The Nation Newspaper

Tag: poetry

  • ‘My poetry is tool for societal rebirth’

    ‘My poetry is tool for societal rebirth’

    • Performance poet gets award for impactful lines

    Agbeye Oburumu, a poet with the stage name Agbeye  Talks, has won the prestigious K.E.E.P (Kudo Eseria Eke Prize) Award,  in recognition of his contributions to performance poetry.

    Through his work, Agbeye addresses domestic violence, mental health, and empowerment of the girl-child.

    The award not only highlights his artistic talent but also underscores importance of his voice in addressing critical social issues.

     A statement from his media office noted that he is dedicated to integrating local colour, proverbs, and storytelling techniques into his poetry, adding his connection to his cultural heritage  allows him to explore themes of identity and memory.

    “The impact of Agbeye Talks on the community, society, and the nation is profound.

    Read Also: Why we had to remove fuel subsidy, by Tinubu

    His poetry serves as a powerful vehicle for promoting African heritage, challenging stereotypes, and instilling a sense of pride in the diverse cultural legacy of the continent,” the statement said.

    Agbeye envisions a future where the genre will incorporate multimedia elements – music, visual arts, and technology, further enriching the performance experience and pushing the boundaries of artistic expression.

    He has participated  in many literary festivals and academic colloquiums, showcasing his talent and insight into a broader audience. His achievements, including the K.E.E.P Award, is a testament to his dedication and passion for the craft.

    Through his work, Agbeye entertains and educates and inspires, thus the award will strengthen his influence as he champions values of African culture and storytelling.

  • Celebrating poetry as vibrant advocacy tool

    Celebrating poetry as vibrant advocacy tool

    Lagos arts community, especially poets and literati, rose to the occasion recently when the duo of Salome Agbaroji, the 7th U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate, and Deborah Johnson, Nigeria’s representative at 2023 African Cup of Slam Poetry were hosted to an evening of Poetic Conversations at the U.S. Consul General’s residence in Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The all-white cozy venue provided ideal setting for guests that included diplomats, artistes, poets, journalists and art enthusiasts as the two amazons – Salome and Deborah – took turns to perform their poems, followed by other young poets such as Ruth Mahogany, Aremo Gemini, Marvel Iyare, Tobi Abiodun and Kamenelechukwu Susan.

    But Aremo Gemini took the less-fancied route by performing his poem, Odun in Yoruba language, which got a rousing applause from the audience. Odun is a critique of the unforeseen consequences of japa syndrome that has become an attraction among Nigerian youths seeking greener pastures outside the shores of the country, even at any cost or risk.

    The session, which lasted over two hours, was moderated by poet, lawyer and winner of Nigeria Prize for Literature 2013, Tade Ipadeola.

    Read Also; Five Nigerians celebrities who are twins

    U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Julie McKay stressed the importance of cultural exchanges like Agbaroji’s visit to Nigeria and their ability to bring Americans and Nigerians together to share ideas and expertise, promote mutual understanding and freedom of expression. “One of the most empowering opportunities we can offer young people is a platform where their voices can be heard Poetry is an inspiring platform for youth to express their creativity and sense of self,” McKay said.   

    For Salome Agbaroji who performed few of her poems such as Insomnia, the theme and focus of her poems are intentional and inevitable, because she writes about her identity from the perspective that she sees the world.

    She stated that in America, race is a huge defining factor of how one experiences the world. “So, I do take a lot of time to advocate for the black identity intentionally. But, it is also something that just comes naturally to me,” she added with a broad smile.

    Poetry, she said, as an art means a lot to her, ‘but it does mean also a lot to see that there’s a tribe, a community of people that do take interest in the things that I write in my bedroom while I should be doing my homework’

    According to her, poetry goes beyond scribbling some lines or reciting of words to everyday life experiences such as songs and fairy tales.  She noted that when poetry is properly defined and made more inclusive, many more people will be interested in it.

    “I flew from Enugu after poetry workshops to inspire young writers there. Earlier in the week, I did the same thing in Lagos. Michael Cirelli and I are doing the legal form project for poets between ages 16 to 25 and get a platform for their poetry that I have benefited from as well. This isn’t going to be my last time in Nigeria on poetry work. I intend to keep building.

    “I think people care about poetry. They just don’t realise that it is poetry. They don’t realise that their favorite song that they have that got them through that breakup was poetry. They don’t realise that breakup was poetry. They don’t realize that, the fairy tales that their parents would say to them when they were younger as sleeping tales are poetry. And I think when we get better at defining what poetry is, we have the more inclusive genres that more people can be interested in it,” she said.

    Agbaroji who described the conversation as a very blessed realization, recalled that she grew up in an immigrant Nigerian household in the U.S. where the desire to be lawyer, or engineer was uppermost among youths.  

