EXILE AND GLOBALIZATION IN THE POETRY OFTANURE OJAIDE: A STUDY OF WHEN IT NO LONGER MATTERS WHERE YOU LIVE BY TERHEMBA SHIJA DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFFI We can now sing dirges Of the common wealth of yesterday We live in a country That is no longer our own(The blood of Peace 1991. free-market economy and other norms of the capitalist world order.ABSTRACT The twin concepts of Exile and Globalization are of great significance to contemporary African Literature as some African writers live and write in Exile while others deploy themes and styles that they believe. The poem in question reads: We have lost it. corruption. This paper analyses Tanure Oaide’s book. “No Longer our Country” observed that exile seems a permanent option for Tanure Ojaide in his quest to overcome the anguish and despair that befell postcolonial Nigeria. Ojaide who had waged a relentless war against dictatorship. When It No Longer Matters Where You Live in which the poet acknowledges the inevitability of some African elits living exile in western cosmpopolitan centers but rejects the uncritical notion inherent in globalization that western culture and values were synongmous with universal norms or superior to those of the Africans. there has been a triumphalism of liberal democracy. 15) who. after reading Ojaide’s poem. page 8) This is the tone of one who is discouraged. social insecurity. make their works relevant to the global community. The country we were born into. It was first Onookome Okome (2002: p. Since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the end of the cold war at the end of the 20th Century. Consequently there appears to be an increasing tendency among scholars to homogenize or globalize the practices and values canvassed by the advanced countries of the west. . “When it No Longer Matters where You Live”. droves of wailers comb the breath of the land For healer hidden by the hysteria of gunsThey want to rid the body of its tumor. Evidence of this loss is conveyed in the despondency and docility of the masses potrayed in his works such as The Eagle’s Vision. This phase represents the indiscriminate and arbitrary use of force as an instrument to instill dictatorship. who is hidden by a “hysteria of guns”. The image of a country on fire is rife in this poem. In the title poem. Ojaide (1998) captures with the metaphor of an inferno. The Fate of Vultures and Delta Blues and Home Songs. woes and “droves of wailers” parading the streets looking for a saviour who is ironically a murderer. the harsh conditions of living in Nigeria which create fertile grounds for exile: Choking from the season’s flagellation.and cultural domination in earlier works. is conveyed by images of “choking”. “tumor” and “wild fires”. . The intensity of the worsening conditions of living. The poet speaks of Nigeria where life had become unbearably hard for members of the lower class. “wailers”. which were compounded by military dictatorship. Wild fires consumed barks and herbs What are the chances of catching the lion alive? Did I hear right that witches conjured The healing power into a bottle that they corked And threw into the depths of ravines? The rumour of war days blaze memory With harmattan drought – always beware Of falling from the spider-web’s height (77). “hysteria of guns”. appears to be losing the war. “flagellation”. The beauty of Ojaide’s cherished country is also destroyed as the “barks” and “herbs” that once adorned the landscapes are consumed by the “wild fires”. The desecration of the environment as in most of Ojaide’s poems dealing with the nature is symbolic of the destruction of African culture and values. Will exile not offend martyred one? For all its refuge. The poet re-states: Except by returning to libate the soil With the Cock of Abuja’s blood. The hopelessness in redeeming his country is captured in the image of metaphysical elements conspiring with human beings to rob the country of meaningful solutions to her heartless leadership of the country. then are their countries of sojourn any better? If home is a place of physical torture and deprivation. the foreign home Remains a night whose dawn I wish arrives before its time. When it no longer matters Where you choose to live (77). are the exiles free from other forms of mental deprivation abroad? Ojaide’s response to the above questions lie in the rather paradoxical title of the poem. There’s none so hurt at home Who forgets the pain outside – That’s the president ache one carries Until home’s safe to return to. If home is so unsafe for exiles. . “When It No Longer Matters Where You Live”. These factors constitute the two major reasons why most African intellectuals flee their countries and head for the West. Accordingly. Ojaide’s philosophy here approximates to the concept of globalization which seeks to promote ideas of universal human rights. He appears lukewarm in spite of the refuge it guarantees to sojourners.Ojaide’s position on the question of exile is ironic. He calls for the blood of the “Cock of Abuja” to be used in the ritual. happiness and tragedy all stand close together on either side of the divide. The poet juxtaposes the “refuge” in the foreign home with the uncertainty of the long “night” whose “dawn” is reluctant to arrive. free trade controlled by market forces and even the universal concept of liberal democracy. universal order. To critics like Grifiths. joy and sorrow. which is a euphemism for the assassination of the President of Nigeria who rules from Abuja and by extension the ousting of the prevailing administration. he notices a strange duality of fortunes. They wish to be identified as writing for their various Third World Countries but also engage in . Ojaide views both his home and his country of exile as equally strewn with hazards. the poet calls for libation for the cleansing of his country. most of these exiles are caught up in the crisis of identity. He also compares “the hurt at home” with: “the pain outside” and arrives