The Niger Delta Violence, Women and Ecofeminism

Abstract

The Niger delta is a region that has suffered gross neglect and devastation by oil companies who have continued to degrade the environment through oil spills and pollution which has poisoned most of the ecosystem and farmlands. There has also not been any serious effort in developing the infrastructure in this region by successive governments in spite of the fact that the bulk of Nigeria’s export revenue is realized from this region. This has in turn resulted in militant action by the indigenous groups against the oil companies through sabotage of the fuel installations, kidnapping of expatriate staff etc. The effort by government to stem this tide of the lawlessness has resulted in fierce fighting with the militants which has in turn has had a devastating effect on the helpless mass populace, especially women and children who suffer the double tragedy of the loss of their farms, fishing areas and also the violence from the militancy, which apart from further devastating the environment also visits them with rape, brutalization and other manner of deprivations. In this article, a content analysis of Tess Akaeke Onwueme’s play Then she said it and Ahmed Yerima’s Little Drops are used to foreground the phenomenon of violence against women in the Niger delta which has been fuelled by this environmental degradation. We have proposed that a panacea to minimizing violence against women in this region is environmental justice given that when justice is done to the environment, it invariably trickles down to the women, the biggest victims of this degradation. The theory of Ecofeminism is used to underscore this argument.

Keywords: Violence, Ecofeminism, Militancy, Women, Ecosystem, Environment