    “I grew up in an immigrant Nigerian household. You either aspire to be a lawyer or an engineer. It was when I found out that when I put a lot of efforts into my poetry, and I shared it, that was when people started to take notice.

    It started from little free gigs that I would do in my little community, to getting flown from the West Coast to New York to perform at a huge gala,” she recalled. 

    Founder and Executive Director, National Youth Poet Laureate Programme, USA, Michael Cirelli has said he could not imagine any other form of diplomacy than poetry programme, which he said, is capable of changing the world. 

    “I cannot think of any other form of diplomacy than poetry. That is going to, like, help change our world and we need it desperately right now. So, it is a beautiful way to kind of build connections and show that we all are connected and we are all human,” he added.

    He noted that the programme is aimed at celebrating the most talented poets in the United States connecting them with large scale opportunities.

    “So as part of the programme, we honour hundreds of poets a year all across the United States, finding ways to connect many young poets in our programmes that have ancestral roots in different countries around the world,” Cirelli said.

  • Poetry in form of recollections

    Poetry in form of recollections

    Title: Joe’s Collectanea.

    Author: Joshua Omeke

    Year of Publication: 2023

    Publisher: Harmony Publishing

    Reviewer: Denja Abdullahi

    In as much as we try to run away from the classical definition of poetry by William Wordsworth as the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and emotions recollected in tranquillity,” we keep returning to it daily as we encounter and contemplate modern poetry. This foregrounds the undeniable fact that emotion, feeling, private thought, introspection and the like are the playgrounds and handmaidens of poetry, the most primal of all art forms. Joshua Omeke’s  Joe’s Collectanea takes the reader back to contend with this classical conception of poetry in its unabashed declarative title with Latinate derivation which simply refers to ‘a poet’s collection of literary writings, forming a collection.’ Joshua Omeke , instead of titling his collection of poems with an outlandish title rather uses an abridged form of an  eponymous poem within the collection(“Joe’s Collectanea from Ghana Side”), as it is often the case with poetry collections today, which simply announces  ‘these are my poems in a collection’ and thus invites the reader to encounter the rush of emotions as he takes on various subjects in a multitude of befitting styles. Beyond the title, the cover design of the collection, of a coterie of ancient-looking wooden masks on a shelf wedged in on either sides by antique and baroque-looking books on shelves, anticipates an adventure into some kind of exotica. 

    The  collection comprises of 31 (thirty one) poems of varying lengths and forms ranging from poems that dwell on the ecosystem , the life of the immigrant, life and love, health of body and mind, religiosity, pan-African historical and social interface and a kind of Africanised science-fiction.

    The collection opens with an eco-critical concern with a poem entitled “Danilo the Farm Boy” in which the poet paints a picture of a hardworking farm boy working in a farm organised and mechanised; rarely the case in the local African environment, though the lines runs with some familiar idioms such as “No Food for a lazy man, so I work on this farm”(1). Other poems in the collection such as “Ache of Waters” and “Roots are Before the Logs” relate the fate of those natural bodies in the ravaging grip of the modern world to that of man.

    Immigration, emigration, migration and the issues concerning people living in the diaspora have become the trending or enchanting subjects of literature and particularly poetry in recent time. These issues have so much dominated our poetry  in content and form that in the 2022 Nigeria Prize for Literature award which focussed on poetry, the three poets shortlisted for that award and the eventual winner of the coveted prize were young Nigerian poets who were in the diaspora, who wrote their pieces informed by the exilic diasporian ambience, stylistic requirements or subjectivised their displacement from their homelands in their poetry.  Joshua Omeke may be seen in that light too, having lived, schooled or worked in the diaspora. In “Coloured Dream”, the immigrant’s apparent wish for success in a foreign land comes in a prayerful, anthem-like lines such as: “ In the land of people that persecuted my ancestors/Here I am seeking greener pastures/ Believing I would someday be favoured/ Manured from the knowledge of life”(3). And in the poem “ Flies of  Wilderness,” the resilience of the immigrant is celebrated in a series of rhyming couplet “ In lands unknown, they forge a path anew/leaving behind what once they knew…./ Flies of wilderness, with wings of grace/ Witness the struggles they daily face.”(5).

     From an experiential perspective and from general reading of contemporary poetry, poems that try to be definitive or topical have to be stylistically or metaphorically alert to rise above mere rhetorical platitudes which weaken the flavour of poetry. Some few poems in the collection such as “Long Lost Love”, “Composure,” “ Daily Dose of a Mother’s Influence,” “My Body, My Mind,” “Portrait of Her Lifestyle” and “Life” are not able to achieve this as they are riddled with prosaic presentation and dotted with a few clichés; albeit because of their topicality. Same also goes for poems with religious denotations and connotations in the collection such as “Angel’s Watch”, “Epiphany of Life” and “Surrendered Man.” That may be so because religion itself comes with its own fixed register of words through the ages which may not allow a conforming poet any kind of originality of metaphors , moods and feelings. To tackle religious subjects successfully in poetry, it appears a kind of subversion is necessary.

