Citation: Egbuchiem, Lizzy-Jane ONYEBUCHUKWU (2023). Voicing as functionality in Ebi Yeibo’s The Forbidden Tongue. Yobe Journal of Language, Literature and Culture (YOJOLLAC), Vol. 11, Number 1. Department of African Languages and Linguistics, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria. ISSN 2449-0660
VOICING AS
FUNCTIONALITY IN EBI YEIBO’S THE FORBIDDEN TONGUE
By
Egbuchiem, Lizzy-Jane ONYEBUCHUKWU
Abstract
Since Nigerian
society is submerged in many political and social issues, contemporary Nigerian
poets have become confrontational. At this point, satire becomes a veritable
medium of voicing and exposing these social discontents thereby bringing about
a radical change in the erroneous belief that, contemporary Nigerian poets
write for their pecuniary gain, to a proclaimer of society's absurdities. To do
this, these poets, have invoked into their poetry, a mastery of not only
language patterns, but also of the arenas in their societies. In this regard,
the selected poems in this paper are packed with; narratives, the lavish use of
suspense, and curiosity. The over-arching argument of the paper is that satire
has shifted chiefly, from being a mere figure of speech; to a deep-rooted
discourse in the poetics and style of contemporary Nigerian poetry. This
empowers them to criticize sternly, certain aspects of the social ills plaguing
Nigerian society. The paper further examines how satire enunciates and voices
aloud, social issues in EbiYeibo’s The Forbidden Tongue. To bring to the
fore the artistic commitment of the poet, this paper demonstrates how satire
accentuates the responsibility of the poet as the synthesizer and conduit of
social and cultural concerns of the Nigerian society for which he speaks. This
paper focuses on the abrupt paradigm shift from the technicality of satire as a
style to an integral part of and for the heated criticism of social and moral
vices, militating against Nigeria’s socio-political development.
Keywords: voicing, confrontational, satire,
confrontational language
Introduction
The previous belief that poetry created in all
regions of Nigeria is somewhat homogenous is broken by contemporary Nigerian
poetry. As a hybridized genre, contemporary poetry in Nigeria incorporates both
local and international literary elements. Following Nigeria’s attainment of
independence a new generation of poets came into existence are now focusing on
self-criticism due to bad leadership, sectarianism, nepotism, and the leaders'
inability to grapple with the realities of the new order and ameliorate the
social conditions of the populace (Elimimian, 1998, p.112). The first
republic's leadership in Nigeria was not only unscrupulous; but also illiterate
and had little regard for such interests of the public at large.
In African society, the artist has always
served as a record of the customs and experiences of his people as well as a
voice for the future (paraphrased). The question is always about the writer’s
role in society. This has evolved various responses, but the notion of
commitment is constant. In this connection, (Adekunle, 2008) observes that
recent African (Nigeria) writings are reflections of realities of
post-independence inherent cultural contradictions, political and econo
Adekunle mic turmoil, corruption, sexual promiscuity, rape, the ravaging
HIV/AIDS scourge, and its attending influences. Most contemporary Nigerian
Poets are allusive to the groaning of the people, who suffer social injustice
and economic deprivations, and these inform the vision of dislocation,
alienation, cynicism, fatalism, depression, and deprivation expressed. Burdened
by the “disillusionment syndrome”, contemporary Nigerian poets create a
literary tradition that is confrontational, declamatory, and generally
protesting in tone.
