Article Citation: Wali, B. M., & Bature, M. A. (2025). Environmental consciousness: A study of selected poems by Tanure Ojaide. Al-Takamul International Journal, 1. https://www.al-takamul.com
By
Bello Musa Wali
Al-Qalam University, Katsina
Mustapha Abdullahi Bature
Abstract
Poetry, as an important segment in
Literature, is adequately engulfed with an aesthetic property that evokes
emotions and thoughts, depicts significant roles in portraying the
disturbing determinants constantly militating against the beauty and pleasures
of the environment. The foremost Nigerian poet, Tanure Ojaide, is known for his
reiterative exploration of these themes in his poems. Ojaide’s concern is often
on the environmental issues as they concern the people. in particular and the
ecosphere in general. This study, therefore examines the disturbing
determinants constantly militating against the beauty and pleasure of the Niger
Delta environment. More so, this research examines he poet’s (writer’s)
preoccupation by adopting the eco-critical theory which sees art and the
environment (society) as two interlocking entities that when studied will
provide the beauty and emotion that are underneath. The study arrives at
the finding that although a lot has been written on African literature, not
much has been said of the Niger Delta. Hence, this paper identifies the
fundamental systemic challenges that confront the Niger Delta people – their
environment inclusive.
Keywords: Poetry, African Literature,
Nigerian poet, Niger Delta environment, Environmental Consciousness.
Introduction:
One
important fact that can be deduced here is that, Inside is trying to depict a
society filled with wickedness; man inhumanity to man is continually on the
increase and the environment suffers the most. This is the case of the Niger
Delta region – a people with abundant wealth below their earth crust, but
little or nothing to show for it, and despite their (Niger Delta)
resources being exploited on a daily basis, their environments
are left in ruins and despoilment. An environmental study (Eco-criticism)
is a critical theory that has its root in the writer’s emotion. In the light of
this, as this paper proceeds, the reader will be made to understand that
environmental neglect and degradation cause pains and trauma to the inhabitants
of the affected areas. What forms the background to this study basically is the
acknowledgement that environmental neglect and exploitation falls within the
framework of eco-criticism; hence the work will be discussing Ojaide’s “Delta
Blues” and “Home Songs” (1998) from this critical framework.
Ecocritical
Focus
Physical
environment, just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a
gender-conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of in
modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism
takes an earth centered approach to literature. Eco-criticism as a literary
theory is used for political corollary or to serve specific social interests.
In the words of Garrard: “Eco-criticism is then, an avowedly political mode of
analysis… Eco-critics generally tie their cultural analyses explicitly to
a ‘green’ moral and political agenda” (Agbonifo, 2011) he moves on to
emphasize that “eco-criticism is unique amongst contemporary literary
and cultural theories because of its close relationship with the science of
ecology” (Gerrard, 2004). Most of these writers who support the views of eco-criticism
are notable for their activism and social criticism of the environment. Many
have written to expose the sufferings and daily traumatic experiences which are
end results of negligence by the government and Shell to treat and provide
remedy to the Niger Delta environments which have been contaminated by oil
spills, and therefore the environment dereliction is what gave rise
to the Niger Delta Literature which is the case in view. Ibaba on his part
declares: The literature on the Niger Delta has blamed the poor state of
development on such factors as: inequality in oil wealth distribution due
to the country’s centralized federalism, the politicization of revenue
allocation and the resultant neglect of the region’s development; oil induced
environmental devastation, the resultant occupational displacement/ dislocation
and the failure to rebuild livelihood; the failure to corporate social
responsibility on the part of the trans-national oil corporations… (2)
Tanure Ojaide, among many others, is one of the Niger Delta writers that
focus his attention on the Niger Delta environment; his “Delta Blues
and Home Songs” (1998) is one among his collection of poetry that
focuses more on the Niger Delta environment. Tanure Ojaide (born 1948) is a
seasoned Nigerian poet and writer. He is noted for his distinctive aesthetic
vision and for his intense criticism of imperialism, religion, environmental
neglect and other issues. Though there abound lots of critical works by
Tanure Ojaide, this research will critically review “Delta Blues and Home
Songs”. Like many poems on Niger Delta, “Delta Blues and Home Songs” focuses on
the environmental decay of the Niger Delta region caused by oil spillage.