    Read Also: Arewa Initiative call for Senator Ningi’s unconditional reinstatement

      The few poems directly about love, life and emotion in the collection such as “Romance in Poetry”, “Long Lost Love,”  “Problem,” “Ramshackle Emote”  and “Emotions and Idioms” are couched in captivating allusions referencing Greco-Roman mythology of deceptive gods and indulgent goddesses, classical musical prodigies and popular paintings in experimental styles. These set of poems are enigmatic and needs a widely-read mind to decode.

    The collection is at its most lyrical in the places where the poet engages in the de-familiarisation of the familiar such as in the poem “The Grass of Our Time” in which the harmful effect of tobacco smoking and its addiction are explicated. The poem has lines that go thus: “Äs I drag life out of you, you bring life into me…/Africans say one thing must kill a man/Hence I say to you my beloved stick/If I perish, let it be from the highness of your touch.”(7). This lyricism is best showcased in the long narrative poems of the collection in which the poet delves into historical reconstruction(“Anarchiste Diplomatique”), interrogating racial relationship(“A Friend of Mine”), romanticizing rebellion  and daredevilry( “The Great Sail of Scandinavian Pirates”), dramatizing immersion into another African culture( “ Joe’s Collectanea from Ghana Side”) or just introspecting into paranormal and transcendental experience like in an Africanised science-fiction( “Pies from Celestial Beings,” “ The Jinn of Sahara,” and “Tommy ,My Watch”). One remarkable thing about this set of narrative poems in which the poet is at his lyrical best in the play on words and dramatic expressions is the use of stanzaic refrain between  stanzas to add a kind of rhythm to the general feel of each poem. In “Anarchiste Diplomatique” which engages in narrating the confounding history of the country Nigeria from the pre-colonial time to the present we have a recurring stanza more like a chorus thus:

           So this is slavery

           Our dreams may be as high as Elroy in the spaceship

           But this politics is killing it  (20-23).

    In “A Friend of Mine” which explores the tension in race relationship, the following refrains are repeated:

           And now, this is for a friend of mine,

          One who is afraid to introduce me to her mother,

         And the other who is ashamed to invite me to a time out with his father,

         This is the way I was designed,

         And, naturally, we embrace each other in life. (27-29).

    And in “  The Jinn of Sahara” which connects history and landscape to paranormal beings and occurrences, we get this refrain:                         

         I’m the jinn,

         I am real,

         You may avoid this truth, but we’re here, not to kill,

         Just relax and feel our mild(37-39).

    In the partly eponymous poem in the collection “ Joe’s Collectanea from Ghana Side” could be found the poetic declaration of the poet of what he thinks should be the preoccupation of poetry and the poet. Nearly every poet does this in their debut collection. In this poem, it is done in a conversational way using a setting different but similar to the poet’s natal origin. The old lady the poet is conversing with in the poem and the dramatic situation around inspires the poet to reflect:

    C’mon Joe, you are more creative than writing about the unexpected

     occasions you encountered during the day,

     What about romance?

     Feel the need to tell the world about your first love?

    You could be the next Shakespeare if you just try not to give up,

    Or how about you tell them of your dreams, allow them to see the way you think,

    This is your collectanea; it is about you.(24).

    This particular poem sums up the beauty, the multiplicity of concerns,styles, perspectives, frailties, and the intentional poetic artistry of Joshua Omeke Joe’s Collectanea.                   

  • All set for ‘Elevate’ poetry event

    All set for ‘Elevate’ poetry event

    In a bid to ignite inspiration, drive change, and facilitate transformative growth, the eagerly anticipated ‘Elevate’ poetry event is scheduled to captivate audiences on March 24, 2024.

    Convened by a Poetic Visionary, Shola Amaraibi, the event is aimed to serve as a rallying call for individuals to tap into their inner strength and ascend to their fullest potential, especially in today’s dynamic global economic and technological landscape.

    Amaraibi expressed the significance of ‘Elevate’ as a timely initiative aligning with Women’s History Month, celebrating and recognizing the pivotal role of women in fostering a more equitable and inclusive world. The event is poised to blend poetry with music, dance, and stage adaptation, creating a powerful platform for change and self-discovery.

    Amaraibi articulated the mission of the poetry experience, emphasizing its power to heal and draw out the greatness within humanity. She stated, “‘Elevate’ is a multifaceted poetry experience – blending verse, music, and dance – to immerse an audience in empowerment, creativity, and spirituality.” The event seeks to inspire elevation, urging individuals to recognize the spark within them and strive for greatness.

    Read Also: Akinyemi unveils poetry on financial system

    The poetry event, according to Amaraibi, goes beyond mere inspiration; it aims to break generational strongholds and conditionings, fostering an atmosphere where language becomes a tool for healing. It is envisioned as a divine art that propels audiences to rise beyond struggles, silence critics, and boldly step into their highest selves.