The Writer’s
Role in Society and Style of Writing
The question is always asked about the writer's
role in society and style of writing. This has evolved varying responses, but
the notion of commitment is constant. A writer is a tool for change, a
"watchdog of a nation". He has the role to bring about changes that
we want to see in society. He is mainly concerned about the dehumanizing of the
people, hence, he pricks needles into everybody so that they do not go to sleep
and think everything is fine. Whereas the wicked fate of dependence is about to
be discarded, everything is set to get a new world, it is then undeniable that
an individual's experiences and environment affect greatly the way he interacts
and behaves. These experiences provide a ready hand and solid thematic
platforms upon which contemporary poets play with words and form to ascertain,
correctly, what is invested in the perception of the environment. Denoting the
nature of contemporary poetry, (Nwoga, 1982, p. 37) declares that "since
life is heady and full; only poets who could get beyond surface realities could
give expression to the spirit of the period". Adekunle (2008) observes
that recent Africa (Nigerian) writings are reflections of realities of
post-independence inherent cultural contradictions, political and economic
turmoil, corruption, sexual promiscuity, rape, the ravaging HIVIAIDS scourge
and the influences of Breton Woods' institutions (IMF/World Bank) on the
continent (country) (61). Burdened by the "disillusionment syndrome",
contemporary Nigerian poetry creates a literary tradition that is
confrontational, declamatory, and generally protesting in tone (Agho 1999, p. 25). Aforementioned
The Nigerian
Poet’s and Democratic Governance
The Nigerian poet's nostalgia for purposeful
and democratic governance has been unwavering and unalloyed because at the
heart of the disillusionment enactment process is the yearning for the
political elite to toe the line of morality and establish a popular government.
These necessities the solidity of imagery used in the portrayal of failed
leadership, alienation, and disenchanted followership. The high value placed on
democratic governance by the people encourages the poet to take a swipe at the
antics of the politicians who, to them, consider democracy to probably mean a
license to enrich the few and impoverish the majority. In his allusive
lyricism, Ojaide, in “The Fate of the Vultures", asks the legendary god
"Aridon" to bring back what the politicians have stolen from their
foreign banks. The poet laments and condemns the abuse of democratic norms and
the life of disdainful waste which the politicians live, using lots of images
that poignantly satirize the life of waste and arrogance in Nigerian politicians.
The Clustered
Minds of the Poets
The clustered minds of the poets are reflected
in their works, hence, the synergy between their pessimistic vision of life,
the frustrations and dislocations which they figuratively put forward in their
work, to arouse the people from their anesthetic deadening and oftentimes puts
them at loggerheads with the ruling elite. The powers that be, sometimes employ
state power-paid columnists to harass and hound writers as was the case of
Soyinka, whose fierce dramaturgy caused him a personal loss in the hands of the
then military government. Yet, he remains consistent and outspoken, as he
declares his mission as a social critic thus: (paraphrased) we haven't begun
using words to punch holes inside people. But let us do our best to use Words
and style when we have the opportunity, satisfy the urgency of the day and
arrest the ears of normally complacent people, we must sincerely make sure we
explode something inside them which is a parallel of the sordidness, which they
we ignore outside.
One of
the outstanding stratagems employed by the poets to argue democratic discourse
is the portrayal of victims of dehumanization and gross exploitation. To
transcend disenchantment, the writer, however, makes conscious efforts through
the verisimilitude of his art to mobilize the people and wake them up out of
their lethal old habits of needless political cynicism. He achieves this by
illustrating their torpor, ignorance, and the danger of recurrent withdrawal to
ethnic sentiments with enduring imagery so that the writer would not be the
only one to sing his song since the community's regeneration must be
collective.
Contemporary
Nigerian poets are committed to the ideals and aspirations of the populace
against the overriding and erroneous belief that contemporary Nigerian poets
write not to communicate with the people, having no ideological stance. It is
the refusal of the poet to remain hushed in the face of untold hardship in the
life of the Nigerian masses and the corruption that rocks the Nigerian polity
that leads to commitment in poetry. In his view, (Ohaeto 1993, p. 117) declares
that: Nigerian poets have always channeled their works towards highlighting the
essential moral issues of the time... these poets demonstrate an awareness that
poetry could be used for systematic training and instruction to illustrate the
privilege of right and wrong in terms of standard of behavior which is the
essence of moral education.
Contemporary
Nigerian poetry is a sharp contrast to the relaxed and gentle efforts of the
earlier writers like Dennis Osadebay, etc, who deliberately write poetry while
being conscious of their concern for the poetic processes for the younger
generation of poets have no formed school of literature as they were scattered
geographically and by their own specific experiences (Nwoga, 1982, p.35).
