texts with regard to women’s involvement in the struggle against environmental degradation in the Niger Delta; this necessitated this research. 17 1.11 Organisation of the Study This study is organised into six chapters. Chapter One is the background to the study. Chapter Two is the review of related literature and the theory of Ecocriticism and Ecofeminism. Chapter Three focuses on the literary analysis of Vincent Egbuson’s Love My Planet, May Ifeoma Nwoye’s Oil Cemetery and Helon Habila’s Oil on Water. In Chapter Four, Tanure Ojaide’s The Activist, Promise Ogochukwu’s Outrage and Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow are critically examined. Chapter Five is the analysis of Tess Onwueme’s What Mama Said and Then She Said It. Chapter Six is the summary, conclusion and recommendation of the research. 18  CHAPTER TWO 2.0 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE What is known today as literature of the Niger Delta historically emerged from the age-long environmental crisis that was brought upon the region by the discovery and exploitation of crude oil at Oloibiri community in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. Degradation of farmland and rivers by oil spillage and gas flaring wrought devastation on the people who depend on them for a worthwhile livelihood. The consequences of this degradation abound. Poverty and insecurity set in. The region became the shadow of itself. The people of the region having been fed up by the rate of injustice in the land, rose up in agitation against injustice in the region. Different individuals and groups emerged with different strategies for combating this unfair treatment from oil companies and the federal government. Among such individuals are the creative writers who employ works as tools of protest against injustice in the Niger Delta. This chapter examines among other issues the responses of the literary writers to the Niger Delta environmental crisis. 2.1 African Writers and Eco-consciousness In his contentious essay, “Ecoing the Other(s): The Call of Global Green and Black African Responses”, Slaymaker (2007) accuses African writers and critics of eco- hesitation. According to him, “The African echo of global green approaches to literature and literary criticism has been faint.” (683) To him, the reason for this reluctance is Africans’ suspicion of ecocriticism to be another dominating discourse from the West. But to Hochman (1998:190), the reason for this eco-hesitation is that “the white have more time for nature than the blacks since blacks must use a great deal of energy in resisting or 19 coping with white hegemony. Whites, more than blacks, also have greater access to some semblance of nature because blacks have been forced into urban areas for jobs.” Slaymaker goes further to argue that “African nature writing and criticism that analyse the extraordinary megafauna and megaflora of East and South African savannas and forests, do not qualify as genuine ecolit or ecocrit as Kroeber and Buell would define it.” (683) He concretises his stance by mentioning that most reviews on Osundare’s The Eye of the Earth “explore political corruption in Nigeria, his support of peasants and farmers and others who live on and off the land, and his thematic examinations of history and revolution against environmental exploitation.”(686, emphasis added by me). He bluntly debunk’s Aderemi Bamikunle‘s categorisation of Osundare as ‘a nature poet because Osundare does not exactly “use the words ecology and environment in any of their current incarnations in the developing lexicon of ecocrit and ecolit.” (686) By this argument, Slaymaker creates an erroneous impression that African literature lacks eco-merit. He also opines that the eco-crit is “meagre” where it even exists. These allegations are not true because “there has been some form of ecocriticism in African scholarship long before it became [the] vogue in the western Academy” (Ojaide, 2013: vii) Besides, such opinion exposes a deficiency in Slaymaker’s scholarship because Achebe’s Things Fall Apart published as far back as 1958 “a time when most critics had no awareness of the environment” Ojaide (2013: vii) can be viewed with ecocritical lens because the author who clearly understands his environment is very much aware that the Africans have a deep affinity with nature, and as such, explores that in the novel. In line with this, Asoo (2009:65) insists on analysing Things Fall Apart from an ecocritical angle because it adds “another angle to these vast criticisms by examining the novel from an ecological and environmental consciousness [and its] reliance on natural phenomena such as trees, rivers, mountains, forest and animal life.” In his ecocritical reading of the novel, Barau (2009: 92) opines that nature is revered, adored, and … abused in the African physical environment. This reverence, adoration and abuse reveal the realty of the intertwined relationship that exists among members of ecosystem. Also, having considered the ecological qualities that the novel is imbue with, Asoo (2009:75) agrees that “there is enough evidence in Things Fall Apart to justify application of methods of literary ecological assessment to its analysis.” 