    Kenneth Uphopho assumes the role of Artistic Director for the 2024 edition of ‘Elevate,’ while Ayo Alade serves as its Music Director. The program is thoughtfully divided into two shows, at 3 pm and 6 pm, offering flexibility for attendees to participate in the transformative experience.

    Amaraibi, the creator of the Firestarter Academy and an MBA graduate of Paris Da Vinci School of Management, expressed that ‘Elevate’ is her life’s mission manifested through poetry, aimed at awakening the recognition of the creator’s DNA within every individual.

    As anticipation builds for the ‘Elevate’ poetry event, it stands as a beacon of creativity, empowerment, and spiritual awakening, promising a unique blend of verse, music, and dance to spark transformation in the hearts and minds of the audience.

  • ‘I courted poetry early in life’

    Funke Treasure is a poet, novelist, author and broadcaster. As an Assistant Director with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) she still finds time to write books, many of which constitute important segments of the broadcasting industry in Nigeria. In this encounter with Edozie Udeze, she relates her incursion into writing and declares, ‘I courted poetry early in life’ and more.

    What inspires you to write?

    Knowledge production, content development and the itch to share the little I know with people, knowing it will make a difference and bring about progress for them.

    When you read a book what are the essential things you look out for?

    Three things, the message, the storytelling and the structure.

     

    Of all the books you have read which character or characters affected your sensibility the most?

    Ake, the Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka. While I like young Wole a lot, my favourite character is Teacher Lemo. If I read two pages of that book now, I would start having writing ideas. Yes. It’s that powerful a book for me.

    Between prose, drama, poetry, et al, which one draws your attention the most?

    I courted poetry early in life, I even had a collection that I gave to a lecturer in school to edit for me, but he misplaced the collection. I was so disappointed, I felt a sense of intense loss for days, and I thought I could never get the poems back from myself, even if I tried quite hard. So that killed my love for poems until 2012 when I joined a writing class at Rhodes University and wrote poems again. I think about three of them made it to the anthology produced for the class.

    I love performance poetry, right from high school days when class mates performed Wole Soyinka’s Abiku at Literary and Debating Society days. I also love stage plays, I acted in one, even if it’s a minor role in my days in college. It was a Prof Ben Tomoloju’s play.

    I love the quick resolutions that come with short stories, that does it for me with prose. I really do not like a long drawn story that continues endlessly. And that explains why my first book, ‘Memories of Grandma’ was a collection of stories about my childhood, growing up with my maternal and paternal grandparents.

    At what point in your life did you realise that one day you will become a writer and what book did you read that triggered the muse?

    I suppose in my latter years in secondary school, when I won a state wide competition for a school writing competition, and I made the pages of Nigerian Tribune back then. It was the month of June, in either 1987 or 1988. My mum kept the newspaper for decades, my curiosity made me go digging and now it’s lost. It was my first appearance in a newspaper. At that time, my father had a good collection of books, and music, one would consider classics, so I must have been largely influenced then by my encounters with them.

    Where and when do you like to read and or write?

    I like orderly chaos when I am writing, so my favourite space is my bedroom. If not there then, any room, preferably a hotel or guest house, with my stuff scattered around me. I have however learnt to write as soon as the muse beckons. I read all kinds of printed materials, because you never know where you may chance on a piece that could move you a few sentences forward in your writing.

    If you meet your favourite author, what will be the first question to ask him or her?

    What was your experience like while writing that book, stringing the chapters and deciding what to include and exclude?

    Followed by how did you feel when you were done with the writing?

    Who are your favourite writers home and abroad?

    At home, those will be Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and others while abroad I have many of them.

    I have books by Maya Angelou, Malcolm Gladwell, Reuel Koza, TD Jakes, Chrid Gardner, Barrack Obama, Jo Owen.

    How do you arrange your library?

    I have a mix of autobiographies, biographies and self development books in different fields. I have read Larry King’s My Remarkable Journey twice, and his How to Talk to Anyone, anywhere, anytime multiple times.

    Are you a re-reader, why and how often?

    Yes I am a re-reader. I re-read if I have to deliver training or write an article, or for leisure, if perhaps I am going through my collection and I chance on a book I enjoyed reading and then want to relive the experience. I do a chapter or two to re-enforce an idea or a shift in thinking, sometimes a page is all I have time for. At other times, I re-read a book to consider the style of writing. I have re-read Toni Kan’s A Night of Creaking Beds. I love its presentation of love and romance amongst the lower class. I have re- read Mark Sanborn’s The Encore Effect, I am Malala, my favourite Soyinka books, Ibadan,the Penkelemes Years and Ake, and many more.