Contemporary Nigerian poetic prowess has become a liberating theory, no longer
as a stereotype where words have specific poetic values and rigid structures
into which experiences have to be fit. Nwoga (38). The search for the meaning
of self and human life, mingled with political and public statements, is a core
characteristic of contemporary Nigerian poetry. This results in what Nwoga
describes as, "poetry of terrible complexity, terrible privacy, and near
meaninglessness to an audience that had not in any way shared the immediate
personal situation of the poet. Pioneer Nigerian poets use a poetic language quite
different from contemporary
Nigerian poets. They frequently employ a highly allusive and metaphoric diction which is intended to exclude everyone but a small clique of specialists. The pioneers' worldview can be described as excessively European, and esoteric. 'Demystifying the language of poetry' is a process that modern Nigerian poets are engaged in.
The Forbidden Tongue
The
Forbidden Tongue,
first published in 2007, is a collection of 30 poems that originates from the
Niger Delta region where; the struggle against state neglect and injustice has
been a crescendo. Ebi Yeibo is a poet that understands his function and status
in society hence; he infuses the tone of urgency and protest while pointing to
social realities. He also points to the general visceral sentiments that form
the background for a large corpus of imaginative writing from the Niger Delta
region of the country. The excerpts below prepare the mind of the readers for
the kind of poetic outpour to expect.
You
do not open
The
crocodile’s intestine
In
public (Izon Proverb)
…embrace
the truth
…utter
it as it: raw, pungent …
Let
the noise split the eardrum
Let
it out turn a gazelle
Fly
faster than an angry wind …
That
proper cleansing can begin. (Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo)
A
wholesome tongue is a tree of fire:
But
perverseness therein
Is
a breach in the spirit. (Proverb 15:14)
An
outstanding distinctiveness of contemporary Nigerian poetic outpour is the
constant consciousness of the personality of the poet. In the poems, “song”, “The Poet” “The
Forbidden Tongue”, “The Poet’s Harsh Balm”, “Sacrifice”, and “No Fireflies
Here”, the poet dwells on nature, character, and function of a true poet. The
personality of the poet is appraised against the erroneous belief that poets of
today write not for the people but for their financial advancement. In the
beginning lines of the poem “songs”, the poet discredits the belief that a poet
is a drunkard, who says insensible things, hence, his words should not be
considered for anything. As drunk, he makes non-melodious songs to the ears of
the people. In a highly paradoxical language with compound interrogative
sentences, the poet declares, “What separates a drunkard from a madman, a poet
from a puritan? (Song, 19)”. The poet
may be drunk, but he is a moralist saddled with the responsibility of restoring
sanity to a decaying society. Although the people may not be interested due to
its unmelodiousness, he must always “make canorous music from the deep croaks
of drunken frogs” (19). He cannot be hushed amidst all unpalatable instances.
The songs (poems) are like the "moisten calcified farmlands, with scathing
manure" which must flourish despite tongue-lashing criticisms from any
angle concerning his mannerisms. He is
not perturbed as long as he performs his function as a singer, singing about the
woes of his people. His song "cleanse" the "cringing
creeks" of cadavers and maelstroms". Yeibo (2008)
in an interactive session laments thus:
It is
very unfair to hear people say that the contemporary Nigerian poet has no
ideological stance. In every generation, the task of the writer is to respond
to the challenges of the age as he is an interpreter of what happened, telling
why it happened. It has also been the task of the writer to chart the way
forward for the constructive development of society. Hence the Spanish writer
W.H. Auden contends that every writer is "a conscript of his age".
During the pioneer phase of the development of Nigerian poetry, for instance,
the thematic preoccupation was that of cultural nationalism. Now, the attention
has shifted from that to that of self-oppression i.e. our people oppressing,
depriving, and exploiting our people, resulting in a series of social strives
and conflicts. The point is that the change in societal temper must result in a
shift in the content and style of our literature. Literature like society is
not static. So it is a continuous interpretation of social realities but how to
say what he has to say is the challenge of individual writers and this is the
enduring contention in critical scholarship.
