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SUMMARY
The poems studied in this essay are revolutionary consequently they portray Ezenwa-Ohaeto as a radical poet. He protests against societal deficiency with poor leadership as his focus of attack. He does not celebrate social vices and their perpetrators because he believes in a just society with functional institutions which are devoid of social-political decadence.
Noteworthy is the creative use of language to express his satirical message in the poems studied in this essay. Ezenwa-Ohaeto uses a simple language in order to easily reach his targeted audience. Irony, humour and creative language formed the basis of Ezenwa-Ohaeto’s attacks. That is, he uses these figures of speech to express his hostility against corruption. Moreover, pidgin English which is best known for its humour is deployed as a powerful tool which spurs the exploited masses into critical thinking. Noteworthy is the creative use of language to express his message. Ezenwa-Ohaeto uses a simple language in order to easily reach his targeted audience. Pidgin English is mostly used in his poetry and this aids his advocacy. F.N. Ogoanah and R.N. Chikogu agree that, “Pidgin, no doubt, plays a vital role in our national life” (80). Ezenwa-Ohaeto uses pidgin English to demonstrate the simplicity of his protest poetry. Since he writes to wake the sensibility of the downtrodden, he uses a variety of English that they understand and mostly use in their daily conducts. Moreover, the use of pidgin also helps to bring out the humour Ezenwa-Ohaeto largely depends on to launch his satirical attacks. Normally, pidgin English vocabulary is funny so the poet deploys it to mock societal vices which are celebrated in corrupt society like the one in all the poems studied. As a means of social correction, figurative language is deployed to uphold honesty over deceit and inconsistency common among both the ruled and the rulers. Therefore the use of pidgin English strengthens Ezenwa-Ohaeta’s satirical protest.
