Not my Business, a poem by Niyi Osundare (briefly analyzed by Lene Ododomu, a student of English and Literature in the university of Abuja)

       Not my Business by Niyi Osundare

                     The poem

They picked Akanni up one morning

Beat him soft like clay,

Stuffed him down to the belly

Of a waiting jeep.

What business of mine is it

So long they don't take the yam

From my savouring mouth?

They came one night

Booted the whole house awake

And dragged Danaladi out,

And then off to a lenthy absence.

What business of mine is it

So long they don't take the yam

From my savouring mouth?

Chinwe went to work one morning

Only to find her job was gone:

No query, no warning, no probe;

Just one neat sack with stainless record.

What business of mine is it

So long they don't take the yam

From my savouring mouth?

And then one evening

As I sat down to eat my yam

A knock on the door froze my hungry hand

The jeep was awaiting on my bewildered lawn

Waiting, waiting on its usual silence.

           Summary of the Poem

A Ghanian analyst reviewed that the poem, Not my Business was written in accusation of the murderous dictatorship of Gen. Sani Abacha from 1993 to 1998. The poem, however,  is a satirical poem that briefly talks about the spread of oppression in the society and its consequences  of staying silence in the face of injustice. 

The first, second and third stanza introduced us how the people faced the evil  of oppression and then the negligence of the speaker who feels no concern because he was not affected. But ironically, the last stanza introduced us to  the selfishness speaker who was paying a nonchalant attitude towards the victims of oppression-was also visited by the same oppressors and treated the same. 

         

             A brief structural analysis

Hailing from Nigeria, Niyi Osundare finds an outlet in his poem 'Not my Business' to express his views of the actions taken by repressive regimes such as the one that exists in his own country.

However, the first three stanzas of this four-stanza poem are identical in structure. The first four lines of each describe how acquaintances of the narrator disappeared in either brutal or mysterious circumstances. In the first stanza, Akanni is beaten and pushed inside a jeep; Osundare uses personification to create this image, describing how the victim was 'stuffed ... down the belly' of the jeep. The final three lines of this stanza, which are completely identical to those of the following two stanzas, convey the reaction of the narrator to this sudden, shocking event. Using the metaphor 'So long they don't take the yam / From my savouring mouth?' he considers that it is none of his business. As long as it doesn't affect him directly, why should he care?

The second stanza recounts how 'they' took Danladi away 'to a lengthy absence'. He was taken during the night: not just taken, but dragged out in an episode that woke everyone in the house. Osundare uses the word 'booted' to convey the aggression here. Stanza three is somewhat less violent but equally chilling,

showing that women were not spared from similar treatment. Chinwe was sacked from her job without any explanation or warning. The second and third stanzas are concluded in the same way as the first: the narrator is still adamant that he doesn't have to bother about such events, as long as 'they' leave him alone. 

The fourth and final stanza, however, is in stark contrast to the first three. The narrator is sitting down to eat his yam when a knock comes on the door. He describes his reaction in no uncertain terms: 'A knock on the door froze my hungry hand.' The jeep is waiting for him this time, and he again uses personification to project his feelings onto his lawn, describing it as 'bewildered'. The ominous tone of the final line describing the jeep 'Waiting, waiting in its usual

silence' is perhaps even more chilling than the contrasting account of the brutality of the events of the first two stanzas.

The fact the Osundare uses first names to

recount what happened to Akanni, Danladi and Chinwe shows that these were either members of his family, housemates or close friends. It is striking that the events took place at different times of day: morning in the first stanza, night in the second, no specified time but presumably

morning in the third, and evening in the fourth. This makes us feel that these people would always have to be on the alert and could be arrested or lose their job at any moment. Yet, seeing what happened to those close to him and

knowing that it could happen at any time, the narrator did not initially seem to think that he was in any danger. The irony of course is in the title, 'Not my Business', since the jeep eventually came for the narrator himself. 

Osundare here conveys the idea that people can disappear or lose their jobs for no apparent reason in places such as Nigeria. He expresse his concern that people may not care that this is

happening, as long as they can carry on with their own lives as normal. Yet it can happen to anyone. Observers of such a situation need to care about such injustice and take action to prevent oppression.

                Literary Devices

Literary devices simply refer to the artistic techniques used by a poet to design his work. The quality of any poem is depended upon the literary devices used by the poet in his work. These devices include tone, mood, theme, figures of speech, structure or form, imagery, symbolism etc.

                   The figures of speech

The use of personification: First of all, personification is a figure of speech that represent an inanimate object or abstract notion that posses the attribute of a person. This means that non-living object is performing or functioning the action of a human. The examples used in the poem include:

-a knock on the door froze my hungry hand

-the awaiting jeep

The use of repetition: Repetition is the re-occurrence of words or sentences for emphasis sake. Examples used in the poem include:

                 (1)

What business of mine is it

So long they  don't take the yam

From my savouring mouth?

(Repeated from stanza one to stanza 3)

                (2)

Waiting, waiting on its usual silence (stanza 4 line 23)

The use of simile: Simile is a figure of speech that shows direct comparison of one object with another. Examples used in the poem include:

-beat him soft like clay (stanza 1 line 2)

The use of metaphor: Metaphor is a figure of speech that shows indirect comparison of two objects with another. The examples used include:

- So long they don't take the yam 

The use of alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sound within in a line of poem. Example in the poem includes:

-hungry hand /h/ /h/

                             The Mood

First of all, mood is the mindset or state of mind of a poet in his writing. The mood is synonymous with the overall idea of the poem. The poet can be in a happy, sad, joy etc depending upon the type of poem he is writing. However, the mood of the poem is satirical though it arouses some emotional feelings.

                          The Tone

By tone in poetry, we mean the way the poet expresses his attitude towards the subject and the audience. It  is also his manner of expression in relation to the issue at stake Readers get to know tone of the poet from the manner manipulate some narrative devices like hyperbole, simile, personification, etc. The tone can by high, low or moderate and it's originate from the mood. The tone of the poem is apathetic because the speaker shows no concern for other people's feelings.

 

         

                    The Themes

Theme is not an understatement to say that what salt is to food and that is theme is to poetry or any other literary work of art. Theme is the subject of a poem. Apart from the subject matter, it can be seen as an underlying message in which the poet want to pass across to his audience. It explains the central  idea of a poem. The themes of the poem include:

Theme of Oppression:  Oppression is the central theme of the poem. This theme briefly talks about the high authority who oppresses the people in the society and left unchallenged.

Theme of Negligence: This theme briefly talks about the carelessness of the people who feel no concern on the oppressed victims because they are not affected. This could be explained with the attitude of the speaker who shows nonchalant attitude towards others who are oppressed in the hands of the oppressors.

"What business of mine is it

   So long they don't take the yam

  From my savouring mouth?"

 Theme of Fear: This theme explain the visitation of the oppressors by using the word "jeep" that function the duty of their actions.

Theme of Violence: This theme could be examined by looking at the actions of the oppressors who came with full forces to maltreat their victims. From the first to second stanzas-we can see how the victims like Akanni who was beat soft like clay, stuffed  down the belly of  the waiting jeep, and then the next victim, Danaladi who was also dragged out and beat mercilessly. 

Briefly analyzed by Lene Ododomu, a student of English and Literature in the University of Abuja.