Nigeria: Power Supply And the Abiku Jinx

opinion

From literary aesthetics to behavioural psychology, industrial disputes, economic downturn, value depreciation in educational system, dysfunctional politics, capacity under-utilisation and so forth, the endemic problem of epileptic power supply is at the very root of Nigeria's underdevelopment.

When the mythical bug of their Africaness caught up with Nigeria's post-colonial writers, and they began to source materials for poetic expressions, the Abiku phenomenon lent itself to the imagination of the 1986 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka, and his compatriot playwright, John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo. The Abiku myth, in a nutshell, encapsulates the notion of a child that is born to die but would take pleasure in torturing his hapless parents. While the Abiku persona in J.P.Clark's poem demands supplication from his parents, the one in Soyinka's poem boasts of his mischievous presence. Time and again, he comes and goes in "several seasons" giving the parents the unending hope that someday he might outlive his usual brevity of life span.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.