Benjamin Njoku
10 April 2008
column
Lagos — THE unprintable havoc cum natural injustice that have been meted out to the people of the Niger-Delta region owing to many years of oil exploration and refining activities by the various oil companies operating in the oil-rich region, cannot be quantified today considering the poor level of development that has taken place in the area.
Indeed, to many watchers of development in the region, ever since that evil exploration of oil commenced in the area, the people of Niger-Delta have been indiscriminately exposed to hardship, marginalisation and consequently, have become oppressed by the successive administrations in the country.
Apparently, with the continuous depletion of its natural environment and the inevitable exposure of the people to dangers associated with pollution, the resultant effect of society's insensitivity to the plight of the people of the Niger-Delta has become incessant youth restiveness, hostage-taking and militancy amongst other instigated vices.
Today, what has become the fate of these people whose tradition, culture and language are totally tied around the fate of their environment is better imagined.
Given this deplorable situation, however, while several attempts made in the past to alleviate the sufferings of the people proved abortive, it is on record today that a couple of Nigerian writers have used their works to comment on the heart-rending issues of environmental degradation, racism and social injustice that now appear prevalent in the region.
Even at that, the malevolent abuses on the people's environment has continued unabated even till date. One recalls such aborted struggles by the likes of the hanged environmental activist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa and Isaac Boro of blessed memory to liberate the Niger-Delta people from the shackles of oppression and enslavement by the Nigerian state.
Not to be forgotten equally are the memorable poetic lines of Gabriel Okara as the octogenarian poet uses his works to recapture the age of innocence of the region and J.P Clark's radical condemnation of the gross injustice that has been done to the people of the area through his works.
Recently, United States-based Nigerian writer, Tanure Ojaide, returned to the status-quo when his work, The Activist, made a fresh case against environmental degradation in the Niger-Delta.
The work, which many described as "a forceful tool" to tackle the heart-rending issues of environmental degradation, racism and injustice herald the emergence of other aggressive writers of this age who have engaged the means of the written word to advance the mental fight against the dying state of the people's ecosystem.
Other important writers are; Nnimmo Bassey, the President of Environmental Rights Action (ERA) and poet, whose provocative collection, We Thought it was Oil but it was Blood, captures the sad stories of the Niger- Delta people and their ecosystem, and of course, the youthful Albert Otto, who fearlessly takes a swipe at the state of the environment, especially its situation and benefits to humanity in his Letter from the Earth, a collection of poems.
Besides, other emerging writers have continued relentlessly to champion the cause of using the different genres of literature to address the issues of environmental degradation in the Niger- Delta.
Only last year, the Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA) rose to the challenge by organising the first ever National Workshop on Literature and Environment as a way of encouraging writers to explore the issues of environmental degradation in their writings.
The maiden edition of the workshop held in Lagos was exceptional and educative as it afforded the participants rare opportunity to sharpen the edges of their crafts in writing on the environment.
However, as a follow up to the previous edition, the association penultimate week, held a similar workshop in Eket, Akwa Ibom State to further reiterate its commitment to promoting environmental writing in the country.
But surprisingly, the workshop designed to provide a platform where stakeholders in the oil industry can come together and interact on issues involving environmental protection and conservation, had only the writers in attendance.
Apart from one Mr. Valentine Agbaka, who represented Mrs Rose Umoren, the Public Affairs Manager, Exxon Mobil Plc, the sponsors of the workshop, no other oil company sent a representative to the two-day forum.
But in spite their absence, the forum which held at the Impact Guest House, Eket between Friday March 28th and 29th, was a near-success. Only about seventeen writers drawn from different parts of the country, and whose previous writings demonstrate serious concern for the environment, were in attendance.
Like the previous edition, the workshop afforded the participants, particularly those from Niger State, Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Cross River, Enugu and the host state, Akwa Ibom an opportunity to appreciate how much creative writing can be used to advocate the need for environment-friendly society.
Dr Martins Akpan, writer, patron, ANA, Akwa-Ibom chapter, and Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Action Committee Against AIDS, who chaired the opening ceremony, was of the opinion that Nigerian writers should learn to use their craft to champion the cause of environmental protection and conservation in the Niger-Delta, stressing that despite being under-explored, that a lot needed to be written about the Niger-Delta and its people.
ANA National President, Dr. Wale Okediran who was away then in the United Kingdom to feature in a BBC London interview on ANA's preparations for the 50th anniversary of Professor Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, informed the gathering that the workshop was a follow-up to the previous edition held in Lagos last year, and which was sponsored by Chevron Plc.
According to Okediran, whose address was delivered at the occasion by his Secretary, Mr. Denja Abdullahi, while dwelling on the imperativeness of writing for the environment said, writers are the most passionate about the environment as they draw their inspiration to write from it.
He noted that the stand of writers on the issue of environment, whether it is the North, South, East or West, is clear and captured in the title of his address, as culled from poet, Niyi Osundare's highly lyrical collection, The Eye of the Earth.
"Some of our writers have in the past paid the supreme sacrifice in their manifest concern for the environment, we had and still write songs, poems, full-length novels and plays all based on environmental issues and problems. We writers are stakeholders in environmental protection industry and therefore cannot show apathy when the environment is being discussed," Okediran said.
The workshop, he said, was organised to help writers hone their skills in writing on the environment with other stakeholders on environmental issues and increase their knowledge on the issues at hand.
The ANA president further disclosed that given the need to promote environmental writing in Nigeria, the writers' body intends to select outstanding manuscripts for publication in a forthcoming anthology on environmental literature to be published by the association at the end of the year. However, Kaine Agary, author of the award winning novel:
Yellow -Yellow , and Mr. Ali Salisu Barau of the Department of Geography, Federal College of Education, Kano, who were resource persons at the workshop, spoke both on the need for writers to use their art to promote environmental writing in the country.
Particularly, Mr Barau whose presentation jointly authored with Dr Yusuf Adamu of the Department of Geography, Bayero University, Kano highlighted some of the potentials of the regional literature in the promotion of public sensitisation towards environmental protection, enhancement and in the achievement of the overall goals of sustainable development in the region and in Nigeria as a whole, urged writers to create a platform for environmental writing in the country.
The major problems discussed by Barau in his paper included; desertification, drought and land desciccation, biodiversity depletion; impacts of urbanisation and industrialization and impacts of mining.
"Authors should also appreciate the ecological problems of the region and translate them into prose and poetic forms in order to achieve wider circulation of the knowledge of the problems. By so doing, the people of the region would have an adequate awareness of the problem and cultivate a good attitude towards the environment," he asserted.
Other issues tackled at the two-day workshop was how much the writer can use his art to help in creating environment-friendly society, create awareness and above all, instigate positive change in society.
Also, participants collectively re-examined the devastating effects of environmental degradation on the people of the Niger-Delta by making references to the previous works of their colleagues, and therefore, called on the various levels of government to adopt measures that would help promote environmental protection in the country.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Our environment is God's gift.It is tied to our life so it should be nurtured and not plunder.To dsetroy it is great injustice to humanity and nature
Our environment is God's gift.It is tied to our life so it should be nurtured and not plunder.To dsetroy it is great injustice to humanity and nature
Our environment is God's gift to humankind and our life is tied to it.It is to be nurtured and not to plunder.To destroy it is great injustice both to man and nature.