INTRODUCTION
Many African writers today are environmentalists
because they have continued to pay close attention to African ‘green’ in their
numerous literary works. They either depict the beautiful African green or the
degradation of that as a result of human activities by way of exploration or man-made
disasters.
Land
to Africans is an important asset which cannot be played with. It constitutes
the environment as an important entity. Majority of Africans are farmers whose
source of livelihood is the land which forms the environment they live in. In
traditional African society, land was a family or community inheritance and was
collectively owned by the family. Land therefore has always been a source of
conflict and violence between people uptill now. Ngugi Wa Thiongo
like many other African writers have always placed the issue of land as central in most of
his literary works. Land and the environment in general formed the basis of the
Mau-Mau resistance against the colonists in Kenya in pre-independence days. To
the Gikuyu people of Kenya and the Niger Delta people
in Nigeria, land is tied to the people’s culture, spiritual and physical
inheritance, bearing in mind that they are principally farmers and fishermen
respectively. Ngugi supports this in the Gikuyu creation story in Weep Not, Child thus:
And
the creator, who is also called Murungu
took Gikuyu and Mumbi from
his holy mountain. He took them to the country of ridges near Siriana … God showed Gikuyu and Mumbi all the land and told them. “This land I hand over to
you. O man and woman.
It’s
yours to rule and till in serenity sacrificing only to me, your God, under my
sacred tree.” (24)
The above quotation explains why the
exploitation of the environment – land in Kenya by the white settler for the
production of cash crops and water and air by multinationals in corroboration
with the insensitive government of Nigeria in the oil producing Niger Delta
have generated controversies. These communities regard land and the environment
in general as God’s gift to their fore-fathers and should not be toyed with,
especially by “outsiders.” Of the Niger Deltans, any
attempt at disturbing the ecosystem means taking away their lives.
The
issue of land alienation of the Niger Delta and Kenyan peasants from their
ancestral lands by their leaders and the elites forms the basis of conflict in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water and Ngugi
Wa Thiong’o’s
Petals of Blood. These two novelists
share common bonds because their concern is the alienation of the down-trodden
from their source of livelihood. To these two communities, land mean more than
just material wealth, land which are paid for with blood like Ken-Saro-Wiwa and others in the Niger
Delta and Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya among others. In
Kenya for example, land is more cherished than any form of material wealth. Ngugi captures this thus:
If
a man had plenty of money, many cars but no land, he could never be counted as
rich. A man who went with tattered clothes but had at least an acre of red
earth was better off than the man with money (Weep
Not, Child, 9).
This is how important land is to the African.
This explains why there is always controversy, conflict and violence anytime
somebody makes a move to annex lands belonging to African societies. There is
no ecosystem without land, and land which is the source of all life is guarded
jealously by Africans.
Chimalum Nwankwo gives credence
to the above assertion while describing the importance of land to the Gikuyu people of Kenya, for example that:
The
Gikuyu are an agricultural people; like all
agricultural people, land and its ownership must be of supreme importance to
their existence. The importance of land … does not end with their agrarian
existence. It is part of their spiritual existence because the origin of the
people is inseparable from the origin of their land (112).
The above assertion is not different from the
Niger Delta region which accommodates different minority groups, with different
cultural affiliations and places of origin. It is therefore, no wonder that the
area has witnessed several uprisings and agitations against the Nigerian
government which has become culpable and multinational oil companies who have
continued to devastate the region with reckless .abandon
Theoretical
Framework
The
theoretical framework adopted for the analysis of this paper is ecocriticism which is the study of the relationship between
literature and the physical environment. This implies the relationship between
man and nature. Ecocriticism therefore relates to
ecology, environmental degradation and depredation of land and other living
creatures. This is because the consequences of human actions are damaging the
planet’s basic life support system thereby causing harm to the environment.
When this theory is brought to bear on Helon Habila’s Oil on
Water, it provides a better understanding of the predicament of the Niger
Delta people.
Environmental
Degradation in Helon Habila’s
Oil on Water
Environmental
issues have become popular themes in most African literary works in the last
decade because of the havoc wrecked on the environment and the people living
around such areas. The arguments have been on the need to preserve and conserve
the flora and fauna as well as endangered species in order to preserve the ecosystemic chain. Many African writers before now have
been more concerned with the immediate socio-political issues of colonialism
and corruption and have now seen the need to focus on environmental problems
which have continued to dwarf Africa in the neo-colonial era.
