Patrick Achitabwino articles

A pen is mighty than the sword, so it is believed. Over the years, one art that has had the temerity to challenge swords has been poetry. The Poetry of South Africa’s Dennis Brutus did expose the inhuman acts of the apartheid regime. Nigeria is awash with poets fighting for liberation from economic and political exploitation: Niyi Osundare and Obiora Udechukwu are some notable examples. Malawi has its fare share in the hall of fame of poetry of protest through Jack Mapanje and Frank Chipasula. There is however a group of poets that can better be labeled ‘voices of protest’. Probably a leading figure in such a category would be Obiora Udechukwu of Nigeria.

Going through Udechukwu’s poem entitled: The Land, a reader gets a vivid image of the betrayed hopes of the people of Nigeria. Divided into ten parts, the poem is more of a lamentation of a common man who though lives in a country classified among the rich in Africa, he or she is lives a miserable life, unable to even access the basic necessities of life as the political elite takes all. The poem highlights the water scarcity as follows:

If thirst catches you in Uwani/ If thirst catches you Ogui/ I say/ If thirst catches you in Enugu/ There are many gutters for free/ Police will not arrest you.

The poem starts with a powerful introduction that entices a reader to read on. The distinguished professor, painter and poet internationally acclaimed for his visual arts poses questions in the opening two-line stanza: What is the hare saying to the fowl?/What is the owl singing to the moon?

An element that a reader might find intriguing and exciting in the poem is the lyrical style used and the irony in some of the sentences. For instance one stanza reads: We were once poor but rich/ We are now rich but poor. Another ironic adds reads: We were once naked but alive/ we are now clothed but a corpse.

The Land strictly challenges Nigerian politicians to move away from rhetoric politics riddled with empty promises. Udechukwu states in one stanza: Promises and three-piece suits/ Cannot climb palm trees/ Briefcases and files/ Cannot plant cassava/ Ora obodo, can one eat roast yam with petrol?

Dissilusionment in promises is clearly spelled out in a short stanza that reads: Promises are baskets of water/ Promises are words spoken to the wind.

Those who are fascinated with poetry for technical skills in poetic craft would certainly find ‘The land’ rich in that content. The poem weaves irony in an admirable fashion, deals with issues in the light of allegories, personifications, symbolism and other attributes of poetry.

Published in an anthology of poems, short stories and drama entitled: New Africa Voices, The Land gives an insight into the missing link in the development process of Nigeria: leaders with the vision and integrity to enable the country to fulfill its potential.

It might not be surprising that at the moment that Dr. Stewart Brown, editor of the anthology, was compiling the anthology Obiora Udechukwu and other academics at the University of Nsukka where he was a distinguished professor had been interned.

Obiora Udechukwu’s poetry offers new generations an opportunity to get in touch with the past, to learn the evils of dictatorship. Its lyrical style makes the poem recitable even using drums. The Land was written during the military regime in Nigeria. The author also boasts a collection of poems entitled: What the madman said, published by the Boomerang Press in Bayreuth in Germany in 1990.