Ambali Abdulkabeer
Department of English
Federal College of Education, Katsina
08104870543
abdulkabeerambali@gmail.com
Abstract
This paper proceeds on the assumption that literature is a social endeavour. It is an intellectual enterprise that understudies the political, cultural and economic issues inherent in a society. Little wonder that writers by means of prose, drama and poetry have used literature to redeem their society and provide viable ways for people out of several problems. However, this paper is a critical review of Remi Raji’s Gather my Blood Rivers of Songs. It dissects the poet’s exploration of varying themes such as moral decay, political ineptitude, religious bigotry, corruption, and others. Observation revealed that Remi Raji is a public-spirited poet who shares from the plight of the masses. The paper, thus, concludes that the collection is a marvelous contribution to the Nigerian literary landscape and that Remi Raji is one of the poets who do not only write to satirize the Nigerian society but also provide ways for its growth and development.
It is an often-cited truism that the Nigerian literary landscape is not in compliance with the principle of art-for-arts’-sake. This is so because literature is a social, cultural and political production. The socio-cultural dimension taken by a society directly influences the kind of literature such society produces. As a matter of fact, society provides a bearing for writers’ creative ability. In this regard, Nigerian literature forms an aggregate of creative writings shaped and determined by varying social, political and cultural peculiarities of the country.
However, as one of the dialectic paradigms of the contemporary Nigerian poetry, Remi Raji in Gather my Blood Rivers of Song genuinely engages in social and religious issues that permeate Nigeria. His people-centred creative approach distinguishes him as a poet who uses the tool of poetry to save the Nigerian society from the shameful pit of moral and religious putrefaction. A huge part of this collection is devoted to examining the issues of religious bigotry and moral decay that has enveloped the nation. The poet is able to connect the present to the past. In his attempt to bring to fore the responsibilities of a committed poet and the different images that a poet stands for, Raji quickly signals in the prologue to the collection thus:
I am the million selves speaking silently to the strange winds
my country of urgent memoirs, …
I am the rough sweet tongue of the city scoundrel
bonded to the beauty and sclerosis of violent syllables… (16)
The above is in tandem with the claim that a poet means different things to different people. In this context, that Raji is “the million selves” alludes to his role as a poet who uses his poetic pen to travel different parts of the Nigerian society. This essentially foregrounds his unrelenting effort in his condemnation of the decadence in which Nigeria is engulfed. In more ways than one, there is no denying that the metaphors “urgent memoirs” and “city scoundrel” relate the poet to the political situation in the country. By this, the poet is “bonded to violent syllables” in order to save a nation that is on the brink of collapse. It is no surprise, however, that the poet “sings about the sins of the flock and the cleric’s scars” (16) because he is fully aware of the degenerative leadership-followership relationship in the country.
Having said this, “Song of Toronto” echoes much of the concerns of Niyi Osundare’s Waiting Laughters as it brings to the open another disgusting aspect of moral decay in the country’s political landscape. Anchored on satire, the poem thematises the preponderance of certificate racketeering among political leaders. The reality presented in the poem is indicative of the mess on which the country thrives. It has now become a tradition to see politicians forging certificates or travelling far to get certificates they do not deserve. This has continued to pose deadly threat to the country’s polity. Screenings for entry into political offices are done shabbily as power mongers are appointed with fake credentials. In the same way, degrees are awarded to politicians on the basis of cash, and the effect of this is that incompetent, morally stained leaders are elected into important political offices. While lamenting on this seemingly insurmountable monster, the poet intones:
There are no fake degrees in this land
Where cash is the grammar for class
There are no fake degrees, no
Not forgery, but the Devil’s artistry (47).