For
decades, oil companies like Shell and Chevron oil companies which are situated
in the Niger Delta region have continued to wreak environmental, economic and social
havoc in the region. Members of these oil producing communities have suffered
untold hardship as a result of activities of these oil companies who have been
exploring oil in the area for decades. It is against such atrocities and a bid
to correct such ills that the non-violent environmentalist, Ken Saro-wiwa paid with his blood. Rob Nixon buttresses this
fact this way:
The
Abacha regime executed Saro-Wiwa,
making him Africa’s most visible environmental martyr. Here was a writer – a
novelist, poet, memoirist and essayist – who had died fighting the ruination of
his Ogoni people’s farmland and fishing waters by
European and American oil conglomerates in cahoots with a despotic African
regime (715).
It is therefore common place that
exploitation of minority resources of the Niger Delta to develop other areas
while neglecting the region has led to severe environmental degradation,
pollution and loss of traditional occupation of farming and fishing. This in
turn gives rise to militancy, kidnapping, oil theft and unimaginable health
hazards. These are the issues depicted in Habila’s Oil on Water. He has depicted widespread
degradation of the environment and pollution in a glaring manner:
We
followed a bend in the river and in front of us we saw birds dropped over tree
branches, their outstretched wings black and slick with oil; dead fish bobbed
while – bellied between tree roots (8).
This is what the reader finds in the novel as
the protagonist, Rufus recounts his ordeal as they moved from one deserted
village to another. The level of destruction is only imagined. The author
captures these events in a vivid manner to take the reader on a journey into
the heart of the sufferings and agonies of Niger Deltans.
The gory pictures are pathetic. This is the case in another village:
In
the village centre, we found the communal well. Eager
for a drink, I bent down under the wet, mossy pivotal beam and peered into the
well’s blackness, but a rank smell wafted from its hot depths and slapped my
face; I reeled away, my head aching from the encounter. Something organic,
perhaps human, lay dead and decomposing down there, its stench mixed with that
unmistakable smell of oil…. The patch of grass growing by the water was
suffocated by a film of oil, each blade covered with blotches like the liver
spots on a smoker’s hands (8-9)
Most African literary artists today use
concerns about environmental decline to oppose neo-colonialism and its negative
ideology, implying that to engage in anti-colonial struggle is also to fight
against environmental degradation. Habila’s novel
follows this line of thought to fight against corrupt leadership and
environmental degradation of the Niger Delta and elsewhere in Nigeria and
beyond.
Infact, Simon, et. al. argue that “the degradation and pollution (of the Niger
Delta) are threat and danger to the wellbeing of individual and the society”
(385). These health hazards, coupled with militant activities of the protesters
and constant raids by the army have continued to push surviving villagers to
relocate to other areas which ordinarily are not habitable. This creates
poverty at its peak as glaringly portrayal by Habila:
The houses were made from weeping-willow
bamboos and raffia palms and bits of zinc and plywood and cloth and it seemed
anything else the builders were able to lay their hands on. The whole scarecrow
settlement looked as if the next strong wind or wave would blow it away. (14)
Such is the poverty level of the host
communities that keep Nigeria going as a country in terms of oil export
revenue. Nigerian government must do the needful by securing her citizens and
protect them against these hazards caused by oil exploration.
Elsewhere,
Rufus describes Michael, the small boy who had been their guide with his father
in this way:
The
boy looked no more than ten years old, but he might have been older, his growth
stunted by poor diet. His hair was reddish and sparse,
his arms were bony like his father’s. They were both dressed in the same
shapeless and faded homespun shirts and trousers, their hands looked rough and
callused from seawater, they smelled of fish and seemed as elemental as seaweed
(5).
This is poverty at its peak and a clear
indication of malnourishment. These are some of the issues that push those who
are matured into armed men who frequently resort to sabotage, kidnapping,
demands for jobs and money for alleged environmental degradation. Okonta and Douglas (quoted in Coffey, 46) attests to the
level of degradation of the region that “As a consequence of oil companies’
activities … many of the region’s ecosystems have been disrupted, damaging land
beyond repair and driving certain animals and plant species into extinction.”
The sad outcome of all this is that many people from these communities see no
hope for the future as they are constantly exploited. This accounts for much of
the danger of massive urban migration to seek shelter elsewhere thereby
promoting city vices.
Such
is the plight of Niger Delta communities who are constantly denied sleep
because of the activities of oil companies, militants, robbers and the Nigerian
army.
