Insurgency in Recent Nigerian Poetry: The Examples of Idris Amali and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo

Abstract

Insurgency is a threat to peace, security, and national development. It reveals the worst of humanity, and it is a hydra-headed monster that must be killed if human lives are to be protected. This essay, exploratory and analytical, examines insurgency in recent Nigerian poetry with the aim of revealing the effects and making recommendations on how to defeat this national threat to progress. The poems of Idris Amali and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo are evaluated as they are contained in Amali’s Efeega: The War of Arts and Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Waiting for Dawn. This paper exploits the theory of trauma, an offshoot of psychological theory, to interrogate the poets’ presentation of insurgency in their poetry. The essay concludes that both poets are preoccupied with the consequences of insurgency: psychological and physical, and that deploying science and technology as well as rehabilitating homeless children, early preparation, and proactive governance are viable options that the poets have suggested in combating the monster of insurgency in Nigeria.