The Text without a Full-stop

By

Obododimma Oha

Two things become very clear to me. First, anybody could be a poet. Poets don't have to have grey hair or wear unkempt beard. Just anyone could be a poet. Was that not why an Igbo sage warned that if we have too much on our minds, we might pass a spirit unknowingly and fail to greet?

Secondly, it has become glaring that poets are not just writing poems. A poet may be rigorously theorizing. Just as many African ancestors used proverbs and folktales to theorize. Poets' theories on texts, societies, etc could be particularly interesting. It is on that basis that one would like to comment on Bimbola Faith's poem below. 

  that full-stop you saw

did not end that sentence

that full-stop

was never the closure to the text

for behind every dot on the page

are thousands and millions of unspoken texts

countless pieces of allophones, phones and phonemes

innumerable companies of allomorphs, morphemes and words

heavy, horrendous, homongous emotion

open, borderless, boundless, deep, vast feelings

but all approximated into a grunt, a tear or a smile

many things to say

many things unsaid

many things unsayable

everything rounded off to a dot

One thing that is noticeable is the shape of the poem: first, it is centralized and there is minimal punctuation, especially full-stop, at the end! And the poem is talking about full-stop and text-making! Punctuation marks or pauses could be check-points we create here and there on the highway of the text. They  create borders and boundaries to the stream of speech unnecessarily. By the way, did you notice that the poem was given no title? That could be deliberate. Don't titles that we give articles and books imply their having borders of meaning, of ideation? 

It means the poet would like us to shift from the sentence as we know it to the text and stop thinking of check-points. If we think too much about the sentence or make our grammar too sentential, then we would think of having check-points and they could slow our journey down! 

But apart from slowing down the journey to meaning, other things in the journey are worth thinking about. One could think of the "innumerable" morphemes and allomorphs, the phonemes and their friends. The unfathomable "vast feelings" and grunts that cannot be accounted for while checking the sentences for correctness. In addition, certain emotions can be uttered, some not uttered, and some beyond utterance. 

It is obvious that the poet is in the frightening zone of post-structuralism. It is typical of these thinkers who populate deconstruction to focus on texts and to discourage attachment to sentence grammar. Same for the later versions of systemic linguistics. Their fascination is with text grammar. 

This is clearly exemplified in the poem. The text and the world must be linked up. No boundaries. No check-points. No delays on this search for meaning. That ideological trash and that pragmatic statement about "everything" being "rounded off" can show us where we are secretly going. There is always some gain in checking how text and context are linked. 

The more I read the untitled poem, the more I learn about the text and test myself on text-making in this troubled world. Same way I learnt  some years ago about post-structuralist metafiction, while supervising a PhD project on it. We learn everyday and should be humble enough to allow the poem to theorize about the text and to teach us. 

ENDTIME BLUES

BY

OBODODIMMA OHA 

It is endtime, my friend 

You can no longer sneeze or cough

If you do that

At a community meeting

Everybody would run away 

Wetin e carry?

COVID? 

E suppose die now! 

There's fire on the mountain 

Run run run

Coughing and sneezing should have

Their own police

To monitor transgressions!

 

No coughing allowed here 

No sneezing allowed there 

Says COVID police 

Transgressors and terrorists beware

Be aware.

Squirrels Complaining

By

Obododimma Oha

Somebody touches that mango tree, 

"Oh, the whole tree has been sold to Mama X

And you know she uses juju" 

Somebody touches that orange tree, 

" No, it has been sold to Mama Y,

And she's a fighter."

Somebody touches that pineapple, 

"No way, it has been sold to Mama Z,

And she's only waiting for it to get ripe...."

Mangoes and oranges and pineapple 

Are for the market. 

You need the money to pay contributions. 

Later, you can go and buy medicines 

From that illiterate in that shop. 

No wonder you die suddenly 

" Gone Too Soon"

You are already dead,!

Money Talks

Onye Ọfọogeri

By

Obododimma Oha

Young men who are very carefree about life are referred to in Igbo discourse as "ọfọogeri" (literally meaning, "It remains a wife or woman.")  However, it means that the referent is

  -- - wayward

  - - - not focused in life

  - - - not serious-minded

  - - - too casual with life.

The literal interpretation is based on an assumption that being married to a woman helps a man to get organized and be focused. So, "onye ọfọogeri" (an ọfọogeri person) is not yet anchored in life and is too carefree. Such a person cannot be entrusted without a serious social responsibility. The fellow is still growing up and needs to see more of life. 

