Slow Unliveability and Militant Ecologies: Violence, Radicalism, and Decolonial Struggle in Don Veta’s Guerrilla of the Niger Delta

Don Veta’s novel Guerrilla of the Niger Delta (2016) foregrounds the embedded realities of extractive capitalism in the Niger Delta. The novel, framed as an investigation, illustrates how petroculture, shaped by petrocapitalism and neocolonial governmental oppression, serves as a hegemonic mechanism that undermines the socio-political, epistemological, and existential rights of individuals. As implied by the title, guerrillas, primarily from Nigeria’s disadvantaged Indigenous communities, engage in combat against the repressive governmentality and the persistent corruption of the oil magnates who represent the ruling elite of the region. This study involves a critical analysis of the novel, interpreting it as a discourse on the violent political economy of the Niger Delta. Hence, the focus is on examining the political and existential ramifications of extractive capitalism in the Niger Delta, as exemplified by physical violence, insurgencies, and militancy. The article underscores the intricate relationship between ecology and militancy in Nigeria, accentuating their role in perpetuating structural violence and triggering radicalism. Finally, this article asserts that these types of literary fiction serve as essential narratives in unmasking the consequences and societal toxicities associated with environmental violence and injustice, and in underscoring the associations between radicalism and ecological justice. In so doing, I contend that the struggles of guerrillas in the Niger Delta can be related to the ideologies of decolonial activism against petrocolonialism and its varied hegemonic manifestations.