Advocating Environmental Humanity: An Eco-critical Analysis of Tanure Ojaide’s Delta Blues and Home Songs

Abstract

This study explores the sociopolitical, environmental and cultural crises caused by oil exploration and industrial activities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Using the lens of African ecocriticism, it focuses on Tanure Ojaide’s Delta Blues and Home Song. The analysis shows a close link between political oppression, environmental destruction, and cultural dislocation in the region. Ojaide’s poetry does more than simply mourn ecological loss; it calls for environmental and social justice. His collection can be read as a form of literary activism – a voice that confronts the government’s role in environmental harm and the economic marginalisation of the Niger Delta people. In doing so, this study adds to the ongoing discourses in African ecocriticism by stressing the value of local perspectives in responding to environmental crises. It also demonstrates how an ecocritical framework can illuminate the connections between ecological justice, social equity, and cultural identity in African literature. In conclusion, this paper emphasises the need for a more understanding of the mutual relationships between human and non-human elements in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Keywords: environmental degradation, Niger Delta, oil exploration, ecocriticism, oppression, environmental hazard, African literature