Poetry, least favourite genre of literature among Nigerians
Poetry
By Anita Eboigbe
Abuja, March 21, 2018 (NAN) As the world celebrates World Poetry Day, some Nigerians have described poetry as their least favourite genre of literature.
Some respondents, who spoke with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said they find the genre uninteresting and too tedious to comprehend.
They could not remember the last time they read a work of poetry; however, they read prose or drama regularly.
They argued that poetry requires a lot of intellectual stress that is best limited to schooling, adding that the last time they took the genre serious was during secondary school final examinations.
Others told NAN that they have attempted to read poems but were forced to abandon the attempts when they found themselves feeling too lazy to decipher the hidden meanings.
An Engineer, Mr Cyril Itotoh said that he has not found time to appreciate poetry due to his career path, although he made distinctions in the genre during his secondary school days.
“Nothing really pushes me to read poems anymore especially with my engineering career.
“To think I used to have distinctions in poetry in secondary school and even encouraged people to love poems.
“These days, I hardly think in the direction of poetry because of work. Moreover, many people are not interested in it because it is difficult to understand,” Itotoh said.
Similarly, a makeup artist Miss Annette Okojie said that her career does not push her to randomly read poems.
She said some people find it difficult to connect to the genre because they think it is boring and it requires a lot of deep thinking.
“Poetry is made for people who think deep and not shallow minded people. This is why most people think it is boring because they don’t understand it,” Okojie said.
A journalist, Mr Samuel Maradesa told NAN that some Nigerians do not see the beauty of poetry, attributing it to the poor acceptance of the genre.
“Most people do not appreciate the beauty and power of poetry and are very lazy to analyse lines and stanzas which usually do not come with straight and plain meanings,” Maradesa said.
Miss Betsy Oloyede, a statistician reiterated that the lack of interest shown by some Nigerians in poetry is due to difficulty to assimilate the poems.
“Poems are seen as very exotic and complex. People want to read something they can relate with and catch the meaning immediately they pick it up. Poetry doesn’t provide this luxury,” she said.
However, a poet Chukwuemeke Ikediashi, popularly known by his penname ‘Defiant’, blamed the lack of appreciation of poetry on the increasing level of poor reading culture in Nigeria.
“Lack of poetry appreciation is not limited to poems; it cuts across prose and other readable material.
“With the use of social media, people don’t enjoy any intense reading or intense mental work.
“This affects the reception and audience capacity of certain creative works; people prefer funny videos and anything that can make them laugh or have fun.
“But they are laid back when it comes to real intellectual work like poetry.
“Poor reading culture is a huge problem that is slowly killing literature,” Ikediashi said.
NAN reports that World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21; and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.
Its purpose is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world.
According to the original UNESCO declaration, the Day is set aside to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements”. (NAN)
AEE/EAL
Edited by Ekemini Ladejobi