The Lion stakes his claim
To the leadership of the pack
But the Antelopes remember
The ferocious pounce of his paws
The hyena says the crown is made for him
But the Impalas shudder at his lethal appetite
The Giraffe craves a place in the front
But his eyes are too far from the ground
When the Zebra says it's his right to lead
The pack points to the duplicity of his stripes
The Elephant trudges into the power tussle
But its colleagues dread his trampling feet
The warthog is too ugly
The rhino too riotous
And the pack thrashes around
Like a snake without a head
"Our need calls for a hybrid of habits",
Proclaims the Forest Sage,
"A little bit of a Lion
A little bit of a Lamb
Tough like a tiger, compassionate like a doe
Transparent like a river, mysterious like a lake
A leader who knows how to follow
Followers mindful of their right to lead"
Niyi Osundare born 1947 in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria) is a prolific poet, dramatist and literary critic. Niyi Osundare attended the St. Luke's Primary School and Amoye Secondary School, both in Ikere-Ekiti, before moving on to the Christ School, Ado-Ekiti, which has produced many of the country's finest intellectuals. He gained degrees at the University of Ibadan (BA), the University of Leeds (MA) and York University, Canada (PhD, 1979). Previously professor (from 1989) and Head of English (1993–97) at the University of Ibadan, he became professor of English at the University of New Orleans in 1997.
Osundare has always been a vehement champion of the right to free speech and is a strong believer in the power of words, saying, "to utter is to alter". Osundare is renowned for his commitment to socially relevant art and artistic activism and has written several open letters to the former President of Nigeria (Olusegun Obasanjo), whom Osundare has often publicly criticised. Osundare believes that there is no choice for an African poet but to be political. Under the rule of the dictator General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Osundare regularly contributed poems to the Tribune, a Nigerian national newspaper (now part of the collection Songs of the Season) that criticised the regime and commented upon the lives of people in Nigeria. As a result, he was frequently visited by security agents and asked to explain his poems and to whom they referred.
In 1997, he accepted a teaching and research post at the University of New Orleans. In 2005 Osundare was caught in Hurricane Katrina, and he and his wife were stuck in their attic for 26 hours. Their neighbour, who at the time was driving by in his boat, heard their shouts for help. They were rescued and bounced around from rescue shelters until they ended up in Rindge, New Hampshire, where Osundare could get a teaching job as a professor at Franklin Pierce College and things settled down.
Musicality is one of the most essential elements of Osundare's poetry. In his later work he often includes musical directions because he believes poetry should be experienced orally. Osundare's work uses a wide range of vernacular and literary idioms to frame its lyrical and satirical concern with social justice. Osundare has won many awards for his work, including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, two Cadbury Prizes, the Fonlon-Nichols Award for "excellence in literary creativity combined with significant contributions to Human Rights in Africa", and the Noma Award, which is Africa's equivalent of the Nobel Prize for literature. In December 2014, Osundare was awarded the Nigerian National Merit Award for academic excellence.
His principal collections of verse include Songs of the Marketplace (1984), Waiting Laughters (1990), Songs of the Season (1990), Selected Poems (1992), and Midlife (1993). The Eye of the Earth (1986) won both the Association of Nigerian Authors' Poetry Prize and the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. His poem "Not My Business" is compulsory study in the AQA A syllabus for General Certificate of Secondary Education English Language. He is a celebrated performer of his poetry, which has affinities with Nigeria's oral traditions.
His 60th birthday literary fete took place at venues in Ikere-Ekiti, Ibadan and Lagos state of Nigeria in March 2007.
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