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Abu sings freedom in Don't Look At Me Like That
The beauty of poetry as a literary genre has remained its sublimity and the license it provides poet opportunity to couch their words. Not only does it find a space in the minds of budding writers, many have also come to see it as a medium to experiment with the spoken word.
Little wonder the ace broadcaster and novelist, Eugenia Abu, finds freedom, life and redemption in Don't Look at me Lime That; her first published collection of poetry, which was presented to the public last week in Abuja.
The event, unlike others of its type, was well attended by the public including political office holders, Nigerian Television Authority's family and the art community as well as friends.
Also present was president of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and former Minister of State for Education, Dr. Jerry Agada; wife of the late Nigerian Head of State Gen Murtala Ramat Mohammed, who was assassinated in office, Mrs. Ajoke Mohammed; wife of Audu Ogbe, former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party and now of the Action Congress, as well as the Managing Director, The Guardian Newspapers Limited, Mr. Emeka Eluem Izeze.
Representing the Director General, NTA, Mallam Usman Magawatta, was Mallam Sule Bello, who described Abu as a talented member of NTA family. He recalled the success story of her debut publication, In a Blink of an Eye, which he said, had paved way for another feat by the author.
While congratulating her for setting a pace, he described Abu as a worthy ambassador of the NTA family. In his own remarks at the event, the husband of the poet, Mr. Thompson E Abu, expressed gratitude to their guests and stressed that their presence had marked the 'triumphant entry of the book' into the Nigerian market.
He noted that very often, people turn down invitations to book presentations for fear of spending money, but the evening was different as a lot of people came to celebrate with Eugenia out of love.
It was not an evening of speeches but a festival of poetic and musical performances. The evening also created a platform for creative minds, not only to showcase their talents, but also to relieve the audience of the traditional boredom association with book launch.
Mrs. Mohammed, who prayed for God's continuous strength and blessings on the poet, performed the unveiling ceremony. She also commended Eugenia's husband for giving her the opportunity to explore her talents.
Don't Look At Me Like That is a collection of 48 poems, which cuts across social, domestic and philosophical issues. In fact, the collection is replete with poet's encounter with everyday life, which sometimes are not very pleasant as pictured in The Roads Were Thirsty Today and Suicide on a Friday Evening - an encounter with a road accident victim and a neighbour, who committed suicide respectively.
Other poems in the collection include I miss you when it rains, Cotton floss, The working mother, Children of my heart, Untitled, Love triumphant, The odd job, odd man, I go forward, Dentures of life and His wonders to perform, among others.
The title poem, Don't Look At Me Like That is thought provoking as it reminds the reader of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the stigmatization those living with the scourge have to go through. The poem does not only speak for the sick, who are in their pitiable physical frames, it also lends a voice to the clamour by the government and various groups for an end to era of all forms of stigmatisation of the people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
In the poem, the PLWHA makes bold to fight back by saying: "Don't look at me like that, shifting seats when I sit beside you. It is my ankle that hurts from illness; I was not born this way, show love not scorn. Don't look at me like that..."
Speaking on what influenced the title, Abu said it was generic. According to her, it was her contribution towards alleviating the plight of the downtrodden, the unjustly accused and the sick. Her targets were those, who despise their fellow men due to their unfavourble condition without emphasis on the cause of their afflictions. It was that disgust in their looks and actions, their indifferent attitude and callousness, the poet said, motivated the questions that formed the title of the book - Don't Look At Me Like That. "The poem was entered for HIVAIDS competition for West Africa, unfortunately, it didn't beat the deadline and I included it in the collection. There are people, who think they know better and they look down on others. That should not the case be because they don't know what has happened to the person or where he is coming from."
The poet, a compassionate, loving sister, pays tribute to her late sister, Josephine Amodu, in My Sister Departs on New Year's Day. She recalls the trauma and ordeal associated with the loss of a cooking genius, generous and a humorous sister on the midnight of a New Year.
Abu's experience as a career woman, mother, wife and a gender activist is explored in The working mother. The efficient combination of various demands and expectations, all at the appropriate time, she said, makes the woman worthy of appreciation.
She, however, laments the fact that in her selfless bid to prepare meals for the family tend the kids as well as meet up with her official expectations; her health is put in jeopardy.
"As noon dangles overhead, on a hot busy day, mum slips through noonday with eyes on the clock as it tick, tocks. Lunch time, pick up time, cooling time, meeting time, report time, without a thought to biological time passing."
That man's daily struggles would always amount to not without God's mercies and love, influenced Thank you Lord for awakening - a philosophical piece aimed at appreciating the blessings of God upon her family and man in general.
She thanks God especially for the ability to wake up after the long hours rest in the sub-conscious.
The word 'awakening' as used in the poem does not only entail the physical rise from sleep and the hustles that heralds the dawn of a new day, it also assumes a metaphoric position, when the poet's definition of awakening transcends the obvious to mean either a spiritual transformation, a rise to career stardom or a breakthrough in a particular sphere of life through divine favour. Not only does she describes the new awakening as bright as ever and wishes to go back to night no more, she prays her creator for the sustenance of the new dawn in her life.
Because I Am A Woman is a deflation of men's pride as well as a gift of life and hope to the feminine gender, especially those, who see themselves as less mortals, incapable of facing equal challenges with the males in the corridor of life.
No doubt, the Poet is able to achieve more feats in life because of her conviction that women are the best creation. Their ability to uphold the children, the community, the nation, their multi-dexterous ability to work and love, fetch water, break woods, their bedroom antics and their responsibility at procreation are some of the factors that not only distinguish women enigmas but also place them high above their male counterparts.
The poem tries to rouse conscious feelings in the minds of women, who are too weak to stand or walk, to aspire or to achieve, those that are perpetually under ceiling due to their gender as well as those, who have lost their voices to obnoxious traditions that are inhuman and sentimental to the feminine gender.
The poet admonishes such people to hold their heads high because they are the best. "Hold your hands together; hold your head high, because you are the best. You are a woman, an African woman, holding the candle, holding your nations, holding the children and now, look at you, holding the offices."
The final part of the poem emphasis the need for collaboration in the fight for their liberation. Aware that women hold the future, she calls for togetherness, stressing that she is what she is because she is a woman. Lets do this together; it will get better because I have you, I am, because I am a woman.
In all, her poems are thought provoking and every piece, a delight, lyrical and rhythmic to the ear. Most commendable however is her choice of diction, which she employed consistently to the end. Though not totally simple, it was within the understanding of an average lover of poems.
Don't Look At Me Like That comes in 114 pages and appealing back cover. Kraft Books Limited, Ibadan, publishes it.
From Guardian Newspapers Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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