20  To Okolo (2013:16), “it is criticism on African literature that appears not to have considered the need to promote an ecological dimension in the examination of African writings”. Vambe (2013:1) corroborates this view when she opines that “in Africa,... published works on criticism of the representations of the environment in fiction are scarce”. The paucity of criticism in African literature concerning environmental issues could be attributed to the anti-colonial struggle and realities of post-independence Africa. During the colonial era, liberation struggles and the defence of African identity were the major concerns of African writers as at that time. The reconstruction of the African identity and image which has been misconstrued by Joseph Conrad and other non- Africans was one of the major concerns of African writers in the period. Later, they used their works to attack corruption, disillusionment, political tussle, unemployment, betrayal, greed, restiveness, leadership insensitivity, selfishness, and other vices that the African countries were plunged into after the achievement of independence. In sum, what seemed to be of priority to African writers and critics at that time were the liberation struggle and reconstruction of the African identity as well as the protection of African dignity; this vision became their urgent need at that time. Considering the urgency needed to achieve this vision, any African creative writer or critic whose vision did not align with the African need may “end up being completely irrelevant like that absurd man in the proverb who leaves his burning house to pursue a rat fleeting from the flames.” (Achebe, 1975:78) African literary writers must weave their story with the thread of the realities of the African environment if they must remain relevant and visible on the scene of African literature of commitment. Slaymaker disagrees with Bamikunle’s classification of Osundare as “a nature poet interested in both Edenic and exploited West African landscapes” (686) and others who explore “his support of peasants and farmers and others who live on and off the land …” Slaymaker should have noted that land as a part of the environment occupies a very vital position in the African cosmology. It is a metaphor for identity; this explains why an African man is not at ease if he is denied access to his piece of land. If he wants to understand his real identity, he traces it to the land i.e ‘where’ he has his ancestral root/origin. Denying an African access to his land is denying him of his very identity. Unarguably, virtually every activity on earth is carried out on land, trees grow on land, 21 man walks on land to be able to carry out his activities, an airplane at the end of a flight descends on the land, bodies of water like rivers, oceans, and seas if drain may end up exposing the land. From the above insight, land and landscape assume the identity of nature that has “taken on a personality, a character of its own that is identifiable and requiring close study of its growth and metamorphosis” (Okolo, 2013:15-16). If virtually every activity on earth is executed on the land as a part of nature, then, there is no reason why someone should refute description of Osundare and Ngugi as eco-writers because they explore land-related issues in their creative works. What then is ecocriticism if not the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment? (Glotfelty, 1996) The idea that critics on Osundare’s poetry explore “his support for peasants and farmers and others who live on and off the land” might compel the readers to think that he is not committed to ecocritical vision especially when one considers that even the farmers contribute to depletion of the environment by felling of trees in the process of cultivation, felling of trees for firewood as well as other activities that farmers engage in that contribute to depletion of the flora and fauna, but that is not enough to disqualify him as an eco-writer because such acts of human beings help to prove the interdependency that exists among the members of the ecosystem. Human beings and the environment are intertwined and complement each other. This explains why the application of ecocriticism in Africa is different from that of the Euro-Americans’, and as such, Graham Hugan makes a case for postcolonial ecocriticism. Therefore, it is not out of place to view Ngugi as an eco-activist considering how deeply he explores land-related issues and the beauty of the Kenyan landscape in his literary works, evident in Wizard of Crow and others. Slaymaker’s criticism admits that “Black African writers take nature seriously in their creative and academic writing, but many have resisted or neglected the paradigms that inform much of global ecocriticism.” (684) Murphy (2009:14) disagrees with Slaymaker’s view of global paradigm of ecocriticism. According to him, “to achieve its goals and remain honest to the literature … ecocriticism should remain pivotal, rather than foundational, and localist, rather than global, in its grounding orientation”. His response shows a critic with clear understanding of the role of context in the application of 22 ecocriticism especially when it comes to a peculiar African environment. He concretises his stance by insisting that ecocriticism should play key and critical roles in contexts and circumstances rather than assume a fixated ideological or philosophical anchorage that every endeavour must adhere to (2009). Also, Caminero-Santangelo’s