Abstract
When a people groan, it is not merely out of pain, but out of a deep yearning for justice and change. The Groans of Two Seven Nine, set in Nigeria, captures the collective voice turning suffering into a powerful call to conscience. Eyoh Etim's The Groans of Two Seven Nine (2025) is a collection that captures the frustrations, disillusionments, and resilience of the Nigerian workers in the face of political corruption, poor governance, and social decay. The title contains an emblem; a metaphor - (2-7-9) which identifies with oppressed workers the world over. All workers are entitled to their wages, but when these wages are delayed, withheld, or denied, the living conditions of such workers become deplorable, leading to stagnated growth, unspeakable economic hardship, low productivity, social unrest, and erosion of trust. "Groans" suggest fatigue, weariness, maltreatment, and frustration of the working citizens, while those in power are arrogant, greedy, and highly extravagant. The poems in this collection address a wide range of interconnected issues ranging from politics and leadership failure, social decay and corruption, democracy and disillusionment to suffering and pains and resistance and hope. The Groans of Two Seven
silenced, the collection stands as a testament to the power of literature in confronting injustice. It exemplifies how literature transforms individual suffering into a communal voice for justice and change.
silenced, the collection stands as a testament to the power of literature in confronting injustice. It exemplifies how literature transforms individual suffering into a communal voice for justice and change.
Keywords
Introduction
Structure
The collection shows an artistic blend of post-modernist and post post-modernist tendencies. Poems in the collection are divided into three parts.
Opening Section: Pre-challenge Musings
This section contains six poems. It opens with the poem, "My Birthday Wish", and ends with "Oh Humans". The Pre-challenge Musings captures the poet's personal reflections and sad realities occasioned by the refusal to pay workers what is rightly theirs. This section sets the tone for the collection.
Mid-Section: 30 Days Poetry Challenge on 2-7-9
This section features the bulk of the poems as the poet writes one poem each day for a period of 30 days. These poems were first published on the Internet (Facebook and the poet’s personal blog, eyohetim.com precisely) before they were produced in print. This gives the collection the Post post-modernist texture. This section explores the sad political realities in Nigeria. The section holds Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, Africa, and other continents of the world, who oppress their workers as a portrait for people to see how badly they have treated their dedicated workers, how they have reduced them to a laughing stock in the society, how they have handicapped them such that they cannot measure up with their contemporaries in other climes. This section ends with the iconic poem "Total Surrender and Closures for 2-7-9", where the poet says "he has told the truth the way the Muse guided him about the corporate crime committed against a set of workers in the university - and he has surrendered everything to the creator of the universe. This total surrender makes him happy, relieved, light and ready (Etim, 2025, p. 84).
The collection shows an artistic blend of post-modernist and post post-modernist tendencies. Poems in the collection are divided into three parts.
Opening Section: Pre-challenge Musings
This section contains six poems. It opens with the poem, "My Birthday Wish", and ends with "Oh Humans". The Pre-challenge Musings captures the poet's personal reflections and sad realities occasioned by the refusal to pay workers what is rightly theirs. This section sets the tone for the collection.
Mid-Section: 30 Days Poetry Challenge on 2-7-9
This section features the bulk of the poems as the poet writes one poem each day for a period of 30 days. These poems were first published on the Internet (Facebook and the poet’s personal blog, eyohetim.com precisely) before they were produced in print. This gives the collection the Post post-modernist texture. This section explores the sad political realities in Nigeria. The section holds Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, Africa, and other continents of the world, who oppress their workers as a portrait for people to see how badly they have treated their dedicated workers, how they have reduced them to a laughing stock in the society, how they have handicapped them such that they cannot measure up with their contemporaries in other climes. This section ends with the iconic poem "Total Surrender and Closures for 2-7-9", where the poet says "he has told the truth the way the Muse guided him about the corporate crime committed against a set of workers in the university - and he has surrendered everything to the creator of the universe. This total surrender makes him happy, relieved, light and ready (Etim, 2025, p. 84).
Content
Structure
The collection shows an artistic blend of post-modernist and post post-modernist tendencies. Poems in the collection are divided into three parts.
Opening Section: Pre-challenge Musings
This section contains six poems. It opens with the poem, "My Birthday Wish", and ends with "Oh Humans". The Pre-challenge Musings captures the poet's personal reflections and sad realities occasioned by the refusal to pay workers what is rightly theirs. This section sets the tone for the collection.
Mid-Section: 30 Days Poetry Challenge on 2-7-9
This section features the bulk of the poems as the poet writes one poem each day for a period of 30 days. These poems were first published on the Internet (Facebook and the poet’s personal blog, eyohetim.com precisely) before they were produced in print. This gives the collection the Post post-modernist texture. This section explores the sad political realities in Nigeria. The section holds Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, Africa, and other continents of the world, who oppress their workers as a portrait for people to see how badly they have treated their dedicated workers, how they have reduced them to a laughing stock in the society, how they have handicapped them such that they cannot measure up with their contemporaries in other climes. This section ends with the iconic poem "Total Surrender and Closures for 2-7-9", where the poet says "he has told the truth the way the Muse guided him about the corporate crime committed against a set of workers in the university - and he has surrendered everything to the creator of the universe. This total surrender makes him happy, relieved, light and ready (Etim, 2025, p. 84).
The collection shows an artistic blend of post-modernist and post post-modernist tendencies. Poems in the collection are divided into three parts.
Opening Section: Pre-challenge Musings
This section contains six poems. It opens with the poem, "My Birthday Wish", and ends with "Oh Humans". The Pre-challenge Musings captures the poet's personal reflections and sad realities occasioned by the refusal to pay workers what is rightly theirs. This section sets the tone for the collection.
Mid-Section: 30 Days Poetry Challenge on 2-7-9
This section features the bulk of the poems as the poet writes one poem each day for a period of 30 days. These poems were first published on the Internet (Facebook and the poet’s personal blog, eyohetim.com precisely) before they were produced in print. This gives the collection the Post post-modernist texture. This section explores the sad political realities in Nigeria. The section holds Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, Africa, and other continents of the world, who oppress their workers as a portrait for people to see how badly they have treated their dedicated workers, how they have reduced them to a laughing stock in the society, how they have handicapped them such that they cannot measure up with their contemporaries in other climes. This section ends with the iconic poem "Total Surrender and Closures for 2-7-9", where the poet says "he has told the truth the way the Muse guided him about the corporate crime committed against a set of workers in the university - and he has surrendered everything to the creator of the universe. This total surrender makes him happy, relieved, light and ready (Etim, 2025, p. 84).
Conclusion
The Groans of Two Seven Nine is a potent and artfully rendered collection. It reaffirms Etim’s standing as a chronicler of injustices perpetrated in the society. I strongly recommend the collection to all lovers of literature in Nigeria and the world over. Students and teachers in Language and Literature Departments will find in its content something fresh and exciting to research on. For those who enjoy poetry that marries formal ingenuity with social conscience; those who appreciate African sensibilities; those who relish the amalgamation of styles and the post post-modernist form, Eyoh Etim's collection, The Groans of Two Seven Nine, is a rewarding, resonant read.
References
Etim, E. (2025). The Groans of Two Seven Nine. Uyo: Planeyo Publishers
Uman, U. (2025). “A Review Of Eyoh Etim’s The Groans Of Two Seven Nine
”. Planeyo Journal of Arts and Humanities (PLANJAH). Volume 2, Number 4, 122-127.
Uman, U. (2025). “A Review Of Eyoh Etim’s The Groans Of Two Seven Nine
”. Planeyo Journal of Arts and Humanities (PLANJAH). Volume 2, Number 4, 122-127.