"Ọfọogeri" may be rendered in other Igbo dialects as  "Akaroogeri" or "Efulefu." Some would prefer "iforifo." But the sense is the same. 

Ọfọogeri" may be used as a mere commitment to what is not helpful to the making of a man. For instance, someone could have a passion for accumulating carved objects. This may be called his or her "ọfọogeri." In that case, "ọfọogeri" becomes his or her commitment in that understanding. Poor judgment, you may say. 

In that case, it is seen as "ọfọogeri" to be spending one's money (wasting one's money?) buying and accumulating what is considered "not wealth." 

That means that every individual has their own kind of "ọfọogeri." It could even be the accumulation of books, as in my own case. In fact, I had jokingly told one of my booksellers one day: "If I am dead and buried and my children want to auction my books, I would rise from my grave and shout, leave my books alone! In fact, I don't want to die again!" For some, it may even be the case of taking photographs of every lizard that crawls past and posting them on Facebook! Or, somebody may be too attached to the cellphone and always looking out for an opportunity to have a chat. So, my "ọfọogeri"may even be your wisdom! 

Another thing is that some people even make light the idea of "ọfọogeri," adding another decorative term, "ọfọse" to it. Nobody can tell exactly what "ọfọse" means. They just utter "ọfọogeri ọfọse" without bothering about the meaning of "ọfọse." 

A "special ọfọogeri," but one cannot tell what makes the "ọfọogeri" special. Same for "bad ọfọogeri." Where or what is the badness? So, it is possible that "ọfọse" is a mere embellishment. 

Some more on marriage and "ọfọogeri." The referent is being humored for lacking a wife and being foolishly free or enjoying the freedom of foolishness. In that case, "ọfọogeri" is freedom but it is foolishness. It is considered better to have a source of a headache than not to have it at all or to rejoice that one is free from it! Imagine the fallacy! Having a family to take care of or being married does suggest a headache. It could even be a therapy! But the fallacy is the discursive logic and rules life in the society. One, therefore, has no choice than to run away from being called an "ọfọogeri." 

It should be clear now that "ọfọogeri" is just what a society calls a character it does not admire or desire. Implicitly, it is a society that thinks that personal freedom has to be earned and that observers need to see the extent one has lived, fulfilling responsibilities and performing social assignments. Marriage is one context where one can prove to society that one can be entrusted with responsibility, it seems. 

There is also that assumption that the "ọfọogeri" is just doing things without being focused. That is a statement supporting it being presented as the social undesirable. Maybe the "ọfọogeri" has a different model but that model has no place in a context where responsibility is measured by compliance to norms. Maybe the "ọfọogeri" is just a maverick. 

There are some professions that seem to be marked out for the "ọfọogeri," for instance, music or entertainment . Being a musician was particularly seen in the Igbo local area as being lost in life. The feeling was: how can someone be playing music all his or her life and hope to place food on the table? That should remind us about Chinua Achebe's character, Unoka, who liked playing his flute and played it all his life as his main commitment. Musicians were seen as super "ọfọogeri" who were not rooted and could not be rich in life. 

Next to music as the territory of "ọfọogeri" is professional driving. The professional driver is one public figure who meets various kinds of people. Mainly dominated by men, professional driving in a place like Africa is such that the man meets several women and may fall in love with some. So, at every stopping point, he is likely going to have a lover or a woman who is already his wife! So, professional driving is classified as an "ọfọogeri" business. 

But whether a professional driver or a musician, the "onye ọfọogeri" may live longer and happier, managing to attend to home and societal needs. In fact, some "ọfọogeri" persons succeed in accomplishing what socially approved citizens cannot. 

"Onye ọfọogeri" is just a social label. Times change and attitudes must. 

"Nwamkpi" in Igbo Proverb Lore

 

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By

Obododimma Oha

"Nwamkpi" or "mkpi" (He-goat) features in Igbo wise sayings in some interesting ways. Is it because "nwamkpi", with what looks like a beard, what some call "goatee," looks funny or what? Is it because "Nwamkpi" with its unique aroma, is highly preferred as meat in what is popularly known as "pepper soup"? Here are some of the proverbs :

 1.  Nwamkpi sị na ebe ya jere ikwunne ya ka mụtara ịjaghe ọnụ (The he-goat said it was where he visited his mother's relatives that he learned to open his upper lip).

 2. Nwamkpi sị  na ya ma na amaghị agba egwu, ma erughuru mụbara ya, ya gbaba/ ya awụlibe elu (The he-goat said that he knew that he did not know how to dance, but if soldier ants, beat drums for him, he would start dancing /he would start jumping up).

