Tag: Poem

Ebinyo Ogbowei was twice Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Bayelsa State Chapter. He is also a senior lecturer in English and Literary Studies at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State. Thrice, he made the NLNG Literature prize longlist in poetry in 2005, 2009 and 2013. His poems mainly tackle Niger Delta issues that border essentially on environmental degradation, oil exploration and lots more. He told Edozie Udeze why his poems stir the soul of his people and pierce hard at the heart of the powers that be.

When the poetry of the Niger Delta is mentioned or discussed anywhere in Nigeria or beyond, Ebinyo Ogbowei’s works have to be counted among them. All his life, both as a university teacher and as an environmental activist, Ogbowei has never shied away from saying things as they truly are. With two of his works, entitled The Town Crier’s Song and Marsh Boy and other poems, for instance, he has come to establish himself as one of the most vocal voices using poetry to draw the battle line.

“Oh, yes,” he said, “I am a three-time longlisted poet for the NLNG. These were in 2005, 2009 and 2013. What the Niger Delta Literature symbolises is, to a very large extent, what the Nigerian situation stands for. You cannot isolate one from the other. A lot of people tell us we have over flogged the Niger Delta issues. That we have written too much on the problems of the people. They maintain that we are too concerned about the problems of the day,” he said.

“But the problem is that literature reflects the society. It is about the everyday issues that affect the people. And so long as it is so, we’ll continue to talk about it. So what is the society in which we live? It is a society split by constant violence; it is a society that is full of injustice, that is plagued by environmental degradation. All these still stare us in the face everyday and yet you say we’ve done enough on the Niger Delta issues. No, we’ve not done enough,” he stated.

To him, the issue cannot be left alone unless urgent steps are taken to ameliorate the situation. “You see, it is so pathetic now. The environment in which we grew up is no longer the same. As children, we used to go out to catch crabs, fish in the creeks and so on. Today, the environment has been so terribly polluted we cannot do such things anymore. And this is our home; we have nowhere else to turn to. Today, we can no longer go and swim in our creeks. We can no longer go crab-hunting, our children can’t do it anymore. Now, you might think things have changed for them. But I say it is not true. The environment is not as clean as it is used to be and it is too horrible for our kids. And these are the reasons why we have to continue to draw attention to our plight through our works; through poetry, through drama and prose.”

Ogbowei, who is unrepentant about the strength of his works and how he uses them to attack both the governments and oil companies and other agents of destabilisation in the area, said: “We have a lot of fumes which we inhale day-in-day-out. We have toxic materials which oil companies release into our environment every minute of the day. They stock them into our creeks. They were unknown to our parents and grandparents and we cry out everyday, saying, reduce this nonsense. This was what Ken Saro-wiwa fought for and died for. And we have, of course, taken over from Saro-wiwa to look at the problems of the Niger Delta and this is what we stand for.”

According to him, there are other issues too. “Of course, these are not only merely environmental. Part of our problems is the leadership of the country and in the Niger Delta. They are our greatest problem. The problem might not really be the federal government. No. But to prove this fact, our brother is now the president. Yet, the problems have not been solved. Some people would say oh it will take a lot of time to solve the problem of the Niger Delta. How long will it take to clean an environment? How long will it take you to tell Shell to practice good practices? Look, stop burning gas; stop polluting this environment for the sake of the health and lives of the people. Tell them to stop all these and it doesn’t take long to do so. If you invest N30billion into it today, that problem, I tell you, will be solved.”

Talking about amnesty, which he described as a cankerworm, Ogbowei fumed: “They use amnesty to breed criminals and rip off the economy of the state. It is the economy of the nation that is suffering and that’s why Boko Haram has engaged in their own criminality. They’re also asking for amnesty and that they should be paid. It is so because the whole thing is criminal. I tell you, some of the so-called rehabilitated criminals who were taken out of the country and sent to be used to eliminate political opponents. I don’t want to name names.

“Yes, this is exactly what we are doing in our literature. We look at issues. Take for instance, some of the works by Ken Saro-wiwa. In Sozaboy, he tackles our problems and today that book still remains relevant. There, there are three levels of Mr. Enemy. The federal government, then, the regional government, that is also an enemy. That is the state government. The third level is the traditional class – our own people who join in this mess. If you look at our traditional rulers, they’re in close contact with those who mess us up, to rip off the people. They are supposed to be courageous people because they are the repository of the traditions and customs of the people. But what do we see? This is why our literature will continue to flow with pains and blood. We’ll continue to write because we’ve not seen freedom in the horizon or have we?,” he asked, a bit perturbed.

Unfortunately, the greatest headache of the Niger Delta writer is the implication of the traditional rulers in the economic exploitation of the people. “Of course, they are our greatest enemy,” Ogbowei bemoaned, saying, “Where they are supposed to stand for the people, they easily sell out. Now check very well, you’ll see in my works how I’ve been able to chronicle all these issues. My poetry ripple with blood; they are blunt, tearing at the heart of the matter. Read what we’ve been able to produce to date. We’ve never hidden our disdain towards oppression, towards the anarchy that is the Niger Delta oil pollution. And of course the people who are quick to shout us down do not see that we’re even looking inwards. To look at our people and say, see, you’re not doing well like I said before. Our northern governors are right when they said that our Niger Delta governors should account for all the money given to them so far.

“Yes, they should do that before they ask for more. Even if you give them 100%, they will still steal it. So, our literature has not spared anyone. Read my work entitled The Town Criers Song. Also read other works to enable you feel our pains and see what we see, because we’ve not spared anyone. A few governors are doing well. My brother Amaechi is doing well. Akpabio is trying, but are the rest of them doing well? It is the responsibility of writers to do all that.”

Ogbowei, a foundation member of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Bayelsa State, admitted however, that poetry is not as easily accepted as other genres of literature. “You know the aversion our people have for poetry. They think it is too difficult. Yet, people are reading, although I might not be getting the kind of response that I expect. However, the fact that my works have got national and international attention gladdens my heart. To have made the NLNG longlist three times, tells me that they’re readers out there who care about the message I pass across. These are quality readers who really understand. Let’s leave the politics of NLNG aside. I don’t want to bother about that, yet we have to keep writing…Literature in the Niger Delta is suffering a lot because we do not have the kind of critics you people in Igboland have. You have more established literary experts, who also started out on time. Your critics are vibrant and strong and are everywhere. Like the Yoruba also have. Not just writers, but critics who defend the interests of the people. This is what we need and our own government should assist in creating an enabling atmosphere for our literature to get to the height it should get. But I don’t think our government is interested in such project. Amaechi is the only governor that I’ve seen who is involved in promoting literature”

He, however, recommended one of his works, Marsh Boy and other poems to President Goodluck Jonathan. “That book made the NLNG list and President Jonathan should read it because it is a prophetic work. Like most of the things I said in my works as from the late 80s have all happened in Nigeria. That’s the power of poetry – to forsee the future and talk about it. We need to say more too,” he said, smiling.