As a
poetic manifesto of poets from the Niger Delta region, his main concern is the
exploitation of the people that produce a higher quantity of the nation's
economic-sustaining product (petroleum) yet; their condition of living is not
affected in the positive. We have poets like Ogaga Ofowodo and Tanure Ojaide
who write about the dreadful conditions of the Niger Delta people. These poets,
like the one under study, set out to do a cleansing of their embarrassing and
uncomfortable homeland, the "creeks", full of non-living humans and
confusing events that are hard to control. They must, in resolution, sing to:
"stoke the saggy sun with the resilience of their "tongue’’. The real
writer, Osundare (2007, p. 7) opines, has the guilty conscience of the king,
with nagging words and unremitting images in his mind, and has no alternative
to being in constant conflict with oppression. His words are incitement to
revolt and disrupt the deathly equilibrium, the mendacious “peace” and
“stability” of a truly violent system (7).
Aspects of Yeibo’s Poem
One of
the striking aspects of Yeibo’s poem is the constant reference to erroneous
beliefs about contemporary poets. He brings it up, “men ask can he tell a stone
from a stone? (The poet, 29). Since what the government presents to the people
is not what it is in the real sense, the poet is faced with the difficulty of
“seeking to strip the saints of his divine armor”. The image of the saints is a
reflection of the leaders’ self-fashioned names and praises that are nurtured
by lies. They are no saints; they are “like vultures” that “hovers in close air
shrieking in an ominous circle”. All the poet sings about is justice for his
people, “for no gourmand of a god settles for oil when it seeks blood”.
The
reference to the Ijaw god of war, “Ëgbesu”, is a stance of outspoken
resilience. In a traditional Nigerian community, a resolution at the village
shrine is perceived to be the right kind of justice, as it is believed not to
be influenced. What is happening to the people is staring at one’s “neck” by
“an ancient foe”, you either fight it on or run in defeat. The title of the
poem “The Forbidden Tongue”, accentuates protest. The poet in this poem shows
distaste for the deflowering of the land. This is equated with a “virgin” that
is ravished, sassed, and sapped” by countless he-men”. But, like the alligator, the poet must move
silently through the water while stalking its prey, with the eye showing and
then attacking with lightning quickness for the “muddy waters” does “nothing to
the eye of an alligator”. It is the responsibility of the poet to voice aloud,
the ills in society amidst deprivations.
The
poet’s tongue has been prohibited from singing by conspirators, but he will not
shut his mouth. Though the song may become like the “coarse crawl of the
tortoise”, it drives away sleep from its captor’s home. Long “silence” with
“wings” does nothing but “ferry us to the peak of dreams”, to the peak of
ineffectiveness, with “the scars of searing sorrow”, “sired by silence whitlow”
(The Forbidden Tongue, 61), making us momentarily uncomfortable and angry. The
permanent solution is that the poet must sing to expose the “scudding creatures
filibustering filch wings”, “in the glare of dawn” to prompt the authorities
concerned to do the right thing through the implementation of better policies
for:
The sanctity of
sacred words
Stills running rivers
Raises the widow’s
son
Spawns even the
Rock’s
Rise and work….. (The
Forbidden Tongue. 63).
The
poem “the poet’s harsh balm” justifies not only the old witty saying that; what
an elder sees sitting, the same can never be seen by a child even while
standing, but for the visionary and prophetic characteristics of poetry. As a
biblical parody, where there is no creative writer (poet), such a society is
doomed (paraphrased). If the society
will be better than it is today, “whoever seeks the secret of snuff’s harsh
balm”, must “befriend Kadabramu” an epitome of orality and local history.
