Title:   AFRICAN AESTHETICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY IN TANUREOJAIDE’S POEMS

Critics such as Charles Nnolim have contended that defining African aesthetics is problematic because African literature is perceived by the world as new and still developing. Nevertheless, Achebe and others insists on African literature as art that is meant to correct the misrepresentation of Africans by Europeans and the rest of the world. It is against this backdrop that this study examines African aesthetics in Tanure Ojaide’s poems. Foregrounding of the meaning of African aesthetics, this study demonstrates Ojaide’s use of poetic justice to portray African art as a utilitarian tool. In this study, we find that African aesthetics such as the worship of gods, the condemnation of bad governance and warnings of environmental degradation of the Niger-Delta area features prominently in the folklores and poems by Ojaide. As a result, Ojaide’s use of traditional African aesthetics in his poems draws the world’s attention to the deplorable situation of the Niger-Delta as he further advocates for justice on behalf of his people.

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Publication Date: 2020-12-04