response in “Different Shades of Green: Ecocriticism and African Literature” (2007) exposes a limitation in Slaymaker’s argument. The criteria that Slaymaker uses in determining whether a piece of writing is truly ecocritical are Euro-American. To him, it is when it complies with global ecocriticism which involves the “application of the science to literature and with deep ecology.” (2007:698) The criteria with which Slaymaker adjudges the ecocritical input of a work is purely based on European’s and American’s concept of ecocriticism; a model that is informed by their ‘romanticised’ experiences. This Euro-American standard of ecocriticism as suggested by Slaymaker prompts a sharp response from Caminero- Santangelo who is of the view that using such as a yardstick will exclude African literature and criticism from ecocritical discourse. In fact, this is to say that a Euro-American model of ecocriticism is completely inapplicable in Africa due to the uniqueness of her environment. As such, Africa needs a model of ecocroticism that could carry the weight of the realities of her perculiar experiences without necessarily deviating from the major concerns raised by ecocriticism. Caminero-Santangelo therefore proposes a model that could be able to examine “African literary texts in light of issues raised by ecocriticism and African environmental history (and the relationship between them) in order… to enable them to contribute to developing discussions within ecocriticism and African environmental history.” (699) The application and appreciation of ecocriticism in the western parts of the world cannot be the same in Africa considering her peculiar history that is hinged on cultural, economic, socio-political and religious realities. As such, African literary writers could not afford to abandon these realities for a romanticised approach adopted by the Western writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams, Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, and others who are celebrated by Jay Parini in his essay, ‘The Greening of the Humanities’ published in The New York Times Sunday 23 magazine on October 1995 as those behind the rise to prominence of environmentalism in the humanities. Contrary to Slaymaker’s view, Nixon (2007) opines that African literary writers have explored ecological issues in abundance in their works but have been denied of recognition in the canon of Euro-American ecocriticism. No wonder he frowns at the non- inclusion of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a remarkable Nigerian eco-activist in Parini’s list. Commenting on Saro-Wiwa whom he recognises as Africa’s most visible environmental martyr, Nixon describes him as “a novelist, poet, memoirist and essayist – who had died fighting the ruination of his Ogoni people’s farmland and fishing waters by European and American oil conglomerates in cahoots with a despotic African regime. Yet, Saro-Wiwa’s writings were unlikely to find a home in the kind of environmental literary lineage outlined by Parini (715). One thing very striking about Parini’s list is that out of twenty- five persons, none is an African. They are all from “the same self-selecting genealogy of American Writers.” (715) For Parini, the absence of Africans in the list could mean their absence on the scene of environmental discourse. The reason for this exclusion could be that for him, Africans have not taken active part or convincing participation in the field enough to be recognised and included in the list. His judgement could have been informed by the romanticised application of ecocriticism in the urbanised Euro-American environment, the type which Slaymaker admonishes the white to mount a global campaign to preserve because it gives them pleasure and is not tied to their daily subsistence (684). While non-humans’ interest is at the centre of environmental study in the Euro-American case, the interest of human beings is at the centre in African approach to environmental study. This correlates to Olaoluwa’s (2012:126) observation that: Slaymaker offers a paternalistic explanation for what he calls African’s ‘ecohesitation’. He sees Africa’s alleged rejection of ecocriticism as informed by the lingering memory of Western imperialist (133). It goes without saying that the uncertainty about whose interest is ultimately served in the ecocritical pursuit is at the heart of this perceived African reluctance (my emphasis). In the light of the above, this study contends that ecocritical consciousness has been a constitutive element of African literature from its inception till date as against the notion 24 of Slaymaker who through his essay may leave a reader with an erroneous impression: writings and criticisms on African literature have been meagre or dearth on environmental discourses. 