Fellowship Details:
Dr. Adunbi will be in residence at Texas A&M during the week of September 18, 2023.
Dr. Adunbi will deliver a public lecture on September 20, 2023 at 3:00 pm in GLAS 311, entitled "'Let's Set Them Ablaze': Energy Practices, Climate Crisis, and the Social Death of the Environment in Nigeria."
In December 2021, several images appeared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, depicting a cloudy atmosphere supposedly caused by the presence of soot in many Niger Delta communities. Soot is a particle pollution that results from burning of fossil fuels, makes the atmosphere cloudy and produces acidic rain that can cause diseases of the lungs such as aggravated asthma, acute bronchitis etc. The post created a buzz online with many commentators putting the blame on the devastating effect of many years of oil exploration in Nigeria. In this talk, Adunbi puts these online commentaries in conversation with energy practices by paying particular attention to how artisanal refineries and other special economic zones’ extractive practices in Nigeria have resulted in what he calls the social death of the environment. As Adunbi shows, for many in Nigeria, the consequences of crude oil---considered to be sweet for some and bitter for many--- have been environmental degradation and loss of livelihood.
Dr. Omolade Adunbi | Professor, University of Michigan
Department of Afroamerican and African Studies
Department of Anthropology
Director, African Studies Center
Professor of Law (courtesy)
Faculty Associate, Program in the Environment
Details of the visit are forthcoming.