The Experience of the Poet
The
poem titled “sacrifice” dwells on the poet’s oath to stand out and say things
the way they are with him and his people. The recurring image of “Crossroads”
reflects the experiences of the poet. The persons at various positions of
authority easily forget the people whose mandate and workings, brought them
that far, rather they stab them in the back by using their nonchalance to their
plights. Repetition and end stop is used in this poem to state the tragic
message that substantiates his protest. The leaders are not only opportunists
but inexperienced in the act of governance with no focus. This is seen in the
last two lines of the first stanza:
I lie
waiting at the crossroads
For the
return of those renegades
Who
barter a basket of yams
For a
healthy bowl of beetles…
Counsel
compromise
When
conniving crows swoop on
Our
hapless sacrifice
Remorseless,
like hawks in chicks… (Sacrifice, 20)
What an
exchange! What will the beetles eat when what is meant to feed them is traded?
The beetles must feed eventually if it necessitates “crossing of seven rivers
without a crutch”, but unfortunately, and in an ironic twist, such persons
choose “the crocodile’s dreary den” for a home. The leaders compromise and deny
the people the reward of their “hapless sacrifice”. They come to the people in
pretense to get their votes “like hawks on chicks”, and “dutiful like dogs
lapping up feces” not willing to stop. The leaders are not yielding just like
the dog, no matter how you clean it up, it will always return to the latrine to
eat excreta. This is connotative of a decayed society with mischievous leaders
who are also specialists in utilizing every opportunity that comes their way to
exploit the minutest trust bestowed on them by the populace. This is captured
thus:
O the sombre
sacrifice we made
Through murkiest
nights
Has turned a painful
repository
Of pig’s pee
Desecrating our new
dawn;
The shafts of sunray.
(20)
All
they are interested in is to ‘turn the repository of pig’s pee to desecrate the
land’s ‘new dawn’ (a new society of great hope) ‘stripping it with its
persistence gloom into a mere dream’. They
Rape
the rainbow
Like
the common whore…
They
murder the new moon
Right
on our lap. (21)
Ebi
Yeibos’s poems are like songs by a lover at night outside the window of his
lover’s house for fear of being caught if he uses the door. It is a “Dawn Song”
(22) “saddled with croaky serenades from sepulchral saints”, for “their morning
air is still laden with dust and dirt”. The person in the position of authority
makes “pugilistic policies from the rocky comfort zone” which constantly,
“still knocks us down, emasculating a bounteous clan like a bee trapped by
sundew”. The metaphor “Rocky comfort zone” stands for the country’s
presidential house from where all policies emanate. The “malignant boil”
preying on our heads has been right before the apothecary only that, the
leaders have refused to learn from history hence; “Our embankment sinks, With
the moon beans, Drowning a deafening dawn” (22). The deprivation is so enormous
that the people have turned to “consummate serfs” on their ‘own shore’. In a
change of tone to that of anger, the poet begins to pour curses;
Let
sprawling sea
Shed
scabrous ripples
From
her smooth skin …
Swallow pharaoh’s
horses and horsemen
Desecrating flowery
dams…
O let
sprawling sea
Stem
the surge
Of
sententious saints
Stabbing
our sun
With
serrated sermons … (23)
The
leaders are cannibals in disguise who come to the people “garlanded as a
connoisseur”, they are like “the slithers mamba” that comes pretentiously “with
innocuous fangs” and upon victory at the polls, they “slither up the throne” of
new dawn only to conjure thunder strikes without warning to bury the masses
“living souls”, their source of livelihood, their essence “in a mountain of
murk”. Due to deceit, “the innocuous
mamba has spilt into our eyes and fireflies, rebelliously fly away
(paraphrased).
In an
attempt to defend the erring elite, the poet infers that “the problem is more
in Africa (Nigeria) due to the misunderstanding of the concepts of politics.
Politicians seem more preoccupied with the primordial inclination to amass
wealth; and exploit the masses than with the process of changing society.
Though they advocate the ideal, their actions are far from it. Since the leaders are basking in the euphoria
of their dark advantage, enjoying the statuesque, they forbid any complaint or
dissenting voice. According to an Izon proverb, “the man who eats flesh does
not complain; it is the man who is given the bone that complains”,
consequently, the hounded hapless masses, the dwellers of the Niger Delta, as
the bone eaters, must continue to complain.
