Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 5

Volume XXII Issue V Version I 6 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals A A Social Ecological Reading of Kaine Agary’s Yellow Yellow ecological problems as envisaged by Bookchin. That is to say that, social problems are at the base of most ecological problems and that the relationship among humans is a reflection of how humans relate to non- humans. In Agary’s Yellow Yellow , several class relations exist and we shall analyse them one after the other. The Amananaowei is portrayed as the king of Zilayefa’s village and he is expected to care for and protect his subjects – the people of the community. For Bookchin the institutionalization of any form of kingship in any society is an aberration, an enthronement of hierarchy, class difference and exploitative relation. Sadly, the Amananaowei’s action confirms Bookchin’s assertion. At the instance of the oil spill that destroys the farmland of the community, A group of people, painted in the same black as my mother, some covered from head to toe, was marching to see the Amananaowei, the head of the village. I joined them to find out what had happened. It turned out some of them had also lost their farmland that day. They were marching to the Amananaowei’s house to report the matter and demand that he take it up with the oil company. Some were crying; others were talking about compensation. (p. 4) At this point of devastation, the people expects the Amananaowei to intervene on their behalf as they seek compensation from the oil company so as to start up their lives again as they are majorly farmers and fishermen and women. Unfortunately, the Amananaowei did not rise up to the occasion. Perhaps, he is in the payroll of the oil companies and will not make any move that may jeopardize his remuneration. Hence, he abandons his subjects at a time of economic crisis and left them all to their devastating fate. The people are left with no choice but to take their destinies in their own hands, “the community took the matter up with the oil company that owned the pipes, but they said they suspected sabotage by the youths and were not going to pay compensation for all destruction that the burst pipes had caused” (p. 4). The decision of the oil company is a clear indication of their resolve to continue to subdue the poor farmers because they are very much aware that the people cannot take any legal action against them because of their economic circumstance and it will cost less to bribe the Amananaowei and a few chiefs, notwithstanding the massive exploitation and devastation they wrought on the land and people. Zilayefa reinstates the suspicion when she notes that, Young boys threatened to rough up the Amananaowei and his elders because rumours, probably true, had reached their ears that the Amananaowei and his elders had received monetary compensation, meant for the village, from the oil company and shared it amongst themselves. (p. 40) Agary portrays Zilayefa and other teenage girls as objects and victims of sexual exploitation by adult males in anticipation of financial gains. A good number of the male are foreign oil company workers or sailors who often get the teenage girls pregnant and abandon them with the unborn child. This is also the case of Bibi, Zilayefa’s mother, a naïve eighteen-year-old, who was impregnated by a Greek sailor, Papadopolous, and disappears without traces, leaving behind his seed, Zilayefa, and her mother (p. 7). Zilayefa finds herself in a similar situation in her desperation to depart her village for the city. She comes in contact with Sergio at the age of seventeen and hopes that he is the messiah that will take her away from the village even if she has to pay with her virginity. However, the Spaniard disappears without any notification leaving her heartbroken though sexually unexploited and undefiled. About a year on, they accidentally meet in Port Harcourt and strike a sexual relation that eventually left her pregnant even though she is not sure of the paternity of the fetus because she is also having and unprotected sexual relation with another man, Admiral. Agary did not miss out on other kinds of exploitations prevalent in her society especially as it concerns teenage girls. She notes that the poverty stricken girls are most times left with no choice but anything that presents itself that will take them out of their poverty infested life and family. They are willing to trade that for sex with men older than their fathers, while some others can afford to become house-helps for very exploitative masters, which is tantamount to slavery. As Zilayefa recounts the experiences of some of the girls who visit her village from the cities, she notes that: Our visitors told of times when they fell into the hands of a crazy whitey who beat them up or pushed objects like bottles into their privates as part of the “fun.” It seemed that, sometimes, there were so many unimaginable horrors to get through before the “clients” released the money. (p 38) As a result of the poor economic conditions of the various families where these teenage girls come from, they are lured into prostitution. Their desperation to live a better life leaves them vulnerable to prostitution and with little options since they are majorly from poor homes, have no skill and little or no education in most cases. Zilayefa finds herself in such situation and contemplates her options on how to escape from her poverty infested village for the city. She weighs the option of eloping with Sergio to the city. And when that fails, she thinks to find anyone from her village that lives in the city and become a house-help to such a person. According to her, “I would help them with duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing, going to the market, and taking care of children; in exchange, they would pay so I could learn a trade” (p. 38). However, she is not unaware of the problem that comes with such arrangements. She reminisces on the experiences of some of her acquaintances that had ventured into that and notes that “some children returned to the village with tales of how their mistresses would beat them daily, deny them food, and, after years of service, send them