Abstract
This paper studies Niyi Osundare's 'My Lord, Where Do I Keep Your Bribe?' and Joe Ushie's 'Yawns and Belches' to unveil the power interplay and dynamics between leaders and their subjects and how such hegemony has led to the fragmented nature of the subjects by their leaders at different times and periods. This is literary research which purposively selects Osundare’s ‘My Lord, Where Do I Keep Your Bribe?’ and Ushie’s ‘Yawns and Belches’ to for analysis, as the two poems depict the socio-political realities in Nigeria. The study adopts New Historicism as its theoretical framework because the theory emphasises how events, places and culture affect or shape literature. Findings show that corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian society so much so that at different times of writing, these two writers capture the menace with remarkable similarities. The study concludes that consistent discussions, criticism and a total reawakening by subjects can help mitigate the exigencies of political leaders and power abuse.
Introduction
Nigeria has continued to witness diverse political and socio-economic problems which have hampered the development of the nation. Social happenings and creative literature have always shared a lot in common. Ngugi Thiong’O believes that the writer and the politician both trade with words. Both are created by the same reality of the world around us, their activities having the same subject and object: human beings, human relationships and human welfares (Ngugi wa Thiong’O, 1981, p.71). The nexus between creative arts, socio-economic and political development cannot be overemphasised. It is from the environment that the writer draws materials from and therefore becomes preoccupied. Nigeria has a rich literary tradition that predates colonialism. Clement Chirman posits that in pre-colonial Nigerian society, oral poetry and songs were dominant features of communal activity employed as occupational songs, dirges and ballads (Chirman, 2008, p.23). Most of these songs addressed political issues like justice and equality.
Content
In light of these oratories, folktale, oral poetry, drama, proverbs or wise sayings or any other form of oral poetry had the performer being seen as the conscience of their societies. This means that the writer draws its raw materials from the society which he is a part of and so it agrees with Thiong’O’s position that literature is not written in a vacuum (Thiong’O, 1981, p.6). Social happenings and events go a long way to shaping what comes out of the society as literature. Many creative writers like Chinua Achebe, J.P. Clark, Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi, among others, have mirrored the society they live in through their creative works. Niyi Osundare and Joe Ushie, among other writers, have also followed such a path. In following such path, these authors have brought a revolution into the Nigerian poetic tradition. They have championed and redefined a new tradition in Modern African Poetry popularly known as ‘Alter-Native’ Tradition in African Poetry. This means that they not only prefer to talk about socio-political issues but they break the stringent poetic tradition and use satire to paint the situations.
Conclusion
This paper has examined power interplay and dynamics between political leaders and their subjects. Osundare and Ushie as third generation and contemporary writers, respectively, have aptly depicted the level of decay within the Nigerian judicial system and its polity at large which highlights corruption, greed, and bribery among others. While Ushie has shown the dichotomy between the lives of political leaders and the masses, Osundare has depicted through the lens of the court clerk what goes on in top governmental places like the revered sanctuary where justice is supposed to prevail. If this can happen in a place where justice is sought for, one can only wonder what becomes of other parastatals. These have resulted not only in loss of hope but in total despair. Writers then have resorted to use writing as a tool to interrogate these issues in order to mitigate its exigencies.
References
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Ushie, J. 2018. Yawns and Belches. Ibadan: Kraftgriots.
Adebanwi, W. 2014. “The Writer as Social Thinker”. Journal of Contemporary African Studies. 32 (4):405-420. Online: https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2014.978556. Retrieved 23 May, 2024.
Alu, N. 2008. “Style and the New Poetic Revolution in Niyi Osundare’s Poetry”. African Research Review. ISSN2070-0083http/ www.Amazon.com. Retrieved 23rd October, 2024.
Amali, I. 2000. Generals without War. Lagos: Malthouse, 2000.
Amali. I. 2014. Effega: The War of Ants. Ibadan: Kraft Books. Childs, P. & Fowler, R. 2006. The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York & Oxon: Routledge.
Chirman, C. 2008. “Social and Political Satire in Tarok Cultural Songs of Abwa and Isur”. A PhD Thesis of the Department of English, University of Jos.
Collette, J. 2012. ‘New Historicism and Hamlet by William Shakespeare.’
https://prezi.com/tyo4n221ko1k/new-historicism-and-hamlet-by-william
Shakespeare. Retrieved 26 April, 2024. (4):
405420.https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2014.978556. Retrieved 4 May, 2024.
Ebekozien, A. 2020. ‘Corrupt Acts in the Nigerian Construction Industry: Is the Ruling Party Fighting Corruption? Journal of Contemporary African Studies 1-19.
https://doi.org/10/108002589001.175804. Retrieved 10 June, 2024 http/www.Amazon.
com. Retrieved on 4th April, 2024.
Eke, G. 2016.Corruption in the Civil Service: Dearth of Effective Service Delivery. International Journal of Arts and Humanities 5 (2): 284-294. https//de.doi.org/10.4314/ijah.v5i.237. Retrieved 8 June, 2024.
Lyu, X. 2021. ‘An Introduction to New Historicism.’ Advances in Social Sciences,
Education and Humanities Research. 543, 1075-1078. NBS Report.proshare.ng.com 2019 NBS Publishes Corruption in Nigeria survey report. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 13 May, 2024.
Ngugi T. 1981. Writers in Politics. London: Heinemann.
Nwosu, O. & Adeshina A. 2021. ‘Corruption in Contemporary Nigerian Poetry: A New Historicist Perspective. Journal of Literary Studies. Vol 37. Online:
https//colab.ws.article. Retrieved 15 May, 2024.
Nzeogwu, C. 1966. Radio Broadcast by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu –Announcing Nigeria’s First Military Coupe on Radio Nigeria Kaduna on January 15, 1966.
http:www.vanguard.com/2010/09/radio-broadcast-by-major-chukwuma-kaduna-nzeogwu 10 July 2020. Retrieved 14 May, 2024.
Obasanjo, O. 2006. ‘Foreword’. The Servicom Book. Abuja: National Press Centre.
Oni, S. & Obe, E. 2017. “Leadership and Good Governance: The Nigerian
Experience". https://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/9223/,2017. Retrieved 3rd May,
2024.
Osundare, N. 1983. Song of the Market Place. Ibadan: New Horn Press.
Osundare, N. 2004. ‘My Lord, Where Do I Keep Your Bribe’. Online: https//www.Thenewsnigeria.com. Oxford: Routledge.
Petruszynski, P. 2006. “Early Modern Texts, Postmodernism Students: An Analytical and Pedagogical Perspective on Using New Historicism in Today’s Classroom”. PhD Thesis, Illinois University.
Tanzi, V. 1998. “Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope and Cures”. IMF Staff Papers 45 (4), 1-39.
Ushie, J. 2018. Yawns and Belches. Ibadan: Kraftgriots.