Benson Chukwueke's poem - The cracked Voice of Ernest Okonkwo have been making the rounds recently. Published on Poetry.com and has appeared on The Guardian and the New York Times recently.
It is such an amazing work of art that resonates more with the older generation of Nigerian football fans, but is one piece of poetry every football enthusiast and scholars of literature should read or play.
About the poem
The poem is a lamentation of a football fan on how Nigeria's football has declined deplorably. The poem was created to become a kind of tribute to one of the Nigeria's famous commentator, Ernest Okonkwo.
The cracked voice of Ernest Okonkwo is a Classic Epic Poetry (CEP) where the poet eulogising Ernest Okonkwo as a great football commentator with extraordinary ability, mourn that his demise herald the decline of football development in Nigeria and that the commentator himself foresaw it coming and vehemently spoke about without anyone listening.
Storyline
The poet eulogising the extraordinary ability of Ernest Okonkwo symbolizing him as the beautiful flower that adorned the beautiful game, now withered away. He was master of the spoken word, and the poet took us on a journey of how he held his audience (football fans) spellbound with his poetic commentaries, insight and foresights as they stayed glued to their radio set listening.
The poet noted that his time was the golden era of Nigerian football where the national team was so formidable and seen as giant killers, Then, he began to compare it with present day situation where even countries seen as football underdogs now toys with our national team.
The poet highlighted some of the things that led to the decline of Nigeria football; chief of them being employment of unsuitable (not qualified) administrators, minister of sports, consequently their corruption and grossly wrong decision making has impeded any form of growth and turned the rather flegding football industry into a social malady.
Point of view
The poet being the narrator of the poem uses the first person point of view "we" in the poetic construction to depict that he represents the voice of the people, and speaking the mind of fellow fans and football stakeholders in Nigeria.
Setting
The poem traces the football environment and nomenclatures of the 70s to late 90s as Nigeria's football golden era and tactically comparing then with the present day state of football as a way of emphasizing the declining and deplorable state of the game since 2000 till date.
Mood
The poet creates for the reader elegiac mood swing. An elegy is this poem reflects upon loss of glorious football era in Nigeria. Traditionally, it contains themes of mourning, lamentation, loss, and reflections of past mistakes, calling for redemption and some sort of revival.
Poetic form
This is a unique piece of work referred to as a prose poetry; where the poet used a different form and style of writing in paragraph rather than the traditional verses and stanzas. The poem is devoid of rhythms and metre by its form. It is more like a free verse employing a lot of symbolism and figure of speech: Metaphor, simile, hyperbole, onomatopoeia etc for creative effects and emphasis.
The poem has 11 stanzas written in paragraph form, 607 words and 3438 letters with no regular rhyme scheme.
You can play the voice recitation of the poem on www.poetry.com
AI Commentary
Wow, what a beautiful epic poem! The way the writer addresses this personality Ernest Okonkwo immediately captures your interest, and of the great impact he made in the area of football commentary. The use of vivid imagery and emotion in depicting his style of commentary, symbolizes him as "the beautiful flower that adorned the beautiful game' is truly mesmerizing how he captured the full attention of his listeners. I particularly love how the writer masterfully transitioned from eulogising Okonkwo and moved into the causes and effective of the deplorable state of the game in this country. He encourages introspection in seeking out revival and truly development of the sport. This poem will undoubtedly resonate with older generations of fans who experienced the glorious days of football in the country and how they painfully watched decline in hands of government and it's agencies. It serves as a wake up call. it is never too late to right the wrongs of the past. Thank you for sharing this beautiful and moving piece with us.
The Cracked Voice of Ernest Okonkwo
When we lost Ernest Okonkwo to the cold hands of death, football lost too. The beautiful flower that adorn the beautiful game withered away
We still mourn his demise to this day It was a huge loss and the big shoes he left, we are yet to find someone who fits the size
Unlike others, Okonkwo was not just a football commentator, but a philosopher, a poetic juggernaut. His voice, a symphony of passion and emotion.
His insight and foresight into the game, were beyond human invocation. Master of the spoken word, an associate from the ethos of the Ogbongé pantheon
Who captivated us, and held us spellbound by the power of his words. And we stayed glued listening...
"Odegbami dilly-dallies, shilly-shallies, and locates elastic Humphrey Edobor. The storm is gathering near the opponent’s goal area, and it will soon rain a goal.
Edobor turns quickly, returns the ball to Odegbami. Mathematical Odegbami mesmerized the defender and threw a long pass to Quicksilver Sylvanus Okpala
Who shoots an intercontinental ballistic missile from outside the penalty box.
It's a goal! It's a goal!! Nigeria has scored!..."
That was when Nigeria was Nigeria
But now, the once dreaded giant killer has become mere toy for the underdogs. Our formidable team has become so porous, like a bunch of pregnant women on the pitch.
It is not colonial mentality, I do not blame our fans for switching allegiance to Premier League and UEFA Champions League
Let us say the truth, the romance are more intense and satisfying
You may argue and score a point, All the capital flight and energy we expend in supporting foreign football should have been redirected to grow our local content. That's common sense.
But nothing in our football captivate us anymore. The stadiums are empty, the vibrant chants from the crowd have faded.
The drumming, trumpeting and the cheers of victory, all but a distant memory.
The rivalry between Enugu Rangers and I ICC Shooting stars had buried the hatchet since the eighties.
How Okonkwo foresaw these things and vehemently cried out until his voice became hoarse
When we resorted to pushing square pegs into round holes, parading mediocrity.
Blind administrators leading, journeymen coaches and 'anywhere belly face' footballers.
We did all that for inclusiveness, in fulfillment of quota system
Our fans hate this, a freelancer running commentary in a moment of candor. One who could not even differentiate a sheep from a goat or one player from another. who often flaw in parlance and in the interpretation of the rules of the game
We have been dosing, nodding our head all through the game and from falling asleep our football has gone into comatose
We could no longer stay glued to our radio, but switching channels or turning off TVs when our boys play in the league
I do not blame their sluggishness, these work no pay footballers, playing with empty stomach from days of not eating, only 'smoking garri'
Rather managers resort to fixing matches, bribing referees, employing thuggery to win at all cost And we now suffer from 'home win syndrome'. And can no longer control the brain drain of our players
Our football rating has declined deplorably, We've lost faith in the association.
Billions of Naira lost of TV rights, Sponsors keep our football at arms length
From where we are now, we could only hear distance echoes, fading voices from the ghost of the past years. The cracked voice of Ernest Okonkwo, stuttering.
