Kwara State University
Saeedat ALIYU
Designation: Senior Lecturer
Department: Linguistics African and European Languages
| My Publications | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S/N | Title | Abstract | Authors | Volume Numbers | Publication Type | Publication Date | Link | |
| 1 | Ecopoetics and contemporary Nigerian poetry: A study of Bassey’s We Thought it was Oil but it was Blood |
Over the years, collections of Nigerian poetry have shown an awareness of ecological issues. Poets have either used the environment, nature and its components as a muse for their creativity or have used their images to question man’s exploitative tendencies on earth’s resources. This second category of poets views the environment as a distinct category worthy of study for the continued peaceful and egalitarian survival of man on earth. Areas where exploration and exploitation of the earth’s resources take place have eventually turned into areas of environmental devastation and growing unrests and violence. Oil exploration in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been trailed by socio-economic and political struggles, a situation provoked by government’s failure to mediate in the agitations of the people. This focus by some 21st century poets could be linked to other prevailing realities of changing climates which has transcended into major developmental issues of unemployment, poverty, health, food security, and human rights violations among many more. This study relates the selected poetry work with the global clamour for a balanced handling of the environment in view of emerging environmental challenges. This study concludes that a humane exploitation of the environment and governments due attention paid on these areas are possible solutions to the inevitable violence in such places. Keywords: Ecopoetics, Nigerian poetry, the Niger-Delta, Bassey | Aliyu, S.B. | 1 (2), 125-134. | Gombe Papers on Nigerian Literature (GOPANLI): A Journal of the Department of English, Gombe State University, Nigeria | 2011-01-01 | ||