Subalternity and the Representation of Violence in the Niger Delta: Lessons from Ahmed Yerima's Little Drops

Abstract

Contemporary Nigerian dramatists have been concerned with various crises bedevilling the Nigerian State. From socio-political debacles, ethno-religious conflicts to economic doldrums, they interrogate the contradictions and imbalances in the society through their works. Based on this tradition of social commitment of Nigerian literature, many Nigerian writers have explored the Niger Delta oil crisis to express their visions. Through postcolonial theory, deriving from the insights of Gayatri Spivak, this paper examines the Niger Delta oil crisis in Ahmed Yerima's Little Drops as it concerns the issue of violence and its consequences on the (ordinary) people, especially women in the region. The study also explores the elements of performance used in depicting this motif. Contrary to the assumption that the crisis represents the interests of the common people, the study observes that Yerima's Little Drops shows that the recurring violence in the area is borne out of egoistic interests among the contending forces in the region. It illuminates the negative impacts of the use of violence in the oil crisis on the ordinary people, particularly women, and the communities in the region. It contends that the crisis, rather than ameliorating the suffering of the downtrodden majority, inflicts physical and psychological pains on them with recurring preventable deaths. In its conclusion, the study contends that Yerima's Little Drops is an important play in the discourse on the oil crisis in the Niger Delta region. Rather than violence, the play offers dialogue, inclusive representation and good governance as panaceas to the crisis.