Environmental Injustice:

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the consequences of ecological destruction in Africa, with a specific focus on Nigeria. It analyzes the case study of Oil on Water (2010), written by Nigerian novelist and poet Helon Habila. His work highlights the deep bond between humanity and nature. This study’s main concern is to analyze the impact of oil exploration on the natural environment and local communities. The research employs an ecocritical approach, using postcolonial ecocriticism to explore how colonial legacies shape environmental degradation in Habila’s work. It applies slow violence to examine the text’s portrayal of ecological harm and its gradual impact on marginalized communities. By analyzing such concepts, the study situates Habila’s fiction within postcolonial literature’s broader engagement with environmental justice, revealing how his narratives critique systemic exploitation and ecological inequality. It examines how Oil on Water portrays the exploitation of natural resources and the marginalization of local populations. This study also considers the potential ways in which nature and the environment shape the characters' identities, decisions, and relationships, offering a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness between humans and their environment. Finally, this study examines the environmental degradation in the Niger Delta stemming from British colonial practices in Nigeria.