Indigenous eco-consciousness in recent Nigerian poetry: The example of Joe Ushie

Abstract

Although the environment features prominently in the poetry of Joe Ushie, studies of his works have focused more on sociopolitical themes than on his eco-conscious engagement. Using Bette-Bendi indigenous epistemology as its conceptual framework, this article analyses how Ushie’s poetry addresses environmental issues by portraying the mutually dependent relation between humans and non-human agents. Since the environment is one of the central components of Ushie’s poetic vision, this article draws on the poet’s Bette-Bendi indigenous ecological imagination to explore the ways in which humans and their environments are interconnected. The article traces Ushie’s depiction of the way Bette-Bendi people see human and environmental values as inseparable. His poetry thus explores systems that can guide people’s relationship with the natural world in a postcolonial context; this article provides an alternative perspective to ecocritical reading of literary texts.