EXPLORING SOCIO-POLITICAL DECAY IN NIGERIAN SOCIETY THROUGH THE PIDGIN POETRY OF PETER ONWUDINJO

Abstract

The paper examines multifaceted decadences that have pervaded the society. Theproblem of the study emanates basically from the fact that Peter Onwudinjo’s poems have oftenbeen beclouded by other social themes and, most times, glossed over by pedestrian generalization.This study pays critical attention to the distinctive aesthetic features of the pidgin poetry ofOnwudinjo, especially, in areas that have been relatively ignored in scholarship. The mainobjective of this study is to show the effectiveness of pidgin in interrogating a society bedevilledwith institutionalised degeneration and prejudice. The choice of his poetry is informed by thepoet’s knowledge of the decay in Nigerian society as implicated in his poems. His aversion for therots in our educational sector, the inglorious behaviours of the youths, the atrocities practised inour churches and visionless leadership are intricately woven in his poems. This study uses thecontent analysis method of research and New Historicism as the theoretical framework to examinethe socio-political decay in Onwudinjo’s pidgin poetry collection entitled De Wahala for Wazobiaas the source of primary data. The theory re-emphasizes the fact that literary works should takeinto consideration the poets, writers, critics and contextual space in which a work of art is written.The findings reveal the efficacy of pidgin in addressing the decadence in the society. The paperconcludes that setbacks in our society are products of a particular history and should beinterrogated by scholars, writers and critics in that clime.