Of body and mind: ecofeminist belonging and a return to environmental sustainability in the Igbo festival narrative

Environmental sustainability is an urgent need to save the earth from negligence and unruly exploitation. This need varies in culture and space, making gender part of the sustainable process since women and the environment share in life-giving and sustenance. In contemporary African literature, environmental writings are dominated by the postcolonial ecocritique of natural resources and economic control, which leaves places like the South-East and the Niger Delta regions of Nigeria more devastated than sustained. Flooding and erosion are literally ignored as they wipe away farms, bring down houses, and split roads in many communities, including those of Nsukka Igbo, Nigeria. Although studies on traditional festivals abound, scholarly attention is lacking in the area of Indigenous festivals, women, and ecological relevance, as this article objectifies. Using Greta Gaard’s integral ecofeminism and life interconnectedness, this article interrogates women’s ecological belonging and the revitalisation of environmental sustainability in the Adada festival narrative. Using participant observation techniques and oral interviews, this article interrogates the postcolonial uncertainty and the tragedy of cultural return in the region. This is a renaissance that clouds ecofeminist belonging in a festival that was earlier characterised by women’s emancipation and environmental sustainability.