at the conclusion that it no longer matters where you may choose to live in the world. As they reside and write in the West. globalization means creating a new hybrid culture and other new identities at the expense of nation state identities and culture. In a diction tinged in rituals that celebrate his love for indigenous practices. Nigeria. King and Olaniyan. that of freedom and the lack of it. Rusdie. especially those caused by rapid communication ease.issues in their new immigrant communities. That some exile are ambivalent in their commitment to a particular cause is not merely as a result of their exposure to instant communication facilities of their exposure to . it cannot be true of contemporary exiles like Tanure Ojaide. S. Timothy Mo. telephone and television. Olaniyan announces that we are at the threshold of a Global age whose main “characteristics include relativization of the nation-state and the consequently sourcing of nationalist particularism” (86). Emecheta and others. radio and international air transportation all combine to render the whole world a global village. Olu Oguibe and Uche Udechukwu. V. Ranannuja are part of the literature of England and the United States where they presently reside (39). Mecna Alexander and A. At the turn of the Twenty-first century the borders of nations states do not restrict writers anymore. Social cultural changes. While this assertion could be true of earlier exiles like Naipul. Internet. Satellite. King argues that these exiles live in a time when the new nations and multiculturalism have become important. Zulfikar Ghose. Bruce King in an article “The Commonwealth Writer in Exile” observes that the works of exiles like Buchi Emecheta. Naipaul. they have become complacent of their anticolonialist agenda. Ben Okri. It will be naïve to assume that because the West has given these writers a safe haven away from dictatorial regimes of their home countries. K. Consequently. Randolph Stow. Salman Rushdie. Shiya Naipul. consequently the writer in exile has become the intermediary or the interpreter of the new nations to the former colonial powers. other writers in exile like Achebe and Ngugi who are also their contemporaries and have access to the same communication facilities demonstrate unalloyed commitment to decolonization.25) This message is conveyed more forcefully in Ojaide’s use of Pidgin English. a variety of English Language spoken by Anglophone countries along the West African Coast. Ngugi Wa Thiongo also shares this skepticism when he says in his article. Isn’t globality. or Americans and Britons rushing in droves to catch the next flight to Nigeria or Idia for want of a better life. After all. . “Moving The Centre: The Struggle For Cultural freedoms” that “I don’t see a large thriving community of Iraqis in Mexico of Cambodia. The poem in question is “Immigrant Voice”. Despite the persistent image laundering in Hollywood films. This unwarranted legislation by critics to produce a universalist hybrid culture is as one-sided as the concept of universalism which is western biased.information from both their home nation-states and the so-called metropolitan West. The concept of globalization itself appears eurocentric in this context. like modernity. Pidgin English is regarded as the idiom of the poor in this area. Those who are lucky to get employment toil on their jobs throughout the day without any proper remuneration. another way of the West to generalize its experience of history as the universal experience of the world while making others pay the bills? (1993 p. Ojaide reveals that the capitalist and neocolonialist America is inhabited by millions of homeless people and others living in squalor. Dead body no de fear anybody: You no know whether the person saying “Hi” . the poet only stops short of saying that he wants to return home to face the criminals in government. Get dollars for one hand and give them out for the other I come back from work so dead I can’t eat or sleep And before dawn I don get up to begin another slave day When I reply their letters from home saying Here no be what they think they see for their minds. They no gree with me and call me lie-lie man (p. but continuously presents itself to us as modernity or civilization. He is certainly disgusted with the pretensions of modernity of the Americans and the unjust subjugation of the subalterns. 105). Ojaide resorts: America na big photo-trick to me. Hollywood heaven they misspell? Now I work standing so te for minimum wage. Ojaide’s account of the living conditions in America rendered in the dialect of the poor captures the senseless material consciousness of the capitalist society that negates all positive values of humanity. The following lines explain further: This na America with homeless for every corner That I think I de na numberless world? Where all the fine things in that picture Everybody dress kamkpe that I think Na angels. The streets de explode kpa-a like Biafra. In comparison with the conditions prevalent in Africa and the Third World.The conditions of living are so harsh that an average worker barely manages to survive. America no be place to live for one whole day. If say big thief no boku fo home And they no give man chance to live softly. She heard my unspoken words. The trolley was a stack of beef In the market. Neighbour no de. paler than ever. 105 – 6) Another poem that has challenged the assumptions of superiority of Western values. friend no de except them dog.Want to shoot. 