Hence, Okome puts it this way: “Delta Blues and Home Songs (1997)
is consistent with this aesthetic practice. As the title indicates
the poetry book focuses on the Niger Delta as a landscape in
which observable physical disintegration and decay in social life
correlate” (195). Meanwhile, in Alu’s words: “Ojaide’s Delta Blues
and Home Songs present the Niger Delta as a landscape in
which observable physical degeneration and rot in social life unite”
(133). Nwagbara on his own part writes: “With the emergence of
eco-poetry, Ojaide’s writings have come to be considered
environmentally conscious poetry; they adumbrate an internecine nexus
between the natural world and man’s activities on it” (82).
The remaining section of this paper will be devoted to the
explication of “Delta Blues and Home Songs” which falls
under ‘Trauma: The effects of Environmental degradation
Environmental Degradation in Delta Blues
The poetry collection (Delta Blues and Home
Songs) is made up of two parts: part one, “Delta Blues”, has a total of 28
poems and part two, “Home Songs”, has 22 poems. Poems in both parts are
inundated with images, irony, hyperbole, contrasts and other poetic devices
that depict the pains and trauma the people of the Niger Delta are exposed to.
In “When green was the lingua franca”, the poet (Ojaide) tries to present a
picture of a society that has moved away from nature; serene, greenish, etc.
environment to a society where both aquatic life and trees have been destroyed:
I see victims of arson
Wherever my restless soles
take me to bear witness.
The Ethiope waterfront
wiped out by prospectors–
so many trees beheaded
and streams mortally poisoned
in the name of jobs and wealth!
(13)
In “Seasons”, Ojaide laments the
deplorable condition of the Niger
Delta,
using local elementary psyched images
of anguish, discomfort, and nervousness
that streak his period and land. Stanza
two is a good example:
No one doubts anymore the
resolve of the season.
The plague from afar has slide in with
locusts.
The egrets, orphans since
Rinderpest days were the last of
the flock we expected to welcome.
But we faced only one clouded
direction and failed to catch the
cries of minority kins. We clubbed
pythons we believed meant evil,
but forgot we were nursing cobras
in our closets;
we pay for not heeding our
forebears’ voices.
From the above stanzas, it
is quite clear that Ojaide presents a people who have been betrayed by their
nation and the oil company who came in disguise only to unleash mayhem on the
people. The persona and his kinsmen are in a state of regret; they are
suffering as a result of their express approval of the oil companies to operate
on their land. He moves on to point out that the society no longer works as it
should. The irony of the whole matter is that “when you call a thief a thief,
he grins and sues” “you for label he knows the court are on sale;” “police and
lawyers wait on litigants in the hallways” / “like vultures overseeing a
desolate country” (stanza 3: line 5-8).
Ojaide
preserves the memory of KenSaro-Wiwa and the other executed leaders; this he
does by constantly reminding his readers of the murderous activities supervised
by the military dictator, Sani Abacha on November 10, 1995. Ken and his
colleagues were executed because of their environmental activism and their
outspokenness against environmental dereliction caused by Shell. Particularly,
in “Wails” and 179
“Immortal
grief”, Ojaide refreshes his readers’ memories with the execution of Ken and
the ‘other eight’. Each time the Ogonis, fans of Ken and environmental
activists, remember the death of Ken they resort to grief and agony, and
as such, the pains caused by Ken’s death can best be described as a
source of communal trauma:
Another
ANA meeting will be
called
and singers will gather
I
will look over and see a space
that
can take more than a
hundred–the
elephant never
hides
(17).
The memory of Ken as an “elephant”
by his ANA colleagues is a basis for communal trauma; here he is
being compared to an elephant, and the metaphor of strength comes to
play, as the persona attributes the size and qualities of an elephant
to Ken. Just as the absence of an elephant is greatly felt by other animals,
Ken’s absence is felt by his colleagues after his execution. The pleasure and
sadness that is caused by remembering the roles Ken play in each of ANA
meetings is further exemplified in lines 8-11 of stanza 1 of “Wails”: “Whether
all the singers will come,” “but that silent space” “that can take more than a
hundred” “stares at me with nostalgia”. The resultant effect of the pains
caused by prolonged environmental neglect on the part of the
government and oil companies is trauma. The worst of it is when it has to
do with the death of acclaimed heroes of the community. “Immortal grief”
is a dirge for Ken and his In lines 10-12, the persona sings: “After
presiding over the last primitive act of the century,” / “he
still called out his livery to dance on nine mounds” / “as if human
sacrifice to prolong his rule wasn’t enough” (20). Pastoral trope is a key
concern for “Delta Blues”; Ojaide uses it to explore the relationship
between literature and the physical environment
(biological environment). He goes on to highlight the devastating
evil being wrought on the environment by human activities using these
tropes. Irony, metaphor, metonymy, personification, euphemism, etc. are
some of the tropes visible in the poem. Lines 6 and 7 of stanza 1 of
“Delta Blues”: “The inheritance I sat on for centuries” /
“now crushes my body and soul” speak volumes. Here, the persona
laments how natural resources have turned to be weapons and sources of his
suffering and bodily pains. “Those nine mounds woke” / “into another
world, ghostly kings”- euphemism is in play in the above lines; the words
are used to soften the message –an indirect way of saying that Ken
and his eight compatriots died. In another Excerpt from "The Artist
as a Journeyman": "Let me tell you, have worked the land, Sweated in
the sun, knees sinking in the mud, Eyes squinting against the dust, hands
blistered From wielding the hoe, the cutlass, the spade."
