The Capitalocene Versus Indigenous Eco-justice in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water

Abstract

Capitalistic disruptions on the face of the earth and the consequent climatic changes appear as serious global threats in the contemporary era caused by uncontrolled materialistic quests. Helon Habila’s Oil on Water depicts the saga of the perpetual predicament of the dehumanized Indigenous people in Nigeria, who inhabit a land of contaminated water, soil, air, and food induced by inconsiderate oil mining of the British oil companies which colonize and hegemonize both the human and the non-human world. Habila juxtaposes an unyielding decolonizing movement through the revolt of the Indigenous people against the oil extracting companies for eco-justice, which causes decay and death in the vulnerable Indigenous communities. The human-nature dichotomy triggered by capitalism translates into the massive destruction of the livelihood of the poor Indigenous people who rely on natural resources for survival and are not responsible for the detrimental environmental metamorphoses leading to their unemployment and displacements. Using the theoretical framework of eco-Marxism, this study examines the conflict between the commodification of nature and indigenous environmental justice in the Niger Delta. It investigates the politics of oil extraction and how it impacts the people of the region.