2.2 Emergence of Ecofeminism The inquiries about affinity between women and nature initiated the emergence of Ecofeminism. Women and nature are bonded. This is reflected in their metaphoric link as life givers. This explains why the earth is referred to as “Mother Earth” Yalan (2007). Rao (2012) opines that ecofeminism emerged in the West as a product of the peace, feminist and ecological movements of the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The term was coined by Francois d’Eaubonne, a French feminist in her book, Feminism or Death (1974). The concept is further developed by King in 1976 in her book, The Ecofeminist Imperative. With the publication of an article titled “what is ecofeminism?” (1987), which appeared in the The Nation, King challenges all Americans to have a rethink over the ways in which their belief systems allow for the exploitative use of the earth and the further oppression of women. Some scholars acknowledge that the concept of ecofeminism is popularised by works of authors like Reuther’s New Woman, New Earth-Sexist Ideologies and Human Liberation (1975), Griffin’s Woman and Nature – the Woman, Ecology and the Roaring Inside Her (1978), Merchant’s The Death of Nature –Scientific Revolution (1980), Daly’s Gyn/Ecolgy (1979), Warren’s Ecofeminist philosophy: Western Perspective on what It Is and Why It Matters (2000), Mies and Shiva’s Ecofeminism (1993), Plumwood’s Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (1993), King’s The Ecofeminist Imperative (1976) and others. The works of these scholars and others, contributed to laying a significant background to the development of ecofeminism. The Ecofeminist movement was born out of a series of conferences and workshops held in the United States by a coalition of academic and professional women during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They met to discuss the ways in which feminism and environmentalism might be combined to promote respect for women and the natural world. In the conference, the connections between feminism, militarism, health and 25 ecology were examined. This led to the formation of the Women’s Pentagon Action, Anti- militarist, Anti-nuclear war, and other groups through which women championed protest against degradation of the environment and oppression of women. Such groups like Chipko Movement in India, Appiko Movement in India, Save Silent Valley Movement in India, Anti-militarist movement in Europe and the United States, Movement against Dumping of Hazardous Wastes in the United States, and Green Belt Movement in Kenya have emerged. Women through such ecofeminist movements demonstrated what Quinby (1990) refers to as the “resistance politics” in demand for environmental preservation and regeneration. According to Birkeland (1993:18), Ecofeminism is defined as “a value system, a social movement, and practice … [which] also offers a political analysis that explores the links between androcentrism and environmental destruction.” She goes further to highlight that it is an “awareness that begins with the realisation that the exploitation of nature is intimately linked to Western man’s attitude towards women and tribes’ cultures...” Warren (1994) considers ecofeminism to be a field bridging ecological and feminist ethics that seeks to explore the conceptual connections between environmental degradation and sexist oppression. The theory, according to Gaad (1993) scrutinises connection between many issues like environmental degradation, economics, electoral politics, animal liberation, reproductive politics, biotechnology, spirituality, holistic health practices, sustainable agriculture, and racism. Various ecofeminist writers hold different opinions about the theory but they come under the term ecofeminism. King (1983) sees ecofeminism as political theory and practice. King (1983) and Spretnak (1990) are of the opinion that earth-centred spirituality and goddess reverence is placed at the centre in ecofeminist study. Focus is on ill-treatment of animals in ecofeminist study according to Collard and Contrucci (1988), Adams (1990) and Gaard (1993). Issues of pollution, deforestation, toxic waste dumps, agricultural development and sustainability, animal rights and nuclear energy and waste come under discussions within the umbrella term of eco-feminism, along with classism, racism and sexism (Warren, 1996) 26 2.2.1 Tenets of Ecofeminism Agarwal (1997) prescribes four main tenets of ecofeminism. First, domination of nature and oppression of women are interconnected. Second, men are more related to culture and women are more related to environment. As a result, men exercise domination over women and nature. Third, oppression of women and exploitation of nature occur simultaneously and for this reason, women have a responsibility to end male domination over both. Fourth, ecofeminism seeks to combine feminist and ecological thoughts (ideologies) in order to achieve egalitarian, non-hierarchical structures. In the 1980s and 1990s, when ecofeminism became an academic discourse (Manion, 2002), it was associated with such proponents like Shiva, Gaard, Plumwood, Sturgeon, Warren, Salleh, Mies, etc. Their document titled Women’s Action Agenda 21 (which focuses on Healthy planet) gives them voice in United Nations conference on ‘environment and development’ held in Rio in 1992. 2.2. 