"We are hopeful": Tanure Ojaide and the Poet as (Eco) Warrior

Abstract

One of the finest poets of his generation, Tanure Ojaide uses his powerful critical voice to speak out against social injustice and ecological crisis. His works are deeply rooted in the experiences of Nigeria's Delta region, the place of his birth. Drawing on his personal experiences, Ojaide‘s poems decry the ecological encroachment by multinational corporations on local lands and economies. In many of his poems Ojaide speaks powerfully against the destruction of nature. In Ojaide's works, socio-economic inequalities and ecological damage are inter-linked with political corruption, despotism and mismanagement of economies. Despite the despair that can set in under such circumstances, Ojaide wields his poems as an anecdote to disillusionment and resignation. Ojaide‘s poems are written from a perspective of hopefulness. His poetry is, in his view, part of a struggle contributing to a dismantling of oppression and corruption. His poems provide an image of the struggle that, in his words, collectively will confront the damage being done to local environments and economies. Tanure Ojaide strives to see and understand the postcolonial (or neo-colonial) worlds differently in order to resist, to fight back. His works also offer new insights for others trying to resist economic exploitation and environmental degradation within a context of corporate globalization.