Eco-Drama, Multinational Corporations, and Climate Change in Nigeria

Rowland Chukwuemeka Amaefula

doi:10.1515/jcde-2022-0012

Article

Eco-Drama, Multinational Corporations, and Climate Change in Nigeria

Rowland Chukwuemeka Amaefula
teaches at the Department of Theatre Arts, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. He is a recipient of many travel grants and bursaries, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York fellowship and the African Humanities Program research fellowship award of the American Council of Learned Societies. His research interests straddle gender, sexuality, and performance studies. Apart from authoring published plays, poems, and books, he has written a good number of scholarly articles published in reputable local and international journals and has attended several academic conferences.

Published/Copyright: May 14, 2022

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From the journal Journal of Contemporary Drama in English Volume 10 Issue 1

Abstract

Oil explorations by multinational corporations in Nigeria have grave consequences on the ecosystem. Gas flaring, oil spillage, and other forms of land and water pollution seriously degrade the natural environment as well as displace Nigerians from their homes and traditional occupations. Pollution has caused increased flooding, erosion, and dearth of both food and fishes, leading to poverty and hidden hunger, among other problems. More destructive is the reactionary disposition of the Nigerian state to climate change and ecological disasters. Beside the provision of make-shift structures and relief materials to flood victims, there are hardly any proactive efforts on the ground to check the activities of multinational corporations operating in the country. Greg Mbajiorgu’s eco-drama Wake Up Everyone (2011) depicts the challenges of the climate crisis in contemporary Nigeria. A close reading and critical analysis of the play, which is a microcosm of the country, illuminates the ways these challenges affect Nigerians and the need for action. Apart from displacing individuals from their homes, flooding takes a heavy toll on the agricultural sector, as most crops and livestock production systems in Nigeria are not yet fully technology-based and are, therefore, susceptible to environmental degradation. As a result, the flooding of farms and plantations, damaging crops and seedlings, leads to a corresponding degree of food scarcity/insecurity and indeed inflation in the cost of farm produce. This paper concludes that conscious efforts suggested in the play should be made to forestall multinational corporations from further pillaging the environment, and that government functionaries saddled with the task of forging active measures to stem the effects of climate change in the country should rise to their responsibilities.

Keywords: climate change; multinationals; ecocriticism; environmental sustainability; Nigeria; Greg Mbajiorgu; Wake Up Everyone

About the author

Rowland Chukwuemeka Amaefula

teaches at the Department of Theatre Arts, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. He is a recipient of many travel grants and bursaries, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York fellowship and the African Humanities Program research fellowship award of the American Council of Learned Societies. His research interests straddle gender, sexuality, and performance studies. Apart from authoring published plays, poems, and books, he has written a good number of scholarly articles published in reputable local and international journals and has attended several academic conferences.

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Published Online: 2022-05-14

Published in Print: 2022-05-12

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https://doi.org/10.1515/jcde-2022-0012

Keywords for this article

climate change; multinationals; ecocriticism; environmental sustainability; Nigeria; Greg Mbajiorgu; Wake Up Everyone