In this excerpt, the persona of the poem
reflects on their physical labor and connection to the land. The use of vivid
imagery, such as sweating in the sun and sinking knees in the mud, creates a
sense of the speaker's toil and hardship. The mention of hands blistered from
tools like the hoe, cutlass, and spade highlights the manual labor involved in
cultivating the land. This stanza speaks to the resilience and perseverance of
the artist as a worker and emphasizes the intimate relationship between the artist
and the environment.
Excerpt
from "Homecoming":
"Homecoming
is a journey into the past,
A
wandering in the shadow of memories.
The
village is smaller now, the huts
Hold
fewer spirits, fewer echoes."
The lines above capture the
theme of nostalgia and the bittersweet experience of returning home. The
reference to homecoming as a journey into the past suggests a longing to
reconnect with one's roots and explore the memories associated with the
ancestral village. The mention of the village being smaller and holding fewer
spirits and echoes indicates the passage of time and the inevitable changes
that occur in a familiar place. The stanza evokes a sense of loss and reflects
on the transient nature of life and the passing of generations.
Similarly, the above stanzas provide glimpses into Ojaide's
exploration of themes such as labor, identity, and the passage of time. His
poetry often delves into the cultural and environmental landscapes of the Niger
Delta region, showcasing a deep connection to his homeland and a keen
observation of the human condition.
In Delta blues as well, Tanure Ojaide's poem
"Delta Blues":
"Rivers
once full now run dry,
Leaving
cracked earth like parched lips,
Fish
gasping for life, stranded,
As oil
spills spread their toxic wings."
Analysis from an
Ecocritical Lens
From
an ecocritical perspective, the stanza from "Delta Blues" highlights
the detrimental impact of human activities, particularly oil spills, on the
natural environment. The description of rivers that were once full but now run
dry speaks to the ecological consequences of resource exploitation and
pollution. The image of cracked earth like parched lips evokes a sense of
thirst and desperation, emphasizing the devastating effects of water scarcity
on both the land and its inhabitants.
The
mention of fish gasping for life and being stranded further emphasizes the
ecological disruption caused by oil spills. It portrays the vulnerability and
suffering of aquatic life due to pollution. The phrase "toxic wings"
used to describe the spread of oil spills adds a metaphorical layer, suggesting
that the harmful effects of these spills extend beyond their immediate
location, affecting the entire ecosystem.
Through
this stanza, Ojaide draws attention to the environmental degradation and loss
caused by human activities, particularly in the context of the Niger Delta
region. The poem invites readers to reflect on the ecological consequences of
resource extraction and the urgent need for sustainable and responsible
practices to protect the natural world.
An
Environmental View of “Delta Blues” Delta Blues & Home Songs
There seems to be no alternative action for the traduced
people and the asphyxiating world presented in the Niger Delta, and by
extension Nigeria except the alternative of what Theodor Adorno called
negation. This is essential in line with the Hegelian construct of
“antithesis,” which confronts the “thesis” that I believe encompasses the
contradictions in a given social ambience. In Adorno’s Negative Dialectics
(1966), he maintained that domination thrived as it attacked the objective
stance of revolutionary consciousness through which it liquidated humanity as
well as individualism at the basis of critical consciousness. Following the
Hegelian representation of art (poetry) as a product of history, Adorno
considered revolutionary or protest literature barely possible unless it
experimented with negating the societal disequilibrium. In this sense, art (litera-ture)
and thought can only realize themselves fully not by asserting that a societal
change was necessary, but through exploring via negation and decomposition for
what be positively and systemically expressed (Adorno, 1974: 126-127).
