Environmental pollution, variegated violence: the fizzling bond of Delta State diaspora from their homeland

Abstract

Since crude oil was discovered in Oloibiri, present-day Bayelsa State in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, its exploration by the multinational oil companies has continued unfettered. With this exploration resulting in wanton environmental destruction, the consequences are manifested in several ways. For instance, in Delta State, one of the constituent states of the Niger Delta, people’s socio-economic lives have plummeted owing to the discontinuance of their traditional farming and fishing trades. Indigenes have continued to migrate in the search for greener pastures, as a way of mitigating their socio-economic challenges. While it is expected that those who move out of the state would express empathy towards the homeland and justify the developmental agency arrogated to them, these migrants (who also fit the bill of diaspora) end up displaying ethnic ambivalence. Following a qualitative research design, data collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 Delta State diaspora living in London, and five victims of environmental pollution in the state, were subjected to descriptive analysis. In addition to the established causes, this study identifies environmental pollution as causal factor of ethnic ambivalence, and concludes that the consequences go beyond the obvious to destroy the relationships that give meaning and essence to human existence.

Keywords:

• Diaspora
• environmental pollution
• Delta State
• ethnic ambivalence
• development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This study benefitted from the African Academy for Migration Research under the grant titled ‘African Academy for Migration Research Completion Grant for Early Career Researchers’ 2021 for the research – Delta State Diaspora and the Ramifications of Ethnic Ambivalence for Homeland Development.

Notes on contributors

Henrietta Omo Oshokunofa

Henrietta Omo Oshokunofa completed her PhD in diaspora and transnational studies at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. During her studies, she served as an outstanding research assistant for a UNESCO Project on Actualising Sustainable Development Goal 16.10 in Relation to Migration and Development in Africa and Europe. In 2021, she became a fellow of the African Academy for Migration Research. She is the winner of the 2022 Rahamon Bello Best PhD Thesis Prize awarded by the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, University of Lagos. She is also the winner of the ‘Honourable Mention’ for the 2023 ASR Prize for the Best African-based Doctoral Dissertation. She is interested in migration studies, peace and conflict studies, environmental studies, ethnic studies and development studies. She has demonstrated her versatility in her publications, some of which are forthcoming. Her recent article on ‘Bursting the Bubble: Border Crossing and Return in Adekunle Gold’s Ire’, was published by Intellect.