Author(s)

ALEXANDER A. ONWUMERE

Abstract

This article examined the environmental management of oil exploration in the Niger Delta in order to ensure sustainable city with particular reference to Nigeria as extrapolated in the Nigerian novel, Oil at my Backyard. This research is informed by the generation of waste and pollution by the multi-national oil companies, the improper management of the wastes and the horrific consequences of the indecorous management. The theoretical framework of the research is Ecocriticism, a literary theory which applies ecological phenomena to the study of literature by examining the effects of human activities on the environment. The aim of this article was to investigate the portrayal of various forms of environmental mismanagement in the Niger Delta by Ejike in his novel, Oil at my Backyard. It is a case study that the detailed analysis was based on the novel, other critical works and available literature on oil exploration in the Niger Delta. As a case study, it examined the various spheres and manifestations of waste, its economic, social and health implication on the people and the city. The significance of the investigation lies in additional corpus of information on the discourse of human rights abuse by the multi-dollar oil companies in terms of negligence of corporate social responsibility on the host communities. The author discovered the insensitive disposition of the oil companies with regard to waste management which has resulted in attacks on the oil companies and their staff, destruction of aquatic life and emergence of militancy with its attendant effects on the city and other social and economic imbalances. The author recommended, among others, the development of sustainable mechanism towards waste management in collaboration with the host communities.

Keywords

environmental management, waste generation, pollution, environmental degradation, ecocriticism, sustainable city