Forms of Political Consciousness in the Poetry of Tanure Ojaide: A Study of The Endless Song and When It No Longer Matters Where You Live

Abstract

Tanure Ojaide has become a major force in contemporary Nigerian poetry.
Indeed, in the generation of Nigerian writers after the Achebe – Clark –
Okigbo – Soyinka era, Ojaide’s ascendancy is incontrovertible. This
relevance is not just in the prolificacy of his output, but also in his social
relevance as the voice of the voiceless. With particular emphasis on The
Endless Song and When it no longer Matters where you live, this paper
shows how Ojaide uses his craft to comment on the political reality of his
day. The paper also posits that far from being an indifferent commentator,
the poet is a fully partisan recorder of the struggles that play out on the
Nigerian national political scene.