<\/p>\n
Amu Nnadi belongs to the third generation of Nigerian poets \u2013 the generation whom some critics consider a continuation of the second generation due to a lack of definitive\/clear cut ideological separation between both generations. The second generation of Nigerian poets abandoned the esoteric language and private concerns of the first generation by simplifying the language of poetry and becoming the voice and the moral consciousness of the common man in Nigerian society.<\/p>\n
Consisting of the likes of Niyi Osundare, Odia Ofeimun, Tanure Ojaide and others, this generation is known for deploying poetry as canons of warfare in critiquing poor leadership and the general dystopia that is Nigeria, while embracing and incorporating oral nuances in their work \u2013 an important ingredient missing from earlier generations. (See Aiyejina1<\/sup>, Ushie2<\/sup>, Chinweizu et al3<\/sup>)<\/p>\n Bold and vehement in their criticism of government, this fervidness is a distinct marker of differences between the two generations. And although the Nigerian society has retrogressed, the third generation poets are less confrontational while battling contemporary existential issues. Divergent in temperament, their convergence lies in the deployment of orature in their writings.<\/p>\n As is prevalent with orality across Africa, raconteurs, poets and bards while composing their narratives avail themselves of literary tropes like metaphor, simile, idiophone, satire, irony, litotes, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia. Other syntactic stylistic elements like repetition and parallelism are also utilized to arouse emotion and effect. Familiar symbols, images and rhetorical questions are also employed to drive home their messages. Where refrains are used, it is to incorporate the entire community during performances and festivities, thereby establishing it as a communal ethos. Oral tradition therefore is a great resource for an African writer to depend upon.<\/p>\n Igbo oral poetry is often geared towards the continuity of both ritualistic and non-ritualistic traditions. In ritual traditions like initiation, cleansing and masquerade festivities, the poetry is structured accordingly for the specific event and engages tropes like call and response, interludes, chants, refrains and the use of slit drums and other accoutrements. In non-ritualistic ceremonies like age grade festivities and social gatherings, the poetry adheres to the form that lends itself easily for social commentary on people and the community. Egudu4<\/sup> in enunciating the Igbo experience in oral tradition adds that ceremonial occasions like festivity, funeral or religious festivals (ritual) brings about the performance of oral poetry. <\/p>\n Amu Nnadi draws motifs, symbols, images and other folkloric elements from Igbo oral traditions. Metaphors, proverbs, simile and anecdotes are deployed effectively to evoke the thought, sight and sound or images desired. In line with a Lucullan appropriation of oral literary tropes, we see Amu Nnadi\u2019s use of proverbs, eulogy, incantation and ritualistic invocation – all values of Igbo oral tradition – incorporated into his scribal medium of expression.<\/p>\n Divided into six sections, which this essay cannot cover exhaustively, the focus here is its first movement, appositely titled \u2018invocations\u2019. His eloquent capturing of oral ritual processes in the written form in a fieldof echoes<\/em>5<\/sup> is not only unequaled but also laudable, soaring high in its dependence and utilization of oral tradition.<\/p>\n It brings to mind T.S. Elliot\u2019s6<\/sup> definition of tradition as the totality of all preexistent works and forms of poetry, both oral and written which a living poet stands as heir and inheritor to. This encompasses all oral and written Igbo poetry, narratives and other works written in English in which the living poet may have availed himself of, which in turn influences. Elliot avows that this dexterous intermixture with the masterpieces of the past births a living poet\u2019s originality because the living poet stands on the shoulders of his predecessors.<\/p>\n It is this digested mix that bursts forth for the keen observer to catch glimpses of the past – Igbo oral chants, Christopher Okigbo, Chinua Achebe, Pablo Neruda, Derek Walcot and others – in this impressive collection because like Osundare7 <\/sup>noted, \u2018in the intricate dialectics of human living, looking back is looking forward; the visionary artist is not only a rememberer, he is also a reminder\u2019.<\/p>\n Donning the personae of a chief priest, the poet commences his \u2018invocations<\/em>\u2019 appropriately with an introduction to the personae and in extension himself as the poet priest of his people. For who is poet if not \u2018the chief priest of words\u2019 who uses his lines, stanzas and metaphors to invoke images for mind, body and soul. In Igbo culture, the chief priest is not only knowledgeable in the affairs of the spirit as the guide of the people in their dealings with the spirit world; he is also knowledgeable in the affairs of men, a true worshipper and often a healer with leaves and chants. Approaching the shrine, the chief priest is garbed with charms, spells, fresh fronds and totems of worship like tubers of yam, white cock and palm wine; for you cannot approach the oracle empty handed.