However, the line “there are no fake degrees” is repeated to indicate the depth of immorality paddled by these politicians. For the poet, the country saunters into irremediable woes as a result of the immoral attitudes of the highly-placed towards excellence and merit. It therefore follows that government officials embrace immorality and consequently pollute the nation. This attitude, the poet maintains, has also created justifiable international disgust for the country. If people of affluence can buy certificates and be given honorary awards they do not merit, it means the country’s sense of morality is fatally damaged. No wonder, the poet also rhetorically asks:
Why did you go so far
To Toronto and such strange lands
When you can fetch double diplomas
And honorary doctor of Kleptosophy
In the nearby private tower behind the bush…? (47)
This socio-political exegesis continues in other parts of the collection as the poet unravels other issues that centre on religious bigotry and monumental moral decay in Nigeria. The collection is undoubtedly charged with the tone of anger for the poet is enraged by what the country has become. A sense of psychological trauma is therefore revealed as the poet is unable to determine where to place his faith since religious men who are supposed to chart way for redemption are also sunk in the mess. Instances of religious immorality as well as ostentatious religiosity abound in the collection. For instance, the sacred houses of God have lost their sense of purpose and responsibility as “the poet-persona hears beastly noises in the houses of God” (22). Thus, the fact that the houses of God have become “houses of gold” where all sorts of immoral acts are perpetuated affirms the depth of religious decadence the country is bedeviled with. The poet-persona comments as follows:
between the sweetness and hatred and the
staleness of loving
knowing not when and where to declare my faith (22-23)
That the poet is confused is therefore undeniable. The disgusting reality that stares us in the face, the collection alludes, is humongous. This is because even in religious places immorality is the order. The moral and religious makeups of the people are fatally putrefied by the situation of the country so much that religious followers dress immorally to “places of God”. The poem “Revelation” is quite revealing of the moral cum religious decay that has bedevilled the Nigerian society, especially university students. Therefore, poet’s choice of the title is very relevant to the sincere exegesis the poem contains. Interestingly, a synchrony between the poem and the last book of the Bible (Revelation) is hereby established. In this poem, several questions are posed to God by the poet to confirm the genuineness or identity of the incorrigible religious bigots. The poet-persona asks in the disjointed stanza below:
Are these your children
angel of heaven
come to earth
in holy hot
pants bra-
less tops
and frugal dress
hanging
by the cliffs
of provo-
-cative
curves…? (67-68)
In furtherance, it is unarguable that in morality and godliness the present generation of children is fallible. Through a number of metaphors, the poet chronicles his experience on a campus riven with decadence and whatnots. No wonder, the immoral dressing that permeates the Nigerian university campuses today has resulted in a lot of criminal acts such as sexual immorality. It lends credence to the redolent anti-cultural and religious relationship in which young men and ladies are engaged. As the consequence of civilization, the moral compass of the country is completely misplaced. To further explicate the strange attitudes of the university students and the loss of religiosity and morals, the poet-persona advances:
Are these thy brethren
in wired hairdo
and donts
of the world?
I must forgive the vogue and forget their naked-
-ness (69)
The palpable reality of the Nigerian society reflects the enactment of new, smelling “don’ts” in place of the dos of the society. This sounds disheartening as the country is now fraught with miasma of mess as conventions have given way for personal convictions that are utterly anti-social. It is clear that many of those that dress badly think that dressing and faith are unconnected and that their physique does not affect their relationship with God. The poet thus maintains that true religiosity is ensured by the marriage between morality and spirituality. That “they say your light shine/invisible/in the closet caves/of their mind (68) is representative of the truism that God dwells in the people’s mind. Interestingly, the consistent use of rhetorical question in the poem means that the spiritual makeup of the personality involved is subject to questions. This tendency for immorality is even nurtured by the hellish demands of the environment in which these students live. On a general note, the religion bigots “plant heresies untold/they nurture denials foretold/they share holy curses and malice/among a funky flock… (67)”, all in the name of religion.
In the same way, the poem “Not a Word” instances a society fractured by rueful politics of injustice, inequality and gargantuan marginalization of the masses. Imbued with structural incongruity, the poem thus offers disturbing instances of unjustly decadent system that is divided by corruption and its derivatives. Little wonder that the poet-persona underscores his anger as he intones, “talk to me / not about / the peace/ that will soon expire in the hands of inequity, / and inequality… (21). These epiphanic lines offer insight into the socio-political situation in Nigeria. The poet strongly abnegates any talk of peace that has injustice as its end.
However, to further affirm that the Nigerian society is constantly struck in socio-political and religious chicanery rife with needless contests and insecurity, the poet calls to question every campaign for peace in a system punctuated by sheer inequality and inequity. The context at work in the short poem “Not a Word” is symptomatic of a fractured system. Chaotically unjust society, the poet-persona avers, is unfriendly to national unity and peace. This is very important, especially this time that Nigeria is in the grip of insecurity and soul-killing corruption. As an advocate of unity and justice, the poet understands that talking about peace and unity when injustice and corruption remains, is irrelevant. He intones thus:
Don’t preach to me about
unity in the fog of injustice.