    Oh! And God’s Bits of Woods by Sembene Ousmane

    What are you reading now and what do you intend to read next?

    I just released two self help books on pronunciation for the clergy and the Spoken Word Industry generally. Both were written and released at the same time, so I am pretty exhausted at the moment. All I can do for now is some light reading. However, in between writing, I stole some time to read a bit from the 15 Laws of Growth and 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by my mentor, John Maxwell. In the aftermath of the release of my own books, I am returning to motivational books on leadership to re-fuel. Laughs. I am looking forward to reading John Maxwell’s latest book, Leadershift. I look at it almost every time I pass by my bookshelf and say to it, I am coming for you! Laughs heartily.

     Has writing ever reordered your life? In what ways, if yes?

    Yes, writing re-orders my life every now and then, just as music does.          I have had countless encounters with books. My personal experience is in fact such that seasons of my life are either preceded by a book encounter or lived through with a book encounter. The fascinating thing is that I always get to read a book that gives me a paradigm shift either for my career or my personal life, periodically.

    At the beginning of the year I read Rhonda Byrne’s ‘The Power’, it’s a book about personal transformation that I won’t forget in a long time. I have re-read portions of it, again and again. I am glad I started this year with it.

     

     

  • 12 pupils to win poetry, short story prize

    Twelve winners have emerged in the the 2018 Rising Star Writing Competition and Awards (RSWCA).

    They were selected among 30 entries received for the short story and poetry categories of the competition organised by the Writers’ Corner in collaboration with Greenlife Pharmacy.

    They would be rewarded next Wednesday at an awards ceremony scheduled to hold in Lagos.

    Speaking on the competition at a press briefing held at Greenlife Pharmacy, Lagos, Mrs Uche Udoji, CEO, Writers’ Corner, thanked Greenlife Pharmacy for sponsoring the competition for the third time running.

    She said the competition was initiated to address the gaps in writing skills of young children.

    “This (competition) is a huge one for me because it teaches writing to school children in primary and secondary schools.  There is a dearth of writing skills – even teachers do not know how to write.  I am glad GreenLife Pharmacy decided to buy into the competition.  I am

    In addition to the 12 winners to be rewarded at the primary and secondary school levels in each category, Mrs Udoji said 13 others who did well would also get honorary mention.

    In her remarks, Mrs Ijeoma Nwosisi, Head, Humand Resources and Public Relations, Greenlife Pharmacy said the firm was happy to be associated with a competition that would take children’s attention away from digital gadgets and the internet.

    “We believe that children are the future of our nation.  But how do we coach them?  Most of our children are addicted to games and the social media.  We are happy that this competition makes them think because you need to think outside the box to be able to write,” she said.

    Derek Osondu, National Sales Manager, Greenlife, said the prizes this year would be revealed at the event.

    On his part, Mr Ebuka Chukwuka, Executive Director of the company, said Greenlife was at the Vanguard of promoting literacy in Nigeria.

    “We are committed to being at the vanguard of literacy.  With this programme, we hope to raise strong writers,” he said.

  • Poetry Slam winners berate politicians

    Winners of this year’s Port Harcourt Literary Society’s Poetry Slam competition, a final year engineering student from Delta State University, Abraka Tobi Abiodun and Miss Ugo Ude, an SS2 student of New Total Child Academy, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, have berated political leaders in the country for bad governance. The two winners, who used their poems as media for expressing their feelings towards the insensitivity of politicians, urged elected political leaders to always remember the electorate when they get to power.

    The society held its maiden Poetry Slam contest last Friday at Port Harcourt Literary Society Library, near Golf Club, Port Harcourt, River State.

    Abiodun said he detested the way and manner politicians were running the country hence, he was using the medium to highlight the situation, how it hurt him and other Nigerians to attract attention for a change.

    The first prize winner of  N100,000  said of his success at the slam: “I like reading. As a child, my parents use to wake us up by 4am everyday to read. But concerning poetry,  I was inspired by a friend I met on facebook, who always read poems. Although, I was not a fan of literature,  I was always inspired by what she wrote and I read her poems a lot. From there I picked interest and had to travel to Abuja for a slam in 2015, though not to participate, but to watch and I got inspired the more and began to write. When this came up I decided to give it a try, and here we are now, a winner of the show,” he said.

    Speaking on the lines of his poem, which dwelt more on bad governance and bloodshed in Nigeria, he said he detested the way and manner politicians were ruling the country and was using the medium to highlight the situation and how it hurt him and other Nigerians as a way to attract attention for a change.

    “I intend using my poems to address political issues in the country.  The truth is that the government has not been fair to Nigerians and the youths, neither has the country itself. As a student, I have suffered a lot in the hands of the government struggling to pay tuition fees. Even when one deserves or qualifies for scholarships it is deliberately being denied you.  So, I decided to use spoken poems to express my anger and frustrations to the government.

