The novel Yellow Yellow by Kaine Agary explores the social economic effects of oil exploration and exploitation on the ecology. It also examines the effects of coastal communities in contact with the sea in the Niger Delta. The novel also gave details of women caught up in the bizarre deprivations and humiliating conditions of the Niger Delta of Nigeria which the author branded as ‘born troway’, ‘ Ashawo pickin’ Zilayefa, the heroine in the novel is the product of one of such contacts. These contacts resulted in criminality in the Niger Delta in addition to poor leadership at all levels of governance. The novel deals with political ecology of Nigeria and examines the place of women within that ecology. Through the novel, we were able to deduce that environmental pollution breeds moral decadence. Because according to the novel, we were meant to understand that women in this region have sexually polluted themselves only to escape the poverty that pervaded their Ijaw village. The same thing is applicable to their men folk, because they weren’t able to put up with the poverty surrounding their village because their means of livelihood which is fishing and farming had been disrupted or terminated by the spillage and crude oil from the oil company. To make matter worse, no compensation for the damages.
Author: Kaine Agary
