Spatial Negotiations: Anthropomorphism and the Niger Delta Landscape in Ebi Yeibo’s Poetry

While much of the existing scholarship on the Niger Delta focuses on ecological degradation and environmental injustice, the role of anthropomorphism in shaping the region’s literary landscapes remains underexplored. Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human traits to non-human entities, is a unique lens through which the Niger Delta’s environmental and cultural struggles can be represented. This study examines Ebi Yeibo’s Of Waters and the Wild, illustrating how the Niger Delta is not only a site of ecological loss but a liminal space where anthropomorphized rivers, mangroves, and creeks embody resistance, survival, and autonomy. Through Homi Bhabha’s Third Space concept, this study argues that Yeibo’s landscapes are active agents resisting colonial and neocolonial exploitation. Rather than depicting the Delta’s natural features as passive victims of degradation, Yeibo reimagines them as sentient entities engaging in the struggle against resource extraction, transforming the Delta into a space of negotiation and cultural identity. The findings reveal that Yeibo’s imagery reshapes the Niger Delta as a hybrid ecological zone where human and nonhuman elements interact within a Third Space that defies colonial binaries. His use of anthropomorphism as an ecocritical strategy challenges conventional environmental narratives by positioning nature as an active force rather than a passive victim. Furthermore, his poetry underscores how environmental degradation is deeply interwoven within colonial and neocolonial histories, reinforcing the argument that nature itself participates in shaping identity and contesting ecological imperialism. These insights contribute to postcolonial ecocriticism by revealing how literature can subvert dominant power structures and offer new frameworks for understanding environmental justice in African literature. By adopting a qualitative interpretive methodology and conducting close reading of Yeibo’s poetry, this study highlights how anthropomorphism redefines the Niger Delta’s portrayal.