    “Again, when one is correcting ills of the society, one needs to come out strongly, forcefully with anger, else, the people being addressed will not take it to heart,” he added.

    Asked if he believed that the revolution he preached in his poems was the answer to bad governance, he said: Yes, but not with the barrel of gun or bloodshed, adding that it is of the mind, action, the court among others.” He stressed that the change mantra of the present APC-led government is essentially about revolution.

    According to Ude, her winning poem was composed by her and driven by Nigeria dilemma, where people have turned blind eyes to the ugly state of the country despite the failure of the system.

    “Most people will say,  maybe I am too young to talk about what I see, but when you see something that is wrong,  I do not think it is right to keep quiet about it.The driving force behind my piece is the wrong things that I saw and refused to keep quiet about,” she said.

    She howeversent a strong message to government and political class saying ‘it is high time the leaders of this country have the people who elected them into power at the back of their mind. A lot of them get there and neglect the masses, the electorate. They get there and encourage evil doings and all that. Nigerian leaders should amend their ways, pay attention to the right things and do it right.’

     

  • IBB: Poetry, power and pepper

    In my study of life and the many uses to which authority can be put, I have come to an irresistible conclusion that there is indeed  a correlation between poetry, power and pepper.

    And this conclusion I first reached in 1985, when I encountered General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida within the 24 hours he usurped power and assumed office as Nigeria’s only military president to date.

    It was at the Flagstaff House in Ikoyi, the official residence of the Army Chief of Staff from where he launched his assault into the Presidential Villa; and from where he operated for weeks, before he took up almost permanent residence at the State House, secured inside Dodan Barracks in Obalende side of Ikoyi; before finally moving the nation’s seat of power to Aso Villa in Abuja.

    My late friend, then Navy Captain Okhai Mike Akhigbe took me there on a mission to be assessed if I could become the spokesman for the new Nigerian helmsman (which he wanted), but I had a different motive, kept close to my chest and which I did not unveil until I was face to face with Nigeria’s undisputed face of courage in uniform, in 1985.

    When I was ushered into General Babangida’s presence, I almost froze, in the certain knowledge of being before a hard-boiled soldier who now had the power of life and death in his stocky palms; and whose motive of wanting to see me was different from why I wanted to be with him – just for a short while.

    Well, I was already inside the pool, as the Yoruba adage would put it and it was therefore pointless to be afraid of cold; so I summoned up the courage to draw him in, by congratulating him on his assumption of power, which came amidst a wide and popular clamour that the regime he supplanted was not what Nigerians wanted.

    That drew his smile and exposed to me his gap-tooth, after which he started quoting, copiously from Shakespearean books. I confess, that fascinated me so much because of my naive belief prior to that day that soldiers “don’t know book but gun” – a fallacy that petered out in my mind from that meeting with IBB. I then recalled once hearing that ‘wine is bottled poetry’ and you cannot appropriately talk of the quintessential soldier without the three ‘W’s of work, wine and women. Added to that, which I also remembered, was the time-tested saying that “a vein of poetry exists in the hearts of all men”

    IBB almost dribbled me to a corner but courage, which normally comes out in crisis situation, offered me an escape window to get my point across to him before outwitting me to get into a deal that my mind was averse to.

    Yes, how, in good conscience, could I cut a deal to become a soldier’s chief press secretary when the boss that gave me the platform to become known and marketable, was languishing in military jail? Then, Jakande was being tossed around Kirikiri and Ikoyi prisons, not for committing any grievous offence other than being a hard-working and achieving but unfortunate state governor at a time the national government was bleeding the country blind, economically.

    I moaned to IBB that the treatment being given to LKJ was unfair and unjust; and that what I desired most at that point in time, was to use the instrumentality of his high office to set the man free and allow him to return home to his wife and children, in peace. A wry smile welled up his face, perhaps wondering how silly I could be to be smartly and politely turning my back against a “juicy deal” and canvassing for the freedom of a boss with whom I was sacked from office by the military in December, 1983.

    He got my point well-made anyway and asked if I did not see Wole, Chief Awolowo’s son, on my way to Flagstaff House. When I replied in the negative, and perhaps thinking he needed that to get me to change my mind, he told me Wole too had just left him, with a message to re-assure his father that he (IBB) would soon set “Papa’s Boys” free, in reference to the UPN governors, most of who were eventually said to pass the litmus test of integrity and probity. He kept his promise, if I must tell.

    But the man I refer to as the face of courage, who’s reputed to have participated in ALL successful coups in Nigeria from the 1966 one that threw up the then Lt Col Yakubu Gowon as “head of state and supreme commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces” to his own in 1985, had his courage fail him at the most crucial moment of his life when he annulled the presidential victory of his close pal, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the early 90s; on the prompting, by his undenied admission, of his boys who masterminded his coming to power as military president in the first place.

