Fostering Creativity, National Development Via Poetry

Poetry is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content.

It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience as different from ordinary prose.

It may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader’s or listener’s mind or ears; it may also use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects.

Poems frequently rely on the use of imagery, word association and the musical qualities of the language used.

The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what marks poetry as a distinct genre of art.

UNESCO Director- General Irina Bokova’s comment on poetry in 2012 somewhat highlights the effects of the poetry on national development.

“In a constantly evolving world, a world of rapid change and social transformation, poets have a presence, alongside civil movements, and the know-how to alert consciences to the world’s injustices as well as encourage appreciation of its beauty.

“We can also see their potential in new technologies and short messages that circulate on social networks, breathing fresh life into poetry, fostering creativity and the sharing of poems and verses that can help us to engage more fully with the world.’’

In the same vein, experts believe that poetry contributes to creative diversity, by questioning a new use of the community’s words and things, its modes of perception and understanding of the world.

They say through its associations, its metaphors and its own grammar, poetic language is thus conceivably another facet of dialogue among cultures, diversity in dialogue, free flow of ideas by word, creativity and innovation.

The World Poetry Day is marked on the 21st day of every March to reflect on the power of language and the full development of each person’s creative abilities.

The UNESCO, in its 30th session in Paris in 1999, decided to proclaim March 21 as the World Poetry Day.

According to UNESCO, the raison d’être behind the Day’s observance is to draw support for linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages an opportunity to be heard within their communities.

In a nutshell, the Day is meant to support poetry, return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals and promote the teaching of poetry, while restoring a dialogue between poetry and the other genres of art such as theatre, dance, music and painting.

The other objectives of the Day’s celebration are to support small publishers, while creating an attractive image of poetry in the media so that the art of poetry would no longer be considered as an outdated form of art.

UNESCO, therefore, encourages its member states to take an active part in celebrating the World Poetry Day, at both local and national levels.

Such celebrations are supposed to entail the active participation of national commissions and non-governmental organisations, as well as public and private institutions such as schools, municipalities, poetic communities, museums, cultural associations, publishing houses and local authorities.

Speaking on poetry, Sen. Yusuf Ahmed, the Pro-Chancellor, Baze University, Abuja, said that poetry could be used to boost national development if its attributes were properly harnessed.

He made the assertion in Abuja last year at the 2nd Korea-Nigeria Poetry Feast, organised to mark the 2012 World Poetry Day.

“National development boils down to enrichment of individual character involved in poetry.

“No single individual retains the benefit of poetry, poetry is written by one person but it is beneficial to the whole society,’’ he added.

Ahmed suggested the organisation of poetry competitions among schools would increase the level of literacy in the society. He maintained that the poetry feast would deepen and enhance knowledge on Nigerian and Korean cultures.

Mr Choi Jong-Hyun, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, noted that the event would further promote the bilateral relations existing between Nigeria and Korea, as the two countries are “blessed with rich cultures, landscapes and manpower’’.

Also speaking, Mr Suh Jeong Sun, the Director of Korean Cultural Centre, said that the objective of the poetry feast was to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression.

The Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) on Oct. 15 last year inaugurated the “100,000 Poets for Change Initiative’’ to stimulate the reading habit among children in Kuje Area Council.

The association’s President, Mr Eriata Oribhabor, said that the initiative was particularly aimed at promoting upcoming poets and artists in the area council.

“We expect to enhance literary activities in the area by improving on the reading culture as well as the number of change agents in this locality and beyond.

“More importantly, we shall see a new set of people that sees beyond the `run of the mill’ approach to issues that largely characterised our everyday life in Nigeria,’’ he said, adding: “We are for positive change.’’

Oribhabor said that the programme was aimed at supporting and working for the country’s peace and sustainability by using poetry and similar instruments.

“Change is constant but the right change, which we envisage, is relative and it is a recurring challenge.

“In its relativeness, we can see and feel the right changes whenever we encounter one.

“We can do it by doing it right at all times. Once we are conscious of this, we will continuously impact on our immediate environment positively irrespective of whatever we engage in,’’ he said.

Oribhabor added: “What we are talking about is poets for change, musicians for change, farmers for change, engineers for change, builders for change, artists for change and painters for change, among others.

“We are reaching out to everyone for the production of change agents in all strata of life for the betterment of our nation’s body polity.

“We cherish the burden of being mirrors of our respective societies.

“We are all for positive change and will continue to fly the flag for change wherever the opportunity beckons,” he said.

Oribhabor then pledged that a more elaborate 100,000 Poets for Change event would be organized this year.

He said that the 100,000 Poets for Change Initiative was aimed at mobilising “great minds” to render support for nation-building efforts, “which our children will gladly build upon’’.

He said that the 100,000 Poets for Change organisation was co-founded in the US by Michael Rothenberg II and Terri Carrion.

All the same, literary experts argue that tangible efforts should be made to rekindle the people’s interest in poetry, saying that poetry is globally recognised as a tool of intellectual development.

“Most of the world’s renowned philosophers are great poets; great thinkers and great strategists,” some of the experts add.

Agbeja wites for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Gabriel Agbeja