Joyce O N O R O M H E N R E Agofure

For some critics such as Bature Umar and Ugwu Lawrence, Zaynab Alkali's creative writing skills mainly reveal the thematic prominence of the 'female principle' as the central message in her works. However, this study illustrates that Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn (1984) and The Cobwebs and other Stories (1997) shed innovative ideas on ecofeminist themes germane in contemporary developments in Northern Nigerian literature. This is apparent in the gendered language used to describe nature and the animalised language used to describe women in the texts. From the theoretical viewpoint of Ecofeminism therefore, Alkali's selected works demonstrate that there are significant connections between the domination, denigration and oppression of the earth and the suppression of women by masculinist methods and attitudes. The study posits that the selected novel and collection of short stories as representations are sites of resistance to prevailing attitudes and social practices which denigrate women and non-human forms.

This paper explores the diverse socio-historical circumstances that have exerted a powerful influence over the African people which poetry represents. The study highlights the unsympathetic outcome of Africa's post-independence dilemma using Odia Ofeimun's collection of poems The Poet Lied (1980) from the theoretical lens of New Historicism which critiques the dominance of the privileged class over the deprived and marginalised people. The poet, Ofeimun recreates the unbearable happenings in Nigeria and Africa in relation to history, politics, and economic vistas of modern-day. He illuminates the many contradictions which define Nigeria's trajectory as a nation during civilian maladministration, military brutality, the rising rate of economic disparity between the rich and the poor, disillusionment, disorder, corruption, underdevelopment, environmental pillage, and violence which have heightened socio-historical and political travails that pervade Nigeria and the African space. Taken together, it is not startling that Ofeimun takes a swipe at the poet in his patriotic endeavour to revolutionize the position of the poet in the transformation of the society.

This study centres on the signification of patriarchal practices, resistance and empowerment in female writing using A'aisha Abdulkareem's Yar'fari (2020). The text is a fictional narrative which underscores the travails of a girl child adversely confined in northern Nigeria culture where patriarchy is a fundamental way of life. Nevertheless, patriarchy is generally practiced in Nigeria and its values have actively subjugated people's lives. These beliefs have particularly impacted negatively on the woman / girl-child's self-perception, emotions, education, socioeconomic and political progress. This is evident in the characters Teni, Husseina and Ruuma alongside other female folks in Yar'fari where the girl-child is fully equipped with housekeeping skills which empowers her to cope with raising of children and taking care of her potential husband. She is well trained to understand that her splendour and goodwill lies in early marriage, without which she will turn out to be a societal shame. On this backdrop, the paper employs Africana Womanism as a theoretical frame to appraise Yar'fari. This is pertinent since Africana Womanism focuses on African women's independence, emancipation alongside the peaceful survival of men and children in connection to gender. Taken together, this study demonstrates the extent to which female creative works are veritable tools for obliterating negative patriarchal practices in northern Nigeria where hegemonic patriarchal values and dogmas are privileged over the woman/ girl-child. This paper adds to existing female writings on the necessity to overthrow every trace of patriarchy against the woman/girl-child in Nigeria.

This paper examines postcolonial ecocriticism theory and the concept of trans-corporeality as a new paradigm in environmental literary discourse at a period when the problematic interaction between man and environment pose a threat to the natural world. Postcolonial ecocriticism is a type of ecocriticism that addresses "concerns with conquest, colonization, racism, sexism along with its investments in theories of indigeneity and diaspora and the relations between native and invader, societies and cultures" while 'trans-corporeality' is a concept which decenters the human in place of the non-human in relation to objects, bodies, geographical systems, and the environment. To this end, the critical theory and concept deployed in this study will uncover the extent to which repressive human agencies, chemical toxins, pollution, technological progress, and other participants modify and negatively impacting the more-than-human world and marginalized people. This paper will demonstrate that postcolonial ecocriticism and transcorporeality are robust and viable tools to investigate regions across the globe which are currently depleting natural resources/landscapes, destroying species diversity, and injuring the fragile ecosystems through badly envisioned development projects.

There has been paucity on the deployment of ecocriticism theory in modern Nigerian poetry works. Thus, Ecocriticism, also called environmental literary criticism calls for an in-depth context reading from the human to the environmental as well as understanding the ways that dynamics of suppression, manipulation, and domination are mutually reinforcing. Against this backdrop, this paper investigates Tanure Ojaide's Daydream of Ants and Other Poems (1997) from the perspectives of ecocriticism. An ecocritical interpretation of Daydream of Ants and Other Poems provides valuable insights concerning how issues of toxicity, contamination, and annihilation of natural resources especially of dispossessed communities intersect. The extent to which the Nigerian rulers and multinational conglomerates have deliberately manipulated Nigeria's natural resources as sources of economic profit translates to environmental annihilation, underdevelopment, displacement, insurgency, and migration. Taken together, the study illuminates that environmental representations in Ojaide's Daydream of Ants and Other Poems conveys the need for sustainable relationship between man and other life forms.