    Give it to General David Mark who IBB portrayed as showing uncommon courage by opposing him from handing over power to Abiola. Perhaps IBB knew his boys won’t just blast him off like that, but would give him “pepper” before snuffing life out of him. The mesmerising Maradona of politics must have come across the many books on power and military strategy that it requires more courage to suffer, than to die!

    An acclaimed military strategist, he must have also experienced the piquant burning taste of pepper and why Yorubas say, to drum home the point on the ultra-effectiveness of pepper, that minute as pepper is, it superintends over the big, bulging eye, any day. Bintin l’ata, to fi n’soko oju.

    It was the fear of pepper, I suspect, that made IBB buckle under, for his loyal boys at the crucial moment, the very reason his popularity rating plummeted and his political relevance diminished.

    I’m his fan, no doubt, but I guess an eternal lesson has been served: for a man who, on his assumption of office, blurted that “we are not just in office but we are also in power”, this sad ending of a glorious military and political career shows that power, with all its paraphernalia, has its limit.

    Baales as kings, yes; but high chiefs as kings, capital no!

    The obaship controversy stirred by Ajimobi’s Government in Oyo State will not go away easily; at least it cannot be wished
    away, not when ill thought-out statements like the one from the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) keep assailing our ears and insulting the intelligence of an average Yoruba man who is versed in our culture and tradition.

    To be sure, no one can quarrel with the upgrading of the status of Baales to Obas, especially those whose existence dated way back in ages. Akanran that shares a common border with Ijebu Igbo is a classic example. They have defined areas they superintend over, the jurisdiction of which is not in contention. These are kingdoms bigger in size and mineral and vegetable potentials more than places where kingships had long been given them in other states.

    But high chiefs, without kingdoms, as obas? If it is not sacrilegious, and it is not intended to ridicule the office of the Olubadan or targeted at a particular person, as it is already being insinuated, I wonder where the sense is, in the odd arrangement. Obas without kingdoms are like kings without oloris (wives); where is the pride or dignity in those kingdoms?

    Abiola Ajimobi I met at close quarters once, since he mounted the gubernatorial chair; and the humility and respect he accorded me on that occasion linger in my mind till now but that impression contradicts what some others think of him; they ascribe pride and arrogance to him but who can satisfy the world, anyway?

    Governor Ajimobi did well to upgrade Baales to Obas but to mix it up with the controversial elevation of Olubadan high chiefs to obaship where they will be wearing beaded crowns is not on. The natural question that arises from this is: will these high chiefs remove their crowns when they enter Olubadan’s Palace for meetings since we are being told they will remain under Olubadan’s authority or Ajimobi wants it recorded against his name that he’s the one who made nonsense of the long-held belief that while you can have myriads of chiefs in the palace, only one king reigns and presides at any given time!

  • ‘Even musical lyrics are poetry’

    ‘Even musical lyrics are poetry’

    Dr. Arnold Benjamin Udoka, is a Commonwealth scholar and choreographer. A poet, playwright and dancer, in this chat with Edozie Udeze he shares his views on the development of poetry in the society, his idea of what constitutes poetry, the role of NLNG and so on, in the efforts to prosper Nigerian literature. Excerpts

    Dr. Arnold Benjamin Udoka, is a poet, playwright, dance impresario and choreographer. He is also the director of dance of the National Troupe of Nigeria. In 2014, his play Akon, made the shortlist of eleven in the Nigerian NLNG Literature prize.  Since then, Udoka, known for his works harping on the socio-political issues of the nation, has been in the forefront of the promotion of Nigerian literary values.

    Since this year’s NLNG prize is on poetry, Udoka has one or two comments to make on the place of poetry in the society.  He said, “I wish those who have been shortlisted the best of luck.  They are eleven of them now out of hundreds that made the entry.  And the interesting thing is that only few good poetry have been published in Nigeria.  And a lot of our poems only exist in songs.  Then few have had the opportunity of being read by others.  So those who have the opportunity of putting their creative ideas in print and have been able to be read, I wish them the best of luck, even though the whole idea of writing poetry is not to complete, but to communicate.  You have to put down your intense themes and some certain ideas, and experiences.  Yet, I think the idea to look back in time to see what people wrote can equally help to see what people had written.  In the past, it doesn’t mean we did not have traditional and indigenous poets.  Some of them were dealing with rhapsodies, others with incantations and chants and maintaining memories within the ambit of folklores.  But those who came up now have been able to apply bilingual approach to it all”, he submitted.

    To Udoka, whose poetry collections, I Am The Woman, has made a lot of impact worldwide, “these people who now write in English have come up with a lot of ideas too.  Now, I’d rather say that poetry has really improved.  Yes the combination of the older and the younger poets in this year’s NLNG poetry prize is an evolutionary thing.  Yes it is.  The whole thing is that all of us are engaged in trying to communicate the whole idea of intense experiences which may be personal to us.  Our environment over the last period of fifty years, has changed.  So, you expect to have different ideas, expressed in different ways on these issues.  You see those interventions by poets, by those who have the time to do so.  It is no longer time to write classical poems, or write like Europeans.  We have now found the voice for ourselves, to write poetry to suit our purposes,”he said.