Corruption
in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water
Corruption
has become an issue of great concern because of its atrocious impact on modern
society. Infact, it is one of the greatest
impediments to development in Africa and other developing countries of the
world. Today, corruption has eaten deep into African polity. This has brought
about untold hardship on the masses like underdevelopment, poverty,
unemployment, violence and militancy just to mention but a few. All these ills
mentioned above are what one finds in Habila’s Oil on Waters. The relevance of an
artist is his ability to portray, project and illustrate in clear terms events,
issues and problems of his time. In doing this, he reflects the social
realities of that society. Barth Oshionebe and
Jonathan Desen Mbachaga
affirm the relationship between the artist and society that:
Every
artistic expression reflects the social realities and aspirations of that
society. The issue of corruption and the attendant problems it poses to the
overall wellbeing and development of our environment is a matter of concern
that has received serious attention from the pens of our writers and composers
in Africa (1).
This is where Helon
Habila’s Oil on
Water finds relevance and strong roots to reach out to a wider reading
public. He captures the reality of displacement and disillusionment because of
the Nigerian government’s failure to the nationalizing process. The government
of Nigeria has continuously undermined minority groups in the country like the
Niger Delta thereby creating viral problems that have continued to work against
nationalist ideals. Viewed from this point, one discovers that there is no
other way of escape for the people of the region other than to get back at the
government that is insensitive to their plight. Habila
shows a community or people that are poverty-ridden in the midst of plenty. All
these atrocities give rise to the crime wave witnessed in the region and
elsewhere in the country.
Corruption
in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water can be viewed from two
different angles. The first is the people of Niger Delta themselves and their
representatives on one hand and the Federal Government of Nigeria on the other
hand. The people’s corrupt nature is illustrated in Chief Ibiram’s
narration of how they came to live where Rufus found them. He recounts his
uncle, Chief Malabo’s stance on keeping their ancestral lands which he
considered as their ancestral heritage. Chief Malabo’s refusal to sell the
lands to the oil companies was quite against some of the families and the young
men who went behind and sold their lands. This necessitated Chief Ibiram and his village members moving from one place to
another.
The
novel also shows clearly how the people’s representatives collude with the
external forces to further impoverish the peasants as exemplified by the
politician in the novel:
…
A politician, who introduced himself as their senator, came all the way from
Abuja and assured them that their situation was receiving national attention,
it was in the papers and he was going to fight to see that chief was returned
to safe and sound. With him were two whitemen, oil
executives. The villagers chased them away. Others came, but they were all
liars, all working for the oil companies (40-41).
This is the picture of what happens in the
Niger-Delta. Even when the Federal Government decides to bring in any little
support, some of the people’s representatives divert such assistance for their
personal benefits. By this, they leave the poor peasants at the mercy of God.
True developmental assistance hardly reach the target
population in its full package because of corruption. The indigenous population
is most times offered lip services by their leaders who claim to be patriots in
the fight against environmental degradation and poverty in the area.
The
Federal Government of Nigeria on her own part also has a fair share of the
blame as a result of corruption and the governments’ complexity in handling
sensitive issues in the Niger Delta.
The state’s murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa in
November, 1995 heightened protest and revolts in the Niger Delta. All
these were a result of poor handling of issues by the military leadership.
These events allowed oil companies like Shell which was fingered most in the
atrocities in the Niger Delta to go unabated. While later regimes after Abacha were not so blunt like before, some of them still
looked the other way and allowed Shell and other oil companies to ravage the
region with oil spill, gas flares and continued degradation of the people’s
land.
It
is also important to note that while all these persisted, some of the militant
groups became profit making entities and abandoned the ideals of genuine
protest. Habila illustrates this complexity in the
words of the professor thus:
…
I am aware that, out there, there are criminal elements looting and killing
under the guise of freedom fighting, but we are different. Those kind of
rebels, they are our enemies. That is why I am letting you go, so you can write
the truth … (Oil on Water, 221).
This and many more are the complexities of
the Niger Delta crisis as portrayed by Habila in Oil on Water.
Militancy
in Helon Habila’s Oil of Water
The
socio-political realities and insecurity in the Niger Delta region may make it
difficult for some people to travel into the interior where militant groups,
the army and Local government are always at odd and in alliance with one
another. This is where fiction offers a mode for writers to explore space where
journalists and other academics cannot get funding to visit because of the
threat to life. The novel in fiction particularly does that. This affirms Tirop Simatei’s assertion that:
The
novelist’s relevance to society is attained through a conscious intervention in
the unfolding of history: an intervention which as a kind of artistic mission,
is already over-determined by the inhuman politics of both colonial and
post-colonial epoch(10).
