Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Public Information About "Poetry Evolution In Nigeria" By Chidi Anthony Opara

Beautifully written, Chidi! Thanks for the essay. It's short but touches on important facts relating to poetry in Nigeria. Keep it up, and give us more.

It's sad that many aspects of our orature are long gone and forgotten. When I was growing up, two forms of poetry that were popular were Ẹkún Ìyàwó (Nuptical chants), where a newly wed (the bride) would go around the village, chanting from house to house for a culturally determined number of days (probably 7). The chants were deep and endless. The young girl would have been subjected to learning this for a long time predating her wedding day. She learned it formally (and informally) under the tutelage of elderly women. 

The second form was called "Orin Ìbejì" (the poetry related to twin birth). The Yoruba are known for the most frequent occurrence of twin births. If the mother lost one of the twins, which was a common occurrence in those days of limited or a total lack of healthcare, she had to appease to the gods (of mortality) so she would not lose the remaining one. And so, a piece of wood was carved in the image of the one that died, which she carried together with the living one. She then chanted this peculiar poetry all around the village community for a specified length of time. These itinerant performances are lost arts, and those of us who lived through those days reflect on them with nostalgia!  

Just a thought.

MOA

On Saturday, August 12, 2023, 08:28:54 PM GMT+1, Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM, CDOA <chidi.opara@gmail.com> wrote:

Oluwatoyin,

You will find the article here: https://independent.academia.edu/ChidiAnthonyOpara

On Sat, Aug 12, 2023, 3:38 PM Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com> wrote:

Could you please repost the article here? It sounds very intriguing 

On Sat, Aug 12, 2023, 7:07 AM Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM, CDOA <chidi.opara@gmail.com> wrote:

In July, 2008, I wrote an article with the above title which deals with the evolutionary trends in poetry in Nigeria from the pre colonial to the colonial and then to the post colonial eras.

By November, 18th 2008, I posted the article on the Google forum known as "USA Africa Dialogue Series" and on other places on the internet.

Since the first publication of the said article, lots of other reputable and less known websites have also published it. Some persons have also lifted ideas and phrases from it in their own articles and have duly given credits.

The worrisome thing now, which necessitated this public information is that some persons have been lifting phrases and ideas from the article without giving due credits.

Such persons are hereby advised to desist from such unwholesome and criminal practice, which is specifically known as PLAGIARISM, as the undersigned henceforth would not hesitate to take appropriate legal actions against such persons.

Thank you all for your time.

Signed:

Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM, CDOA

(Author and Copyright owner of "Poetry Evolution In Nigeria")

Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

12th August, 2023.

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Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet, Professional Fellow of Institute Of Information Management Africa, MIT Chief Data Officer Ambassador, Registered Freight Forwarder and Editorial Adviser at News Updates.

More about him here: https://independent.academia.edu/ChidiAnthonyOpara

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