I hear the cry too, of men and women
through the years, and of children lost
or drowned in their own bleats… (21)
Aware of the unjust route which the nation treads, the poet does not feign to hear the pains of innocent men, women and children who have been subjugated and cheated upon by the avaricious leaders. In more ways than one, the depth of injustice in the nation has resulted in a number of problems, one of which is criminality. While the poet argues that not a word would restore unity and normalcy unless injustice and its derivatives are punched out of the system, he equally identifies with the victims of inequality in a nation ravaged by violence. The implication is, while leaders remain inept and unresponsive to the plights of the masses, chaos in form of violence sets in. This is understood in the context of the alarming rate of kidnapping and other social vices in Nigeria. No wonder, the streets are littered with lifeless bodies of innocent victims since injustice is lacking in the polity. This is graphically represented in “Animus I” as follows:
I see now we embrace bitterness
like the pill
We spit
and spit
We greet
and grip about
In the empty mill
We smile in malice
the new lovely things (22)
Because the nation has lost his compass of justice, all sorts of socio-political and religious violence ensue. Worrisome atmosphere is painted in “Animus I” and “Animus II”. Significantly, they both decry display of animalistic tendencies in man, a consequence of the absence of justice in the land. This is what the poet means when he says, “Sometimes I imagine Truth imprisons” (25). It can be fathomed that the absence of Truth gives way to “crooks of Unreasons” that in turn misgovern the people. The poet is here saying that silence exacerbates social injustice. When the poet intones that “For all who keep silent/shall inhale the rot, and the rage” (25), he indirectly foregrounds the social responsibility of the poet.
Besides the above, it is relevant to maintain that one of the problems bedevilling most African countries today is political ineptitude, and different poets have diverted their poetic energy to explicating the dangers it poses. As the conscience of the people, Raji decries the nature of leadership in Nigeria and captures the images of political incompetency. Little wonder that he calls the Nigerian state “the headless ram”, suggesting that the nation is unfortunate to be under the leadership of idiots. The economic stagnancy which characterizes Nigeria is hereby linked to political injustice that emanates from the nation’s political inefficacy. In “Monotones”, the poet-persona intones thus:
The land palpitates…palpitates
like the headless ram…
a nation of gangrenous patriots
a foolscap of clowns, a milliard maggoty mouth
speaking all at once (26)
Unarguably, the above clearly shows that the Nigeria’s politicians are morally decayed, that they are clownish humans with maggoty mouths. Their inept leadership makes the nation palpitate. In other words, sinful senators, incompetent avaricious leaders are in charge of politics that gives no room for justice. “Monotones” thus reveals that discussing the rot perpetrated by these gangrenous politicians cannot solve the nation’s problems, rather action can. The bane of leadership which serves as background to injustice and violence in the land is also hinted at in “A seasoning”. The poet, in the tone of anger, examines the Nigerian people “who speak as inheritors of ash in flood” (28). He in this way subtly condemns the politicians who are diabolic in their affairs. He intones thus:
We look for the brave breasts in the square, and find only
the diabolic bowel, the excellencies of rot
It is the season of dung-beetles…
The portrayal of the incorrigible thieves in the country’s political landscape is effective across the collection. The depth of dangers which this leadership error amidst other issues has posed to the country makes the poet conclude that until these people are removed from power, the nation may not be able to forge ahead. In the poem “I know the secrets of open roads”, the poet takes issues with the brainless representatives of the people who fail to rule up to the expectations of the masses. Instead of them to maintain public properties such as roads, they are busy channelling public fund wrongly. Thus, the roads bleed because they are not properly maintained by those concerned and the harrowing pains road accidents cause remain endless. In this way, “the secret” of accidents on highways is contextualized below:
There are also cracks in the cabinet of roads
Bedbugs and soldier-ants fill the houses of hunger… (33)
In a way, it can be argued that wrong people are placed in right places and vice-versa. Metaphors such as “bedbugs” and “soldier-ants” are deployed to reflect the Nigeria’s parasitic leaders whose happiness is people’s pains. The imagery invoked by these metaphors foregrounds the prey-predator relationship which exists between the government and the governed. Thus, “houses of hunger” represents power merely craven by hungry people who use every opportunity to prey on or oppress the masses. Similar confounding mess is presented in poem entitled “Let us remember the smell”. Laden with metaphors of decay, the poem yet problematizes the Nigerian political condition the same way the poem “The carpenter of Campbell Street” deploys synecdoche to lament the social and moral fracture Nigeria has suffered.
Taken together, Remi Raji can be said to be a mission-conscious poet moved by an ambition for social and political change. His poetry is garnished with mind-blowing metaphors invented for the benefits of the society for which he writes. This justifies E. E Sule’s claim that “Raji’s poetry transcends any private agenda, carries a vision anchored on a past plundered and wasted, in present burdened with frustration and anguish and in a future envisaged with surpassing optimism.”
Ambali AbdulKabeer is a writer and critic of contemporary writings. He is a graduate of English and Literature from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. AbdulKabeer writes to reflect the socio-political issues of his country and beyond. Some of his works have been published in both local and international journals. His book of poetry “Syllabus of Ruins and Other Poems” is on the verge of publication.