Abstract<br> This paper focuses on the complex correlation between humans and their ecologies along with the role of literature in critiquing these relationships. The paper explores Helon Habila"s novel Oil on Water (2010) and Ben Okri"s collections of short stories Stars of the New Curfew (1999) as creative responses to the disquiet in the Nigerian social space. The study demonstrates that the selected Nigerian writers present the view that the Nigerian people and ecologies are exploited by the Nigerian elites in connivance with the corporate owners of technology for economic interests, leaving behind devastating ecological imprints on the flora, fauna and landscape. The contemporary trans-disciplinary approach called Ecocriticism which links literary criticism with ecological issues will be used to evaluate the selected literary texts. Taken together, this undertaking illuminates from an ecocritical stance the crises that accompany the environment and the far-reach...

With the growing awareness of environmental issues in the twenty-first century, this study explores the extent to which African philosophy contributes extensively to the discourse of climate change and the natural world. However, some critics are of the view that African philosophy is inherently anthropocentric and has nothing significant to offer in addressing climate change. Against this backdrop, this undertaking illustrates that the natural environment for Africans is not labeled “other” as often observed among industrialists rather it is a vital part of the African traditional world equilibrium. Hence, anything that imperils the African peoples‟ ecosystem endangers their very existence-socially, economically, morally, politically, spiritually and ecologically. The study demonstrates that there is a huge correlation between socio-political, economic and suppressive structures in Africa‟s postcolonial condition which have brought about climate change, environmental despoliation a...

Despite the numerous worldwide schemes to advance gender empowerment uniformity, Nigeria, remain a people with disfavoured gender balance which could spearhead to sustainable national development. Researches have shown that women account for a large section of Nigeria's population however, this does not increase nor translate to the economic enablement of women. Since women represent half of the Nigeria's human resources places a profound sway on the need for women/men empowerment impartiality/fairness. To this end, this study calls for a decisive progression in the socio-political and economic empowerment of women which should be relative to the male gender in every fragment of the Nigerian society. The paper draws on the intellectual engagement and theoretical frame of Liberal feminism which lays emphasis on the principle of equality of opportunity and freedom by making the legal and political rights of women equal to that of the men. Consequently, sustainable state policies must be put in place to bring about gender equality which could transmute to national development at all fronts. Government must pay practical attention to the socio-political improvement of the female gender in tandem to the male to expedite and facilitate sustainable national development in Nigeria at all spheres.

The spate of terrorism and kidnapping has become a global concern in the twenty-first century. These social vices and their corollaries have dramatically increased as preferred tactics of militants. This happens anytime and anywhere, and no community, city or country is immune from these threatening phenomena. This paper seeks to use Helon Habila's novel Oil on Water to delineate the perilous issue of terrorism and kidnapping apparent in the oil producing Niger-Delta region-and Nigeria by extension-where these apprehensions have become a misnomer. Consequently, Habila's Oil on Water is a cultural alternative on the role of Literature to provide an imaginative opening in addressing hostage taking and disquiet in the Nigerian social space. The novel of study illustrates the air of truth through which a literary work becomes a speaking entity in the actual world. The writer suggests that the rising rate of poverty, hunger, corruption, underdevelopment, environmental despoliation, violence and marginalization of dispossessed people have brought about the surge of kidnapping in Nigeria. Thus, terrorism and kidnapping constitute a crisis that demands urgent political, personal, legislative and sustainable actions. The paper utilizes New Historicism as a theoretical site to appraise the concerns under study.