<\/p>\n In \u2018ablution\u2019, the chief priest offers chants and prayers for the symbolic cleansing of the community as the spiritual leader of his people. Only through such cleansing are the people ready and open to approach the oracle and make demands. And as a communal affair, the chant employs techniques like the call and response and interlude to buttress this.<\/p>\n eke eliri na-ogburugbu, anyi abia ihe juru onu na-adig ntagbute At the \u2018shrine\u2019, the chief priest is primarily concerned with singing the praise of the deity. Invocative names are offered: \u2018secret to eternal rebirth\u2019, \u2018great spirit\u2019, \u2018furu ihe na-eme ihe, iyidobu na-agba miii!\u2019, \u2018maa na-emeroha!\u2019, \u2018igwurube oru miii!\u2019<\/em> (11). It is not shocking that the deity does not have a name but is known by his praise names because the names capture attributes of his person even as they attempt to define his essence, but not the totality of his being which is profoundly incomprehensible in a way that a single name can do no justice.<\/p>\n The chief priest is sufficiently armed and prepared to hear and understand \u2018messages kolanut lobes hear from the ancestors\u2019 so as to interpret to the people. Although a higher spiritual being to other humans because he straddles both the physical and the spiritual and lives as an intermediary between the oracle and the human, the priest acknowledges thus:<\/p>\n every dawn, with dew drops of ablution, you stir <\/em>before you bowed, before you small as grain In line with Igbo oral aesthetics of mkpoku mmuo<\/em>, praise chants for the goddess Ifa in the poem \u2018ifa\u2019 is suffused with symbolism, proverbs, anecdotes, allusions, repetition, alliteration, personification and apostrophizing. Ifa is mother and the use of such elements gives rhythm to these lines thereby reinforcing them as chants:<\/p>\n the river flows, chanting your name, ifa my mouth opens, trembling as it chants Whether invoking a cleansing ritual or an \u2018initiation\u2019 rite in the shrine, grove or forest, Amu Nnadi\u2019s evocation is poignant in rendering and striking in its fluidity. For this worshipper, ifa is muse and mother, hence he poetizes and lyricizes his native igbo myths and deity\u2019s through such explorations. <\/p>\n In \u2018idoto\u2019, the poet pays homage to Christopher Okigbo\u2019s mother Idoto of \u2018The Passage8<\/sup>\u2019. His opener, \u2018with liquid arms receive, mother\u2019 (15) is reminiscent of Okigbo\u2019s \u2018Before, your watery presence\u2019 referencing the goddess\u2019s river abode. But unlike Okigbo, whose cry was of repentance and anguish- a prodigal returning to his roots -, the poet and his group are seekers, pilgrims, requesting safety and guidance as they traverse the sacred grove and indeed guidance so as not to stray from the right path in life.<\/p>\n The poet is not metaphorically naked like Okigbo although he is following in his footsteps and therefore paying obeisance to the elder poet. This poem clearly proves Elliot\u2019s statement of an ephebe poet\u2019s originality surfacing after a thorough digestion of an older poets\u2019 work. The \u2018legend\u2019 of Idoto\u2019s greatness is also referenced by Amu Nnadi who asserts thus:<\/p>\n all our masked paths you know our searching eye guide mother Amu Nnadi in this eclectic collection is ambitious and it is beautiful how the diverse oral tropes tie the numerous poems together. With over a hundred poems, this collection traverses existential issues, social commentary, love, spirituality, philosophy and human foibles. The poet\u2019s penetrative gaze moves through Paris, Barcelona, America and returns home to Jos and Abuja. In this, the lines between person and personification, in the best of Elotian tradition, are beautifully blurred.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NOTES\/REFERENCES<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/em> mighty python which ties a great knot
\n we have all come<\/p>\n
\n<\/em> great song a single heart cannot contain
\nrousing praise a single voice cannot proclaim\u2026
\nwe have all come, dirty, drained and famished\u2026<\/p>\n
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\nThe Igbo communal cleansing portrayed here is parallel to the Yoruba communal cleansing with cogent diversions in practice. In Achebe\u2019s Arrow of God<\/em>, the chief priest, Ezeulu, leads the ablution festival with chants as members of the community gather in the market square and pray for their cleansing. In Soyinka\u2019s The Strong Breed<\/em> and Femi Osofisan\u2019s No More The Wasted Breed<\/em>, a male from the lineage of the strong breed is sacrificed at a specified time or a stranger is sacrificed for the cleansing of the community.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em> and I come alive, again and again, singing as a bird (10)<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em> before you, totem of worship (11)<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em> the breeze blows, carrying your name<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>my mouth opens and river begins to flow
\n<\/em>a river trembles, calling all to worship (20)<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em> known since spring\u2019s first drops<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>that we do not from you wander(15)<\/em><\/p>\n