Poets in Nigeria have called on Nigerians to use poems as a form of expression for tackling social injustice by speaking up about the problems, finding solutions and how to implement them.
They made the call at the maiden edition of the LS Annual World Poetry Day celebration, organised by Lirad Nigeria and Soji Initiative in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, in commemoration of the World Poetry Day.
A poet and one of the conveners, Mr. Jude Ifeseme says that poetry is a form of art that should be an avenue for speaking out.
Ifeseme said that “poetry is the essence of life and the foundation of everything. If you look at the religious text, the Bible and the Quran, they are all captured in verse form. And so, we came together and said let us capture society, let us remind society by talking about our situation in Nigeria”.
“So, we hope March next year, we will still do World Poetry Day, although in between there is going to be a lot of events to actually discuss social justice using poetry, even before the next World Poetry Day”.
A Human Rights Lawyer and co-convener of the event, Miss Augusta Yaakugh said that Poetry could be used to effect change in Nigeria.
Miss Yaakugh noted that “the poets who made presentations, brought out these issues which is actually just the first phase of the conversation we will be having. We will talk about the problems, then the solutions and then we talk about how we can implement them in our lives”.
The theme of the event “Poetry as a Voice for Social Justice in Nigeria” had some young Nigerians sharing poems that bother on social justice and the way forward for Nigeria.
World Poetry Day celebrated on the 21st of March every year, is a day set aside by the United Nations and adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999.
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