In
affirmation, Egbuna (2008, p. 52 ), in Cartoon Leisure of Punch Newspaper of
Wednesday, October, 29th, titled “Bark and Bite”, has the message:
“the dividend of democracy is supposed to go round …our legislators have round
tummies…the masses can no longer stomach the scarcity of equal meals”(49). To
explicate this, the words of Nigeria’s ex-minister for formation and National
orientation Professor Jerry Gana, in the same dailies come in handy:
Our
leaders lack the creativity and innovation to move the nation forward. When the
leaders are stale, the society will stable, because no soviet can rise above
the quality of its leaders. (64)
The dehumanization of the Niger Delta is not
a new poetic obsession, kit is a “stale song” that will continue to be sung so
long as “strange storms” continue to “still our swamps like deathless family
jinxes”, “for no town crier beats his gong for a communal feast when sweat and
sorrow pitilessly plague the plains”(stale song, 53). The leaders and their
policies are not in any way mitigating the hopelessness of the poor masses. The
pains and anguishes suffered by the people are due to extreme exploitation and
deprivation which have caused a series of “nightmares” and “sleeplessness”. To
sleep is but a dream for:
Here
the honey pots owner
Salivates
at the puny prospects
Of the
sugarcane farmer
And the
lazy luminescence
Of the
asphyxiated sun
Remains
in the womb of clouds. (Unyielding Clouds, 59)
The entries; “Drowsy Dreams” (24), The Light
Goes Out Again’ (26), “Dreams and Shadows” (46), and “They Forget” (49),
embolden the leaders to always remember that “the ripe plantain sells itself”
and that in the past, “ash throwers” gets also a fair share of the ash thrown
at another. The second section of the poem “Drowsy Dream” is a call to those
concerned to brace up for the challenge, voice out and fight for the course.
They should “grow cheetah’s leg and overtake mountains of mist”. Like the
catatonic compatriots, find a voice in the impregnable echoes of boundless seas
so that their communal farm cannot only be ripened, but greying labourers may
gather grains also. In unison, they will:
Sing
harvest song
In the
rumbling stomachs
Of
sulky saints
That
drowsy dreams may awaken
To the
dialect of dawn. (Drowsy Dreams, 25)
A new language with the right action has to
be sought to conform with and also reflect the drastic societal change, else
“the light will go out again” and this time, it will be without warning like a
“convoluted cloud” with heavy garments wrapped “round her luminescent waist
again with hurrying hands” (26)
The protest is against “the dragon”
(government) “that conspires with the harmattan wind to lick up farmlands”.
These dragons harass the hunter in his element with querulous protestations
(paraphrased). They conspire with raging hounds to halt the hallowed festival
of the forest”. Their only source of income is disastrously affected. The
dragons “poach our fish pond, dry up our farmlands” and “kill our dreams” (The
Poachers, 34). The masses are helpless and the government, as an “antelope”,
confer with the deer to desert the forest”. Due to the frustration, they have
to contend with, “…pregnant brooks only deliver dead shoals”. Since these
fraudulent leaders would not stop in their deceitful and hypocritical acts, the
tone of the poem suddenly changes to that of contempt.
Yet
these braggarts
Lonely
lodestars
Hoist a
dumb flag
Proclaiming
fraternity. (37)
Promises made at campaigns are never met
after all. They have turned blind and deaf to the predicaments of the people.
They prefer loneliness like the reptiles that would prefer having things around
them dead. The leaders are voted into power by many but they are representative
of few elites in the society. They only do what the caucus decides and these
decisions in many cases, are so unfavourable to the people thereby making it, a
government of the few, by the few, and for the few. The lyrics and the rhythms
of the poem are occasioned by alliteration, assonance, and repetition that are
rebounding to the beauty and scathing tenor and tone of the poem.