 3. Nwamkpi na-esu afụrụ ma ajị ekweghị sị hụ ya (The he-goat is really sweating but we can't see it because of hair).

 4. Ihe na-esi nwamkpi n'ahụ dị n'okpuru ya (The smell of the he-goat proceeds from under him).

 5.  Nwamkpi sị na njepụ bụ njepụ (nkwụtọba bụ nkwụtọba). (The he-goat said his slight sexual effort is worthwhile). 

 6. Lee Nwamkpi na nkịrịka ọgọdọ̀ (See the he-goat and rags). 

Two types of featuring are involved : the type that  reports what the he-goat was said to have said and the type in which the he-goat's action is only reported.

The type that reports what the he-goat was said to have said:

This type of reporting that is used as wise saying is normally called "wellerism." The funny idea is that we can learn to be wise from lower animals, in other words, pocket our arrogance. Also, in this reporting of the he-goat, we have rich wisdom about learning from others,  being forced to something by circumstance, and about sexuality.

We just have to learn from others. They are also our teachers, especially elderly relatives. The he-goat learnt to do what his kind naturally does. We can see that this kind of proverb can easily be used to appeal to a situation as being natural. But we can also learn the unnatural!

The he-goat is also reported to have said something about an inevitable circumstance. Natural situation again! The he-goat said that he knew that he did not know how to dance, but must dance when soldier ants beat the drums for him. Beating the drums for him is a figurative way of saying "attack him". Other versions would say, "if there is a drumbeat in his father's courtyard and he doesn't know what to do, he would start jumping up and down." There is obviously an attempt at humouring the action of the he-goat. But we know the animal is in great trouble. It is not a laughable matter! 

The action of the he-goat is also euphemized, in line with this humouring. The struggle against the attack by soldier ants is being configured as "jumping" and "dancing," but we know that this is misleading. 

He-goats like sex, no wonder the he-goat itself has become a metaphor and symbol for a man who likes making love. Not surprised the he-goat has something to say about sex. He is commending himself, saying the effort is worthwhile, even if not thorough! Obviously, this is exaggerated, since the he-goat and sex are linked!

So, "nwamkpi" is stereotyped as a sexomaniac. Who says that sex cannot lead to death? Ask "mkpi." He can tell. Master of "nkwụtọba." 

OK, let examine the actions reported.

The He-goat's actions/experiences:

We are told that the he-goat is sweating, but that the hair it has prevents us from knowing. But why is he sweating? Maybe troubles or problems it encounters. The he-goat should face responsibility and sweat more. This is not "nkwụtọba." This is action and calls for solution, not mere sweating. 

Or maybe he is sweating in his "nkwụtọba." We know how committed he-goats could be to "nkwụtọba." 

In #3, the he-goat is confessing that he, too, is struggling, watchers may not know. That confession is like it. Another person may not know that the person said to be enjoying is also suffering. If we are where we are, we dream of being where we are not! So, the he-goat is right. The he-goat is a philosopher! 

So, I may be sweating, even though I am driving Mercedes-Benz 500 and the air conditioner is fully on. You can come and confirm it. In that case, have I not suddenly put on the skin of "nwamkpi" ? That means that "nwamkpi" is not just that bearded animal on four legs. There are other  "nwamkpi" sweating profusely, even though shielded by hair. 

Oh, that smell! Where is it coming from, now that there is no air freshener around. I suspect that it is coming from under that he-goat. Maybe I got this idea from the link between he-goats and smells. Sometimes, there is that cultural assumption that he-goats are associated with smelling. Is this assumption valid? Anyway, if the smell is assumed to be coming from under the he-goat, someone should do something about it. Maybe a thorough bath and a perfume. 

But consumers of he-goat peppersoup may like that treatment. Anyway, the smell seems to go with mortal liking. So, let's let it rest. 

Then, another unfortunate stereotype in the proverb lore: the he-goat and being in rags. What has he-goatness got to do with being in rags? What does it mean to be "in rags"? Rag represents penury. So, if it is being used in narrating the he-goat's condition, it is obviously a dyphemism and an attempt at showing how bad things are with him. This again may be an exaggeration. "nwamkpi" may not have it that bad. 

To put all together, "nwamkpi" is an interesting character but teaches us. Who says that the bad cannot teach goodness? It is a paradox but we should know that "nkwụtọba" is "nkwụtọba."