Therefore, more than being sheer artistic representation or
propagandizing, literature tends to effectively oppose the deceit of the status
quo. It seeks answers to social problems through its own negation of
contradictions. In “I, Onini where, the ant,” one of the poems in the
collection, Delta Blues & Home Songs, Ojaide launches the logic of negation
in the midst of the pain and albatross of privation wreaked by the activities
of the multinational corporations:
And this,
my coveted pain…
In days of
record famine, I am the envy of those too disabled
by nothing to venture out…
I, Onini
where, a mere ant
have
become the day’s hero! (p. 90).
In the above lines, there is
a palpable song of grit in times of despair, painand misery. The imagery of
“ant,” a little creature, portrays the power of the powerless to better their
world no matter what stands before them. In another Ojaide poem in the same
collection, “Dance of Defiance,” Ojaide continues the rhetoric of resistance
with passion and trenchantness that is characteristic of a Fanonist “fighting
phase” (third phase), when “the native turns himself.
Degradation of Niger Delta
One prominent environmental issue in Ojaide's
"Home Songs" is the degradation of the Niger Delta ecosystem due to
oil exploration and exploitation. In poems like "The Artist's Elegy"
and "Night Rain on the Niger," Ojaide laments the devastating impact
of oil spills on the region's rivers, forests, and farmlands. He vividly
describes the polluted waters, the dying fish, and the desolate landscapes,
emphasizing the loss of natural beauty and the disruption of traditional
livelihoods.
Furthermore, Ojaide addresses the issue of
deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats in his poems. In
"The Forest Dancers," he portrays the conflict between human
activities and the environment, highlighting the consequences of uncontrolled
logging and the encroachment of human settlements on the forested areas. Ojaide
mourns the loss of biodiversity and the displacement of wildlife, drawing
attention to the need for sustainable practices that preserve both human and
natural communities.
Degradation of
Agriculture
Another
ecological concern that Ojaide explores in "Home Songs" is the
degradation of agricultural lands. In poems such as "The Return," he
reflects on the impact of soil erosion, desertification, and climate change on
farming communities. Ojaide emphasizes the importance of sustainable
agriculture and the need to protect the soil and water resources that sustain
livelihoods and food production.
Throughout
the collection, Ojaide highlights the connection between environmental
degradation and cultural identity. In poems like "The Distant River"
and "The Song of the Harmattan," he explores the relationship between
the environment and the spiritual, social, and economic well-being of the
people. Ojaide emphasizes the importance of preserving cultural heritage and
traditional ecological knowledge as essential components of sustainable
development.
Conclusion
Ojaide's
"Delta Blues and Home Songs" delves into environmental issues with a
focus on the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Through his evocative poetry,
Ojaide sheds light on the devastating consequences of oil spills,
deforestation, soil erosion, and climate change. He calls for a greater
awareness of these ecological challenges and advocates for sustainable
practices that balance human needs with the preservation of the environment and
cultural heritage. Ojaide's work serves as a powerful reminder of the urgent
need for environmental stewardship and the promotion of a harmonious
relationship between humans and nature.
Poetry as an aesthetic property has
been employed by many in the discussion of issues bordering on man
and his physical environment. As such, it qualifies as an instrument
for environmental discourse. In Nigeria for instance, literary
writers, mostly those from the Niger Delta area have resorted to
poetry as convenient tool to expose the evil of man on the physical
environment. Tanure Ojaide’s Delta Blues and Home Songs (1998) is
a collection that explores the themes of environmental dereliction.
Looking at the collection, we are made to understand that every
negative memories a people have about their adverse past experiences
does not only cause them excruciating pains, but an unending trauma that
is transferrable from one generation to another. The case of the
Niger Delta people the Ogonis in particular is a worthy example; as
the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni eight execution is very
fresh in their mind. Delta Blues and Home Songs does not only expose
the ills perpetrated by the government and the oil companies, it
is also a poem that presents the Niger Delta region as a place that
is “evergreen”, “stilted in mangroves”, serene environment, and good
waters with all the aquatic life in good condition before
the inception of oil exploration and other related activities by the
government and multinational companies. The damages caused by oil spillage
cannot be over emphasized; this is as its effect has gone beyond
human comprehension; causing physical and emotional torture on the
people. For instance, the constant death caused by bad and unhealthy
intake of water as a result of oil spillage on both their waters
and farmland is a good example. In summary, the act of abandonment
and neglect from the multi-national oil companies and the government
of the day can better be classified as complete wickedness of man to
his follow man and environment (i.e. environmental neglect).
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