The unfolding socio-political realities in
Africa have continued to form the central message in most contemporary African
literary works. As social crusaders, the strength and power of African writers
depend on how skillful they deploy their literary style to depict the society
in which they find themselves. Habila portrays this
in Oil on Water as he skillfully and
vividly paints a picture of the level of poverty and environmental hazards
affecting the major Delta people as clearly seen through his mouthpiece, Rufus’
description of events and incidents.
Oil on Water is therefore about
militancy as a response to petroleum extraction and the harm to communities and
the ecosystem. Jennifer Wenzel argues that:
The
novel’s most compelling writing is its vivid and varied descriptions of hastily
abandoned villages, eerie drilling installations and land and water scapes choked by oil (www.academia.edu).
Rufus, the journalist and protagonist of the
novel travels through this region in search of the kidnapped wife of an oil
Director, Mr. Isabel Floode. The two historical
moments, the post-Saro-Wiwa
phase of Abacha’s dictatorial regime and the 2009
militant insurgencies are critical to the understanding of today’s Niger Delta
situations. Habila links the prevalence of kidnapping
to poverty, corruption, lack of jobs among others. Salomon, who is Mrs. Floodes’ graduate driver is
betrayed by his boss (Mr. Floode) who impregnates his
girl-friend, Koko, the cook. Together with his neighbour,
Bassey and Jamabo (a police
officer), Salomon hatched the kidnap plan in order to raise money through
ransom to better their lives. In this instance, Habila
indicts the police that should protect lives and property (Simon, et. al.,
386).
The
kidnappers sent strands of Isabel’s hair to her husband to proof that she is
alive and demands a ransom of five million dollars as well as five reporters to
confirm her safety. The kidnappers and militants took Mrs. Floode
to Irikefe and deceived Naman,
the assistant head priest that they had killed and buried her there in order to
distract attention. This results in the subsequent clash between militants and
soldiers on the island, leaving many people dead and the shrine destroyed. The
villages are left at the mercy of the rampaging soldiers:
But
the soldiers came early the next morning. First, they came in a boat, and there
were only five of them. They were on routine patrol; they hadn’t known that the
militants were there, and they ran into an ambush – it was a massacre. They
were all killed instantly. The militants had machine guns and grenades … this
morning the helicopter came and started shooting everything beneath it … the
water turned red. Blood, it was blood. In the confusion, the rebels slipped
away and left the villages to face the soldiers … everything is in ruins (Oil on Water, 154).
The above quotation explains why many
communities in the Niger Delta region in the novel keep relocating to new
settlements as a result of the destructions caused by these contending forces.
Government on its part has failed to address the contentious issue and has
decided to use the full force of the military in resolving issues. The
contradiction with such government approach is that it is innocent defenseless
masses and villagers that suffer the consequences of such actions. Simon, et. al. have argued that “environmental degradation,
pollution, poverty, lack of social amenities as well as insensitivity of the
Federal Government and multinationals in the Niger Delta region are the major
causes of youth restiveness in the region” (Simon, et. al., 385).
This
is how insensitive and corrupt government is to the yearnings and cries of her
citizens because of selfish desires.
CONCLUSION
Literature
is therefore an important tool in the struggle for national liberation and the
formation of national consciousness. However, the specific historical conditions that dictates a writer’s response to such events
differ from place to place. The writer’s response and criticisms are thus
directed to the immediate historical forces shaping these events – the ruling
class. The writer therefore serves as the mouthpiece of the down-trodden masses
of Africa. This criticism of the political elites affirms Salman Rushdie’s
assertion that:
Writer and politicians are natural rivals. Both groups
try to make the world in their own images; they fight for the same territory.
And the novel is one way of denying the official politician’s version of truth.
(14).
Therefore, Habila’s
Oil on Water is a glaring picture of
the rivalry between the writer and the political class as he showcases the
sufferings of the Niger Delta people to the world. The novel is therefore a
searchlight on Nigeria where the diverse problems of the Niger Delta are
multidimensional. Oil on Water is
therefore about environmental degradation, militancy against the insensitive
Nigerian government in cohort with multination oil companies that perpetrate
untold hardship on the people and harm to communities and the ecosystem in the
Niger Delta and finally, poverty. All these have far reaching effects on the
development of the area and Nigeria as a whole. The constant confrontation
between the militants and the army can only heighten wanton destruction of not
just the ecosystem but also promotes poverty.
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