Vol. 6(1), pp. 19-24, 2020
ISSN: 2384-6402
Copyright ©2020, the copyright of this article is retained by the author(s)
https://gjournals.org/GJLLR
Environmental Degradation, Corruption and Militancy in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water
Manasseh Terwase Iortyer1; Agabi J. Ntamu2
1Department of English, Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State, Nigeria.
2Department of GSE, Federal College of Education, Obudu, Cross River State, Nigeria.
Article No.: 072320093
Type: Review
Many African writers have continually embraced nature writings, land issues and ecological themes that are relevant to local, cultural and national development. This paper critically evaluates themes of environmental degradation as a result of exploration of natural resources, corrupt leadership and the resultant reaction of the immediate communities by way of militant confrontation in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water. Adopting eco-criticism as a theoretical framework, the paper explores the extent of pollution and oil spill and their effects on the ecology of the host communities who are mostly fishermen and farmers. The paper links these atrocities to government’s insensitivity to the people’s plight as a result of corrupt leadership. This leads to militancy. Using the purposive sampling technique, the paper selects quotations from the text to evaluate Habila’s portrayal of poverty in the midst of plenty through his characters and the landscape of the community. It establishes the link between the writer and his community as the mouth-piece for the down-trodden masses of Africa.
Accepted: 24/07/2020
Published: 30/07/2020
*Corresponding Author
Manasseh T. Iortyer
E-mail: Manasseh.iortyer2@ yahoo.com
Phone: +2348039253944
Keywords:
Environment; degradation; Ecology; Corruption; Militancy.
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Journal Name : citation_journal : Greener Journal of Language and Literature Research
Publication Status/Date : usp_status_date : 30/07/2020
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