Tanure Ojaide is a renowned poet whose works imaginatively articulates the socio-political predicament of Nigeria. Ojaide has been concerned with the destiny of the Nigerian nation and the direction it has taken under various military and civilian regimes. His perception of Nigerian life is that its deprived people have been doomed to incarceration as a result of deprivation. Consequently, Ojaide's collection of poetry centers on the issues of corruption, political ineptitude, bad governance and the subjugation of the under privileged masses in relation to the phenomenon of domination and exploitation. Although, these salient issues have been raised by other Nigerian poets, the consistency and urgency with which the poet Ojaide depicts them, makes his poetry oeuvre distinct. In this purview, the poetry Fate of Vultures and other poems depicts the curious polarity between the rich, poor and the impoverished which conveys the Nigerian condition as terminal. The Fate of Vultures and other poems is symptomatic of the magnitude to which Nigerian leaders have degenerated hence, the poetry demonstrates the many squalor and poverty in which majority of citizens continue to exist. To meaningfully explore the state of the masses in Ojaide's The Fate of Vultures and other poems, the socialist realist theory will be apt as it scrutinizes the dictatorial setting in the society whereby one class governs while the other is governed. Along these lines, Literature in general and the Nigerian Modern poetry in particular, is a veritable channel for criticizing socioeconomic and political concerns. This undertaking foregrounds the capability of the Nigerian poetry to create the necessary stimuli for consciousness and societal transformation.

Since the dawn of eco-feminism theory, there have been various approaches to the concept. In spite of this, ecofeminism is an attempt to transcend the dichotomization of the struggles for women's rights and environmental justice. The integral correlation between domination of women and of nature is the central tenet of eco-feminism. Eco-feminism asserts that all forms of oppression are connected consequently the domination of the natural world and women by patriarchal power structures must be examined.  In this context, Zaynab Alkali, the first female writer from Northern Nigeria to compose literary narratives in English language demonstrates through her novel - The Stillborn the relationship of nature, home and identity to the implications of disintegration caused by patriarchal dynamics, along with global economic system as it affects the female folk. Thus, beyond the usual thematic thrust of culture and religion usually investigated in Zaynab Alkali’s The Stillborn, this study examines human bodies not as sites of cultural descriptions alone, but as convergence where nature and culture dissolves, where power is opposed, where transformations continuously advance and where gender, environment and society is assertively critiqued. This study captures the varying forms of discrimination, subjugation, increasing burden of poverty along with the prevailing violence against women in contemporary Nigerian social space. Zaynab Alkali’s The Stillborn draws attention to the connection between the woman and the environment alongside the oppressive strains that envelopes her from ancient times to the contemporary epoch.

KEYWORDS:Patriarchal dynamics, Environment, Gender, Oppression and Eco-feminism

Nature implications are re-emerging in the light of recent developments in ecocritical studies. In this context, Ecocriticism evaluates human perception of the natural environment and how it has changed throughout history alongside how current environmental issues are represented in modern literature. This paper encapsulates the attempts of contemporary Nigerian poet and environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey to reflect poetry that envisions the connections between nature and humanity. Consequently, beyond nature writings apparent in early Nigerian poetry, Nnimmo Bassey’s poetry as illuminated in We thought it was Oil but it was Blood brings to fore the environmental injustices, degradation, under development combined with the irreversible loss of innocence on the Nigerian landscape convulsed by human and technological change. The study unfolds the unjust power relations that amplify the legions of manipulations that strangulate the common people. We thought it was Oil but it was Blood highlights issues of place that have persistently been disrupted as a result of destructive extractive activities. Taking along therefore, this paper captures issues of complexities and contradictions of the present- openings in closures that leave the Nigerian landscape a site of concern. These issues remain fundamental to the artistic imaginations of the selected Nigerian poet who is concerned with the condition of the Nigerian society since the post civil war, the oil boom, incessant explorations and its consequences till date.

The world we recall from our childhood is changing. Gone are the days of trekking to farmlands and admiring beautiful landscapes and scenario along the way. Rather, today’s children are preoccupied with numerous activities taking place in settings which are not only alienated from nature but replications of the earth’s natural environment. To this end, global violence against children, animals and ecosystems progresses unabated. This study therefore employs the emerging theoretical framework of ecocriticism to evaluate representations of the environment-the non human nature, animals, place and outer space within the pastoral ethos of children’s literature from the stand point of environmental justice. This undertaking elucidates a comprehensive investigation of the selected texts of study in representing human engagement with the environment at a time when environmental concerns pose significant threat to human existence.  Consequently, except modern African children receive appropriate nature education many children may never develop a positive attitude towards the natural world which is so crucial for earth’s survival. Furthermore, this study illustrates how the selected texts espouse children to act with moral and ethical integrity for the universal good and be responsible global and local citizens.
Keywords: Ecocriticism, Survival, Alienation, Environmental Justice, Nature

Critics have reiterated the many drawbacks of foreign aid to developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, this paper attempts to examine the value of foreign aid in Nigeria's socioeconomic development. Suffice to state that, foreign aid has direct positive impact on Nigeria's socioeconomic growth given the many vital roles it has performed towards issues of education, health, trade, security, and infrastructure. Along these lines, the paper reiterates that for Nigeria to reach her goals for a sustainable economic advancement in the face of rescinding recession, climate change, terrorism, kidnapping, and violence, the government of Nigeria most seek for foreign aid steered towards a robust commitment to research, and sustainable human capital development, which if handled properly would translate to economic development. Taken together, the study concludes that foreign aid deepens and sustains diplomatic rapport between donor countries and its recipients.