2 Types of Ecofeminism Cultural/Spiritual Ecofeminism Cultural ecofeminists believe that women maintain close link with nature because of their gender roles (as nurturers and providers of food) and biological qualities (mensuration, pregnancy, and lactation). They believe that these peculiar features, make the women more sensitive to the matters concerning nature (its degradation and preservation). They hold the opinion that women as givers of life are engendered to close connections with the earth (Sturgeon 1997). Cultural ecofeminists believe that women are different from men and such biological differences that make women nurturers make them care for nature more than anyone else. Spiritual ecofeminists further extend this view by arguing that reproductive roles common to both women and nature as life givers serve as their bonding factor, and this gives the theory a spiritual angle. Radical Ecofeminism Radical ecofeminists are of the view that exploitation of both women and nature is caused by patriarchal dualism. In this case, humans are perceived as being superior to 27 nature and are hierarchically placed above nature. By this perception, human beings exercise domination over nature. Radical feminists argue that the conceptual binaries (men and women, culture and nature) and ideological hierarchies such as higher-ranking categories and lower-ranking categories are the tools used to re-affirm oppression and exploitation. This is owing to the fact that those in high-ranking category will always exert domination over the lower-ranking ones, e.g men over women and culture over nature. Radical ecofeminists analyse environmental problems from within their critique of patriarchy and offer alternatives that could liberate both women and nature (Merchant, 1995). They believe that men, women, culture and nature should be given fair treatment. Radical ecofeminists also elucidate that environmental degradation which engenders oppression of women and nature is caused by industrial and technological developments which are rapidly distorting the natural pattern of doing things to the detriment of women. Technological advancement leads to exploitation of nature for economic advantages. They contend that exploitation of natural resources for industrial usage as well as lack of regulation of the use of pesticides which further exacerbates environmental crisis affects women. For instance, many health challenges that confront women are caused by low-level radiation, pesticides, toxics as well as other pollutants. They suggest that this problem can be solved by encouraging production of pesticides that are environment friendly. To achieve this, good knowledge of science, adequate conservation laws and practices are required. They propose for equal educational opportunities for men and women. This would enable the women to become scientists, natural resource conservators, and lawyers like the men. With this equal opportunity, the women can be involved in scientific research and passage of laws that are environment friendly. They kick against technological advancement that degrades environment and compounds victimisation of women. Socialist Ecofeminism Socialist Ecofeminists hold the opinion that certain social constructs are responsible for exploitation of women and nature. Plumwood (1992) upholds that it is steeped in historical rhetoric, going back as far as the Greeks to the inferiorisation of women and nature. They resist the urge to overestimate social constructs such as male 28 (oppressor) / female (oppressed) and so place it in a position to be more open to other oppression groups (Twine 2001). 2.2.3 Critiques of Ecofeminism Some scholars contend that ecofeminist study is more related to feminism than Ecocriticism. This view is associated with scholars like Warren (1987, 1990), Daly (1978), Merchant (1980), Griffin (1978) and Plumwood (1993). Ecofeminism interrogates the connection between abuse of nature and oppression of women in order to highlight “why feminist issues can be addressed in terms of environmental concern” (Gaard 1993:4). However, the contention that ecofeminism is more related to feminist or ecocritical ideology is still contestable. While some scholars take either side, Manion (2002) maintains that ecofeminist theory is formulated by feminists at the time when the green movement was popular but the ecological ethics were of primary concern. Ecofeminism just like every other literary appoach has its loopholes. Many different proponents with diverse range of opinions are the challenges confronting it. Manion (2002:9) submits that “The cleavages between the differing types of ecofeminism leave the overall theory full of holes.” A lot of critical arguments have a risen against different types of ecofeminism. Cultural ecofeminists are criticised for linking women/nature connection to women’s gender roles and biological make-up. This is because their viewpoint encourages gender stereotypes and could further lead to exploitation of both women and nature. Agarwal (1992:123) argues that cultural ecofeminists appear to have failed to consider that culture, nature and gender concepts are “historically and socially constructed and vary across and within cultures and time periods”. She substantiates her argument by frowning at their failure to “differentiate among women by class, race, ethnicity and so on” (1992:122). Spiritual ecofeminists are criticised for trying to replace politics with religious ideas and subsequently engaging in spiritual a activity instead of serious thought about how to improve the state of the world (Tong, 1998). Twine (2001) also points out that such a view is anti-academic and sentimental in today’s ecofeminism. Sturgeon (1997) 29 contends that such opinion is anti-intellectual and as a result, some people would not want to associate with or use the term ‘ecofeminism’ because being associated with it seems negative. Biehl (1991:17) further argues that “the use of metaphors of women as ‘nurturing’ – like the earth, and of the earth as female-abound are regressive rather than liberating women.” Radical ecofeminists are criticised for not giving consideration to developmental needs of the society by arguing that degradation of nature as well as oppression of women is caused by industrial and technological developments. Irrespective of the various diverse viewpoints of the ecofeminists, they are unified under one basic view that exploitation of nature and the oppression of women are interconnected and women should rise to combat it. 2.2.4 Ecofeminism in practice: Women Environmental Movement (Global perspectives) Women Environmental Movements all over the world was committed to championing a cause of the environment. They emerged from reactions against numerous environmental problems ravaging the earth. In various parts of the world, women activel participate in protest against environmental degradation in their various communities, and this is sometimes done under a group refered to as a movement. Environmental movements include Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Chipko Movement in India, Appiko Movement in India, Save Silent Valley Movement in India, Love Canal-Niagara Fall in the United States, Anti-Militarist Movement in Europe, Movement against dumping of hazardous wastes in the United States to mention but a few. Chipko Movement in India Chipko Movement emerged in India at the time when indigenous forest trees were being cut down and were replaced by commercial trees. This threatened the women’s ability to provide for their families. In protest, women hug trees in order to prevent them from being cut. They also influence government policy on tree-felling. Through the women’s activism further environmental damage like soil erosion and loss of biodiversity were prevented. 30 Love Canal-Niagara Fall in the United States In 1979, a suburb of the Niagara Falls, Love Canal experienced a number of health problems, especially gynecological issues like miscarriage, stillbirth and birth defects. Lois Gibbs discovered that the problems were caused by environmental pollution which results from waste dump containing twenty thousand tons of toxic waste. This served as a confirmation of a predictive book of Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) in which she warns against the effects of herbicides and pesticides. Lois Gibbs launched a two-year campaign demanding relocation of the dumping site to a safer place. Green Belt Movement in Kenya Green Belt Movement was established in Kenya by Wangari Maathai at the time when the country experienced attack on its biodiversity that did not only pose threat to non-humans but also to humans. Kenya was threatened by industrial and technological advancement which led to destruction of indigenous trees. Aquatic lives and terrestrial beings were being forced into extinction by the environmental crisis. Erosion and desertification seemed to be encroaching faster as forests were cleared for industrial purposes. In fact, the existence of people was seriously threatened as “[t]he connection between the symptoms of environmental degradation and their causes – deforestation, devegetation, unsustainable agriculture, and soil loss” (Maathai, 2007:125) abound. To combat these, Maathai made a resolution to engage in a-tree-planting campaign in order to regenerate the Kenyan environment. While contemplating how to solve the environmental problems, a thought came into her mind, “Why not plant trees?” (125) because: The trees would provide of wood that would enable women to cook nutritious foods. They would also have wood for fencing and fodder for cattle and goats. The trees would offer shade for humans and animals, protect watersheds and bind the soil, and, if they were fruit trees, provide food. They would also heal the land by bringing back birds and small animals and regenerate the vitality of the earth. This is how the Green Belt Movement began. (125) Through the initiative, she encouraged and engaged the women of Kenya in tree-planting activities. Women were encouraged to plant trees in order to avert desert encroachment and erosion which are threatening the very existence of the people of Kenya. The women 31 planted over forty hundred million trees in Kenya. Through the movement also, the women set up over six hundred thousand tree nurseries in the country. 2.2.5 Women Environmentalists: A Global Perspective Rachel Carson, with the publication of a book titled Silent Spring (1962), created awareness on the effects of chemicals and pesticides on the environment of the United States. Loi Gibbs through her environmental group known as ‘The Centre for Health, Environment and Justice’ in the United States created awareness on the hazardous effects of toxic waste particularly on women and children. She launched a-two-year campaign and demanded relocation of the dumping site to a safer place. Vandana Shiva through the establishment of Navdanya biodiversity conservation programme in India, raised awareness about the danger of genetic engineering. She also promoted sustainable agriculture. Through her group, numerous farmers were trained in seed sovereignty and sustainable agriculture. Julia Butterfly Hill through her eco-activism promoted sustainable environment in California. She “saves a-one-thousand-five-hundred-year-old Californian red wood tree from being cut down by Pacific Lumber Company.” Nasrin (2012: 161) Wangari Maathai is an eco-activist from Kenya. Through the establishment of Green Belt Movement, she engaged in planting of trees to conserve the natural environment of Kenya. Maathai encouraged women to plant trees by payment of incentives. Through planting of trees, women of Kenya have helped to preserve the natural environment of Kenya. Following her remarkable contributions to environmental sustainability, democracy and peace in Kenya, she was honoured with Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. 