The criticism is on the self–acclaimed
political prophets whose “conscience quakes, mocking seamless moonbeams …”, as
envisioned by the poet. All they do at parliament is “pilfer” the nation’s
resources instead of discussing issues that would better the Nigerian populace.
Innovatively, the poet uses the catastrophic inundation of the Indian tsunami
to warn the Nigerian geophysicist and hydro–engineers of such in our
environment by metaphorically putting flood side by side with the exploiters of
the people. The poet warns against a repeat of the past in our present, hence:
Tsunami
reminds us
We
stand in the middle of a maelstrom
Weaving
unpredictable waters
To eke
out a world of whammy revelations. (Tsunami remind us, 37)
In the poem “The Shy Sun”, the poet dwells on
the need for a reordering of priorities by the leaders to ensure progress, for
“no wholesome dream blooms in clear darkness”. The image of the darkness
further drives the massage of misplacement, because, when one is in the dark,
he would return at all times, to the point of departure, and may collide with
objects. Contemporary poets do not just criticize problems bedeviling society,
they also present solutions to them. The poem “Hope” fusils thus function. All along,
the tone has been that of anger and protest, but here, the poet’s optimism that
things will change for the best is aptly announced in the tone of the first
stanza. He does this using the image of the moon and the stars to show
orderliness and tranquility with the former teaching the other when and how to
shine.
For
when the moon
Mounts
sky–stage
In her
resplendent regalia
Stars
save their soil
For
another day.
(Hope,
69)
The prophesied change will be great and
fulfilling. There will be “fresh foliage” springing “mountaintops, visible even
from valleys afar” capable of “softening the surrounding air with perfumed
breath” dripping “with dews”, irrigating fallow fields...”, and the “palsied
paths” will be purified with “fate” mixing “rainbow colours” on the “palette
expansive land”.
Conclusion
In
conclusion, as a result of this essay's discussion, it is clear that
contemporary Nigerian poets do not compose for purely aesthetic reasons but
rather as a reaction to sudden cultural changes. While heavily drawing from the
oral tradition, the socio-political issues that plague Nigerian society are at
the forefront of contemporary Nigerian poetry. Ebi Yeibo is able to bring
different incoherent aspects in his poetry to coherence by using
orality-infused English. His poetry is intended to reflect the experience of
living in particular, the Niger Delta region of Delta State in Nigeria. His
poetry also addresses the expression of political rage, personal agony, and
grief. This is accomplished through accurately portraying the traumas,
psychological distress, and socioeconomic hardships that the general public
faces.
The
poet runs the gamut of voice from reactionary through liberal to radical as an
endangered species. The liberal is hardly visible and the reactionary is a
major presence. Critics like Ojo -Ade (1991, p. 53) have said that the liberal
always plays it safe, spitting words of revolution even while wining and dining
with the reactionary powers that be. From whichever angle one view contemporary
Nigerian poets, their responses to the urgent and unfavorable sociopolitical
situation of the nation cannot be overemphasized. Contemporary Nigerian poets
reject the critical viewpoints of 'privatist' poetry in their stylistics
presentation and in the exploration of their personal state, thoughts, and
emotions. In so doing, they are constantly searching for tentativeness, own
idiom and phraseology of expression, and it is not surprising that the language
becomes tortuous.
It goes
without saying that a serious poet must have a social vision and, with great
care, assert not only the humanity and dignity of the people but also a
suitable style that would allow the reader to engage in the exploration of the
same vision through the creative use of language. Importantly, poetry should
move the audience and elicit an emotional reaction, whether it is through
laughter, sobbing, or simple introspection. The poet addresses his fellow men
rather than just himself (Amuta, 1989, p. 176). Only he is able to speak their
cry, which is his. That is what gives it depth. But if he is to speak for them,
he must go through all they do—suffer, celebrate, work, and battle. Aside from
that, what he says will be irrelevant and uninteresting. There are considerable
enlargement in their range of expressions and ability to discover the proper
register where the adopted language and African (Nigerian) sensibility could be
properly united.
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