The President and Other Poems

This anthology is not just meant to recognise Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former Nigerian President’s sincere praiseworthy call for rejuvenation of reading culture during his noteworthy tenure, but also to encourage poetry appreciation and reading among Nigerians. Poetry is the most unread among the three genres of literature by many Nigerians. Yet, poetry is the most enthralling and imaginative of the three. It is in this vein the book is also meant to promote poetry reading in the country with presidential affiliation.

Poetry is very dynamic. It dwells on all ramifications of life, depending on the theme a writer chooses to explore. Poetry goes beyond just art, but also uses scientific language to joggle readers’ imagination. This is evident in my poetry collection titled Chemical Poetry. The use of language or diction in a poem depends on the writer’s mastery or expertise in handling it according to the theme being discussed, in concordance with the atmosphere of the message delivery.

Moreover, I don’t owe anybody any apology for publishing this anthology. Critics may have a field day criticising it constructively or destructively. They are entitled to their own opinions. But history has been made whether anybody likes it or not as President Jonathan cannot be denied of being the first Nigerian President who used the Internet social media to interact with Nigerians and used excerpts of the proceedings to publish a book titled My Friends and I on Facebook. Perhaps, it was during his communication on the net that he discovered that many Nigerians are not very literate or academically sound enough, hence his call for re-awakening of interest in reading for intellectual and academic re-engineering, which could reflect positively on the polity economically, socially, technologically and legally, etc. And it is a fact that it is not all Nigerian professors that are computer or Internet literate, from previous encounter I had with some.

Year-in year-out for decades, Nigeria has been producing many substandard graduates from primary to tertiary schools’ level. Reports abound about many University graduates who cannot properly read or pronounce words in their chosen field of study, let alone write five sentences without committing serious blunder. Moreover, perhaps as a former lecturer, Mr. President had noticed the poor level of many students he had taught, hence his desire to encourage rejuvenation of reading culture in line with W. Somerset Maugham’s opinion that “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from all the miseries of life.” There are many graduates who have not been reading at all since they graduated more than a decade ago. As humans tends to learn and forget things, such people could become illiterate within a short period of time even in their field of studies according to Mark Twain’s statement that “There is no difference between a person who won’t read and one who can’t read.”