Role Of the Contemporary Performance Poet in National Development: The Dike Chukwumerije Example

Abstract

Performance poetry in Africa has always been in the service of humanity. In spite of the massive cultural shift in Africa owing to the impact of colonialism and globalisation, oral poetry has remained resilient yet dynamic as it retains its place in most African societies. Contemporary oral poetry, also known as ‘performance poetry’ or popularly known as ‘spokenword’ or ‘spokenword poetry’, is the extant form of oral poetry which gains attention in public spaces and uses both primary and secondary oralities as its medium. Contemporary oral poetry has the unique advantage of reaching thousands of people at once and therefore could be used as a powerful tool for cultural reorientation and national development. Dike Chukwumerije is widely recognized for his outstanding oral poetry which mostly concerns national integration, social justice and national development. National development is not limited to infrastructure and physical facilities; it also includes the quality of education and orientation citizens of a given country receive. Anchored on the postcolonial literary theory and functionalist theory of oral literature, the paper focuses on two of Dike Chukwumerije’s spoken word poems, “The Wall and The Bridge” and “They Say I Come From a Free Country”, highlighting the role of the contemporary oral poet in national development from the preoccupation and performance of these poems.