Echoes of resistant writing in the poetry of Odia Ofeimun

Poetry has continued to remain a medium to interrogate the relationship between state actors and the governed within the Nigerian political landscape. This study examines the poetry of Odia Ofeimun published in the opening decades of the 21st century and observes that as a poet of the second generation of writers in Nigeria and Africa the poet has remained consistent with the tradition of the generation of writing for the deprived segment of society. It is the position in the paper that the poet, in these later collections, has continued and deepened his mission of feeling “for ears and hearts and hands / to rise w ith [him]” in the mission to steer society in a positive direction that will benefit all citizens. The paper, therefore, submits that Ofeimun has not wavered in his objective of holding the leaders in his society accountable to the people; and also, that the poet remains consistent that the power to change society for the better lies with the people. It is in this conviction, the paper argues, that Ofeimun vigorously writes of the travails and plight of the ordinary toiling people in order to “nudge and awaken them” to the reality that surrounds them so they can respond in kind to the pain that they feel and bear. This, as shown in the study, the poet believes is the direction to thread in order to redirect society on the straight path. The study is carried out in the light of the Marxist theoretical approach to literary discourse