    So now, poetry has to be accepted.  You have to have different generations of poets writing on those issues that pertain to them.  As far as we are concerned now, even rap is poetry.  Yes, rap music is poetry, even though some of the songs are lewd.  But that’s the human imagination.  You can only censor it when it has come out, but you can’t legislate human creativity or the type of poetry to be written by poets.  You can’t even legislate creativity as a whole.”

    In the face of this, poetry doesn’t still catch the fancy of the reading public, why?  “Oh yes, even amongst the younger ones.  I agree with you”, Udoka averred.  “You know, most people want to think that prose and fiction are more popular just because they are in public domain.  But anyone who has listened to music, to radio, will know it is poetry.  So, then, poetry in that form, becomes more popular and in public domain.  So you can see that majority of us have been engaged in poetry hearing, instead of the reading.  But when it comes to reading, only a few people would want to go and buy a collection of poetry to read”.

    Udoka, a renowned choreographer and dance expert, can also perceive the rhythms of poetry in dance.  Often evocative in its percussive tendencies, the lyrics of dance and its pattern also give the signal of poetic renditions.  He said, “music gives me that poetry tendency every day.  The only difference is that people want to read novels, they want to read fiction, books, and the rest.  However, most people are engaged in listening to poetry through music all the time.  So in terms of reading, you can say fiction and novels are the main thing, but in terms of listening to music, poetry takes an upper hand.  The lyrics of music, all of them are supposed to be poetry because they are coined in such a way to make them poetic.  All the hyperboles, all the similes, all the metaphors, all the onomatopoeias, all the symbols you have in literature are always in lyrics of music.  So you can see that there’s no one who does not know twinkle, twinkle little star and the rhyme.  But then it is good for us to begin now to encourage the younger generation to love poetry.  Let us tell them that it is something they can write by themselves.  Let them be told to write on their environments, about their ideas and beliefs, what can be done to correct or make the environment better.  Let them write about their oppressions, their depressions, their operations; it is through poetry they can capture all these.  It is only the poet who knows the styles, the pattern and so on, to write.”

    Udoka opined that it would almost be suicidal for anyone to set roles or patterns or even set the themes on how poetry can be written.  “This is why I keep saying that you can’t legislate creativity.  No, you cannot.  You can’t set the pattern for it either.  You can only censor it when it is already produced.  So poetry is such that I can express myself the way I feel.  It is part of poetry to have that freedom of speech.  Poetry has already established all that.  For instance you can’t tell me to write about something I do not have the inspiration to write on.  Poetry does not thrive on such”, he posited.  Generally, both poetry, drama and prose are areas where writers are free to dwell on what catches their fancy.  Poetry goes deeper most often in this regard.

  • Dike takes Poetry to OAU

    Dike takes Poetry to OAU

    Amidst recent ethnic strife and calls for dissolution of the country, ace Nigerian Performance Poet, Dike Chukwumerije, has called for unity in Nigeria

    Speaking ahead of his next “Made in Nigeria” performance poetry show slated to hold at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on July 29, 2017, Dike described the calls as unwarranted because the average Nigerian today is a product of shared experiences drawn from multiple sections of the country and the uniqueness of the character of the Nigerian is a result of his/her interactions with other Nigerians over time.

    “Call me what you will, but Nigeria is my mother,” Chukwumerije said.

    “She is responsible for it all. If I amaze you with this ability to constantly pull light out of darkness, to combat recession with a heady mixture of kokoma and gyration, to climb out of any pit you throw me into, and instantly become recognizable anywhere I go, it is also because of this, that I was shaped by her contradictions and forged in the fierce furnace of her womb, so that somewhere on my soul, burned into its very essence, is a stamp no adversity or hate-filled speech will ever erase… And it reads, simply: ‘MADE IN NIGERIA’.”

    He was quick to point out that these do not mean that there aren’t conflicts or misrepresentations but that these should always be seen for what they are – the exceptions and not the norm.

    “Remember that for every recording of two people talking xenophobia, there are hundreds of conversations, up and down the country, about tolerance that no one ever records and sends around on Whatsapp. This urge to inherit the fights of our ancestors is the greatest abdication of responsibility possible. For they lived their lives. Shall we not live ours?”

    The ‘Made in Nigeria’ Performance Poetry production is a 120-minute long linked series of poems telling of Nigeria history from amalgamation to the present day, projecting the uniqueness of the Nigerian experience, and conveyed through a mix of comedy, music, dance and drama. It has been performed before thousands from Abuja, Lagos, Enugu and Benin over the last 10 months.