Of Minstrelsy and the Niger-Delta Condition: Tanure Ojaide as Chronicler and Activist Writer

Abstract

Tanure Ojaide is an African poet from Nigeria with a unique voice that sings about the plight of his Niger Delta people. The dire environmental, ecological, as well as socio-economic, cultural, and political conditions of his people have necessitated Ojaide appropriating the poetic persona of the minstrel in its broadest meaning to chronicle the problems that confront this region. His artistic oeuvre projects a vision towards the elimination of the environmental and ecological degradation of the area and the exploitation and marginalization of the people and this is why he is here also regarded as an activist writer. This paper focuses on Tanure Ojaide’s use of the complex minstrel persona to address the multifarious issues of his society with particular attention to the Niger Delta and the wider Nigerian community.