Oluwafemi’s anthology is such a painful read. About a decade ago, we thought Nigeria was going to drown under terrorism and kidnapping, and what we thought was unimaginable corruption. Ten years later, we are even in a worse state, and it appears that we have all forgotten how angry we were at the time.
Oluwafemi relies a lot on satire, and that is a good thing because you are able to temper your rage with laughter, but it is only for a short while. The resulting sadness and despair at the end of the fleeting comic relief is so overwhelming. In “Decadence”, Oluwafemi speaks of “the Naira began its oily slide”. Although this poem was written in 2016, the Naira is no longer interested in appreciating. In the 2014 “Fighting for Democracy”, one cannot help to recall the violence and oppression that took away the people’s choices in the 2023 elections. My “Thief is Bigger Than Your Thief” brings to mind the outrage that followed a statement by an erstwhile President that “stealing is not corruption”.
You get the point already. Some of my personal favourites are “Take My Letter to the Queen”, #Child Not Bride, Losing My Voice, Nigerian Independence, the Nigerian Dream, To Sapa or to Japa and Nigeria Yi, Ti Gbogbo Wa Ni.
The themes of my these poems are not strange to the average Nigerian. “Take My Letter to the Queen” explores the decision by Lord Lugard to forcefully combine the geographical mass that makes up the modern day Nigeria. It is a decision that a lot of people say continues to haunt Nigeria till today. #ChildNotBride explores the practice in some parts of the country of marrying off girls to elderly men. Losing My Voice was inspired by Martin Niemöller’s First They Came. It is a reminder to Nigerians whom seemingly love to “mind their business” when they should rather speak up against inequality or oppression. Nigerian Independence asks the question on the lips of every Nigerian on every Independence Day. We have always heard since time immemorial that one day Nigeria will get better, but it seems like that day will never come. The Nigerian Dream may have become outdated though. It is no longer to have “bastard money”. It is now to “earn in dollars” and have a second citizenship. In Sapa or Japa, Oluwafemi again asks the question a lot of young Nigerians have in their hearts – to leave or to stay in Nigeria? In Nigeria Yi Ti Gbogbo Wa Ni, Oluwafemi lures us in as we reminisce on the lyrics of a popular song that encourages us not to give up in Nigeria. Oluwafemi then forces us back to the present where he reminds us because the situation in Nigeria has badly deteriorated, and we cannot be asked to believe in Nigeria that no longer belongs to anybody.
I would recommend if you like satire and witty poems. The anthology is replete with those.
EKAETE HUNTER 