Postcolonial writers often illuminate myriad ways global markets in collusion with ruling elites coerce colonized communities to transform their impoverished lands for mass production and monetary gains. Against this backdrop, this paper comparatively articulates the extent to which Mda Zake's The Heart of Redness (2000) and Helon Habila's Oil on Water (2010) as creative responses delineate conflicts over natural resources in the South African and Nigerian social space. The selected works suggest that the South African and the Nigerian people and ecologies are exploited by their ruling elites in collusion with the corporate owners of technology for power, greed and economic interests leaving behind devastating tensions and contradictions which often led to the upsurge of violence and militarism through which extremist groups have become defiant in the destruction of lives, properties and hostage taking detrimental to national well-being. The signification of the deliberate degradation of the South African and Nigerian landscape by the ruling class in collaboration with global capitalist conglomerate point to a trend in postcolonial situation to put power and authority at the service of the market and at the expense of public good. This study will utilize postcolonial ecocriticism as analytical tool to critique these unflinching social and environmental realities. However, the larger implications of these disquiets reveal persistent psychological trauma that often envelope the dispossessed people. Introduction:

This paper investigates contemporary Nigerian Artist Nnimmo Bassey-a foremost scholar among new Nigerian poets of the twenty-first century. He is an environmental activist, a cartoonist, Pastor and architect. His works come in the wake of increased eco-consciousness alongside the consequences of ecological devastation brought about by Nigeria ruling class in collaboration with multinational companies for self pursuit and profit. In this regard, Bassey's works are lamentations against modern environmental exploitation and consumerism apparent in the Nigerian social space using current methodological approach-Ecocriticism. Consequently, this undertaking demonstrates the correlation between literature and other art forms as vehicles by which artists reflect the same critical concerns. This study shows that the assessment of eco-narratives in Nnimmo Bassey's works situate him at the forefront of contemporary discourses on environmental issues in Nigeria. The onus to call political rulers and the ruled to order often falls on the Nigerian artist's who as a creative thinker, critic and recorder is critically involved in the transformation of Nigeria and the world by extension. Thus, Art remains a viable instrument for interpreting society's dialectics and realities.

Oral literature has flourished in Nigeria for many centuries and has taken variety of forms which includes myths, epics, funeral dirges, praise poems and proverbs. However, this study evaluates the functions of Oral Poetry in Ewatto in Esan South East Local government Area of Edo State. Oral poetry is a dynamic art form and like other oral art forms in Nigeria, it is spoken, chanted and sung. In addition, this art form can be accompanied with flutes, gongs, slit-drums, horns and others in its performance and rendition. Oral poetry in Ewatto dialect plays a significant role in the locale where it is utilized and is infrequently investigated in Nigerian literature. Consequently, this study is an attempt to discuss the styles and themes of Oral poetry in Ewatto apparent in social commentaries, praise poems, protest, rituals, wedding songs and children songs. Taken together therefore, this paper demonstrates that with the proliferation of globalization, urbanization and its corollary, the oral artist who is an observer and commentator in the traditional setting is no longer a treasured focal point to the Ewatto people as he once was. This to a large extent is threatening the traditional life that upholds such literature.

1 This paper demonstrates that the exploration of oil by multinational companies and its supposed lofty income alongside development and security has become an illusion. This absurdity has translated for the people of Niger Delta in particular and Nigeria in general issues of discontent, oppression, environmental degradation and poverty and nonexistence of sufficient infrastructural provisions. This study investigates the implications that oil conflict in the Niger Delta in particular and Nigeria in general have on development and national security as evident in the creative narrative of Helon Habila's Oil on water. The selected writer conveys that the neglect of the people along with the tensions and contradictions which emanate from the exploitation of natural resources have led to the upsurge of militancy through which radical groups have become defiant in the destruction of lives, properties and hostage taking detrimental to national security. Helon Habila's Oil on Water is a creative response for government to resolve the oil conflict and its corollary through legitimate commitment by all stakeholders to ensure sustainable development and stability in the Nigerian social space. To this end, Socialist realism theory will be deployed as a theoretical framework in interpreting the text.