Postcolonial Ecofeminism in May Ifeoma Nwoye’s Oil Cemetery

Abstract

Nigeria’s post-independence history has been marked by extensive oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the Niger Delta region, leading to environmental decline. This decline leads to severe consequences like climate change, loss of biodiversity and harm to human health. Following this disturbing phenomenon, ‘Postcolonial Ecofeminists’ rise to the occasion through their works to expose how colonialism and patriarchal systems create ‘compounded subjugation’ to colonised women, with a view to challenge the monolithic portrayals of ‘Third World women’ and the systemic structures of power that lead to the domination of women and the destruction of nature. It is against this backdrop, that this article foregrounds Nwoye’s perspective in her novel, Oil Cemetery. The study adopted ‘Postcolonial Ecofeminism’ as its theoretical framework as it explored how the deep interconnectedness of patriarchal system and colonialism have led to significant environmental damage and social injustice in the Niger Delta. It concluded that the complex relationships between the ‘colonizer and colonised in the Niger Delta and its devastating consequences in Nwoye’s novel, offered a path towards a true environmental justice, gender equality and sustainable practices in a world grappling with socio-ecological crises. The women’s collective struggle and fierce resistance in the novel are also viable ethical strategy for sustainable practices that promote empathy and respect for the interdependence of ‘women and nature’ in postcolonial societies.