Niger Delta Areas versus Environmental Degradation and Corruption in Okpewho’s Tide

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between literature and the environment. It investigates how nature influences man and how the activities of man invariably affect nature. Its main focus is on the works of Isidore Okpewho. The author used his novel to create the awareness of the magnitude of environmental abuse of the Niger Delta by oil companies. They are overwhelmed by the depth of the desecration or defilement of the ecosystem in the Niger Delta through the activities of multinational oil companies. Furthermore, the study points to the environmental degradation, oil spillage, sorrows of deprivation, joys of abundance, hopes of harmonious existence, rise of unemployment and fears of loss and disaster in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In carrying out this research, the researcher made use of both primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the novel under study while secondary sources include other critical and related literatures. The researcher also explored the theoretical frame work through ecocriticism.