2.3 Ecocriticism Ecocriticism as defined by Glotfelty (1996: xviii) is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment. Also, Buell (2005) defines ecocriticism as the study of the relationship between literature and the environment conducted in a spirit of commitment to environmentalist praxis. Estok (2001) argues that ecocriticism goes beyond just the study of nature and natural things. He substantiates his point in ‘Shakespeare and Ecocriticism’, where he states that ecocriticism is more than: 32  Simply the study of nature or natural things in literature; rather, it is any theory that is committed to effective change by analysing the function – thematic, artistic, social, historical, ideological, theoretical or otherwise of the natural environment, or aspects of it, represented in documents (literary or other) that contribute to material practices in material worlds (16-17). In his essay, ‘Some Principles of Ecocriticism’, William Howarth defines the ecocritic as “a person who judges the merits and faults of writings that depict the effects of culture upon nature, with a view toward celebrating nature, berating its despoilers, and reversing their harm through political action” (1996:69). Howarth also examines the theoretical principles of marxist theory which fights against class stratification and capitalism. To him, it is obvious the marxists fight in favour of the oppressed and marginalised especially in the society where capitalist tendencies seem to dominate the economy and means of production, but they fail to tackle the contribution of the marginalised to ecocide. Though they are maginalised, that does not in any way exonerate them from ecocide because they through their various activities, contribute to destruction of nature. He also frowns at the absence of nature or natural science in the post-structuralists principles. The loophole in Howarth’s postulation is that it fails to consider the realities of the developing countries where concern for nature cannot in any way be totally divorced from the economic realities of the people especially the lower class. In establishing ecocriticism and its practicability with specific emphasis on the use of the term ‘environ’, Glotfelty (1996: xx) argues that “environ” in its connotation is “anthropocentric and dualistic, implying that we humans are at the centre, surrounded by everything that is not us, the environment.” Buell has a different view on this issue. To him, the “implicit narrowness of the term ‘eco’ …connotes the “natural” rather than the “built” environment and, still more specifically the field of ecology.” (2005:12) He further elucidates that environmental criticism equally extends to “the interweave of built and natural dimensions in every locale, and the interpretation of the local.” (12) In clarifying the agenda of ecocriticism, Buell (2005:9-10) points out that: …literature-and-environment studies have striven almost from the start to define their position on the critical map analytically as well as through narrative practice. One strategy has been to 33  build selectively on poststructuralist theory while resisting the totalising implications of its linguistic turn and its aftermaths, such that the word-world gets decoupled from the material world to the point of making it impossible to conceive of literary discourse as other than tropology or linguistic play or ideological formation. O’Brien (2007:182) observes that contemporary ecocriticism adopts the approach prescribed by Rueckert “which uses concepts from ecology – systems, energy transfer, and interdependence – in order to explain the way in which literature functions in the world”. The restriction in Rueckert’s approach is that it concentrated specifically on the application of the science of ecology to the study of literature. In the same vein, Love (2003:38) explains that “ the new study of literature and nature is connected to the science of ecology – taking from it not only the popular term ecocriticism but also the basic premise of the interrelatedness of a human cultural activity like literature and the natural world that encompasses it.” The development of ecocriticism is also traced to the activities of the eighteenth century English romantic poets like Wordsworth and Blake. The glaring feature of their poetic expressions is that they are nature-centered. They centre on what (Buell, 2005:3) describes as “the critical pre-occupation with nature and its fascination with the rustic”. Romantic poets draw their inspiration from nature. Landscape, flora and fauna, river, forest, etc become the persistent subjects of poetic expressions of the earlier writers (Abrams, 1999). These romantic poets and others focus on appreciation of nature. However, Love (2003) acknowledges that the widespread concern over nuclear annihilation, population burst, loss of wildlife and accelerated extinction of some species that greeted the 1960s was responsible for a heightened environmental consciousness. Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) that was used to raise alarm on the danger of pesticide in America, is worth mentioning while discussing writings that have made a significant contribution to awareness creation on environmental preservation. Ecocriticism is considered new in literary discourse but Buell (2005:2) contends that: … if environmental criticism today is still an emergent discourse, it is one with very ancient roots. In one form or 34  another, the “idea of nature” has been a dominant or at least residual concern for literary scholars and intellectual historians ever since these fields came into being. Rueckert, according to Barry (1995) has been identified as the first person to use the term, ecocriticism in the 1970s. But before then, Norman Foerster had already published Nature in American Literature in 1923, which could be regarded as having given birth to an emergent ecocritical angle in American literature. Later, other books like Marx’s The Machine and the Garden: Technology and the pastoral ideal in American Culture (1964) and William’s The Country and the City (1973) were published, that serve as a kind of boost to the emergent field of study. With the publication of an essay titled “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism” (1996), Rueckert brings to limelight the ecocritical theory and accords it more recognition in the American literary field. His major purpose in that essay was to initiate the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature, which was achieved, as evident in the recognition of ecocriticism as a practicable theory in the literary studies in the departments of literature of many American universities. 2.4 Waves of Ecocriticism Ecocriticism has undergone several stages of development. Glotfelty (1996) postulates the waves of ecocriticism based on its developmental stages. Buell (2005) describes the first wave in which all concentration is on nature writing. In this stage, no concern is shown to other environmental constituents. All consideration as well as attention is given to nature alone. Glotfelty observes that this stage raises consciousness on the stereotypical representations of nature like “Edenic, Arcadia and virgin land” in literary writings. Investigating further on this stage, Howart (1996:21) observes that at this stage, ecocritics examine “the effects of culture upon nature, with a view toward celebrating nature, berating its despoilers, and reversing their harm through political action”. The first wave witnessed a whole lot of concentration that favoured nature. It raised in the “human consciousness” (Love, 2003: 16) the need to appreciate, conserve, and protect nature from destruction by human culture. 35  In the second wave, Goltfelty underscores ‘nature writings’ with special aim to evaluating their contribution to raising awareness in the human consciousness the need to appreciate and preserve nature. He identifies some literary works which have contributed to the agenda of awareness creation. Some of the works include Emerson’s Nature (1836), Thoreau’s Walden (1854), Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), and others who use their works in raising ecological consciousness. Others whose literary works fit into this stage include Wordsworth’s The Prelude (1850) and The Excursion (1814). Wordsworth employs most of his poems to celebrate the beauty and serenity of nature. He is a romantic poet and that has earned him remarkable commendation in English literature. Other poets in this category include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. In this stage, Glotfely asserts that the environmental conditions of an author influence his entire literary works. He explores the influence of “place” on the imagination of an author. He opines that the place an author resides in has the ability to exert influence on how he presents nature and the environment in his work. However, ecocritics have argued that pinning ecocriticism to a romanticised form would not only limit its practicability but hinder its development. The third wave of ecocriticism as prescribed by Glotfelty (1996) is the stage that explores the link between the oppression of women and domination of nature, which is known as Ecofeminism, which has been examined in this chapter. 2.5 Literature of the Niger Delta Literature does not create things in a vacuum; it draws its raw materials from the realities of the people’s existence, treating issues of currency and the most nagging situation of the moment; and that is exactly what writers of literature of and on the Niger Delta have responded to. Literature ‘of’ the Niger Delta is used to refer to literary works that centre on the life of people of the Niger Delta written by those who are of the Niger Delta origin. Literature ‘on’ the Niger Delta is used to refer to literary works that center on the life of the people of Niger Delta but written by those who are not indigenous to the region. This research will make use of both literature of and on the Niger Delta but uses literature of the Niger