A PRAGMA-ECOCRITICAL STUDY OF SOME SELECTED POEMS OF TANURE OJAIDE'S THE TALES OF THE HARMATTAN, HUMPHREY OGU'S ECHOES OF NEGLECT AND WILSON WADAGO'S THE SOUTH-SOUTH LAMENTATIONS

Abstract

Poets of the Niger Delta extraction of Nigeria often reflect the despicable experiences of the region's people in their poetries of resistance. This paper examines the prevalent ecological conditions of the regions since the discovery of crude oil in 1956 in selected poems of Tanure Ojaide's The Tales of The Harmattan, Humphrey Ogu's Echoes of Neglect and Wilson Wadago's The South-South Lamentations. Despite the numerous studies on Niger Delta literature, there is a need for a focused analysis of how contemporary poets from the region use their works to address ecological degradation and its impact on their communities. This paper investigates the extent to which environmental degradation is emphasised in the selected poems of the three poets under study. As such, the objectives are to illuminate the concomitant effects of gas fumes, soot, the depletion of the biosphere, lithosphere, and the entire atmospheric conditions in the region; the new order of dislocation, the status of the ecosystem, and to explore the dynamic reaction of the poets from the region to these issues, with an intent to liberate the people and the land from further ruin. Dell Hymes 'principle of Context in Pragmatics and the Ecocritical Theory of Literary Criticism are considered most appropriate for this study. These frameworks allow the poems to be analysed based on the physical environment, and the socio-cultural, psychological and linguistic contexts. The findings reveal that the poems strongly emphasize the severity of the harm caused by oil drilling activities. The poets vividly depict the destruction of the ecosystem and the devastating impact on human, aquatic and agricultural elements. The paper concludes that oil drilling activities should be stopped or reduced so that the region may reclaim the purity and beauty of the physical environment, calling for immediate measures to mitigate the gross ecological damage.