21). “No. “Chicken of Beef?” no-one but the British – and they couldn’t make a dent on board – chose beef for love of their island country. thief. goods and services is the one titled “Dinner. …beggar. thanks” for one Half-minute she looked at me – Smiles erased. . unsold wholesale. Onboard British Airways”. the steward maliciously failed to offer him the option of choosing either beef or chicken: So when the hostess began asking. all dem de boku sometimes I cry my eyes red for night in bed Wetin my eye don see for here pass pepper (p. In it the poet exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called people of superior race who are either not discerning enough or are too committed to their national pride that they overlook the need to be objective in their judgment. Why did every British national on board the British Airways opt for beef instead of chicken in spite of the open secret that their country was infested with mad cow disease? When it was the turn of the poet to be served his meal. No compliment to HM’s kingdom (P. You de for your own like craze-man de pursue dollar Which no de stay for your hand – they say na capitalism When dollar the circulate. “Only beef’s left” I said. She withdrew the pack. No doubt. poor poor. rob or rape you. circulate without rest. As she thrust smiles and beef At me saying. The poet clearly looks at the situation in which “her majesty’s” position dominates every other citizen of the country as imperialist. Perhaps that is the reason why. is built on sarcasm and satire. undemocratic and unintelllectual. why are they so parochial as not to appreciate other peoples’ point of view or admit their shortcomings? This arrogant posture snacks of the age-long belief that the Europeans were superior and more civilized than other races in the Third World. He wants us to know that this country that once colonized almost half of the world’s population is merely an island and its cultural norms should ordinarily only apply to the people that inhabit it. By reminding us that Britain is an “island”. The question Ojaide seems to be asking is this: If the Europeans are really committed to the tenets of globalization. the poet draws our attention to the symbolism of a secluded lonely country removed from the rest of the world. Onboard British . The mention of “HM’s Kingdom” is similarly an allusion to the private and individualistic tendencies of the West which contradict the norms in African societies where the community is superior to the individual.In the above poem. like Wole Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation” in which a similar dialogue is recorded between a black speaker and a white landlady. While the black speaker in Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation” uses words with negative connotations to describe the racist landlady. “no-one but/the British” chose beef for dinner onboard the British Airways. the colonial power of the world is variously referred to as “island country” and “HM’s kingdom” as a way of exposing European parochialism in dealing with Africa and the Third World. This poem. the poet-persona in :Dinner. The next poem. the poem. exile is seen as the best option. “Safe Journey”. “Safe Journey” the Nicaraguans undergo all kinds of indignities to gain access into the United States where they hope to end their curse of poverty. In both poems. contemplative in tone and sounding like a blues song. narrates the story of the poor Latin American people in relation to the United States. crime deprivation and disease. the poet reinforces the global vision of the country of origin or the stages of their countries’ social. Apart from the menace of poverty. Ojaide’s kinsmen in Nigeria accuse him of unjustly discouraging them from enjoying life in America on the pretext that life was unbearably harsh there.Airways” disarms the discriminatory hostess with his taciturnity and his snobbish bi-syllabic answers: “No. “Immigrant Voice”. This poem brings to mind. To most of the poor who cannot change the political system or their economic fortunes. thanks. The following lines tell the . “Immigrant Voice” which the poet had written on Nigeria. the people of developing countries are obsessed with the prospects of finding solace in exile. a Nicaraguan lady. In the poem. political and economic development. In the poem. the Sandinista guerrilla fighters are engaged in a civil war government forces in Nicaragua. Dedicated to Deborah Ortega. The poor find in each other’s plight a comradeship and solidarity that inspires them to challenge the continuous subjugation of their societies by the ruling class. “Safe Journey” more than any other in the volume presents a vivid picture of political intolerance which culminates into voluntary and involuntary exile to the imperial centres of the West. With his attention focused on people in the Latin America. The poet – persona appears to congratulate Deborah Ortega. with dollars sewed to your underpants.81). The five-hour detention in Belize Blew open the enormity of the flight. .story of Deborah Ortega’s escape from her country and her illegal entry into the United States in search of better life: Can’t forget the many bribes at checkpoints because your father looked different with a fraction of Chinese blood. not the Mayan bronze they expected of Nicaraguans or Mexicans. The moteler’s daughter was your saviour from the hard-boiled hostage takers (P. she is detained in a motel and her mother pays money for stealing her from the South to the North”. she “sews” dollars to her “underpants” to conceal them from armed officials. There is a note of accomplishment after the whole exercise. However. Deborah Ortega’s odyssey constitutes Ojaide’s poetic invocation of the disparity between the advanced countries and the Third World. They floated you across the Rio Grande. between the North and the South and between the colonizer and the colonized. invisible to the American guards. away from poverty. I can see the two armed fortune-hunters holding you and your sister in a motel until your mother paid for their stealing you from the South to the North. This is a symbolic journey of self-discovery for Deborah Ortega and other exiles like her. The task of former colonized people aspiring to be like their colonizers is as arduous as Deborah Ortega’s journey from Nicaragua to the United State. She is stolen and “floated” across the Rio Grande river. she temporarily gets reliefs in America but prepares for her eventual return to the land of her birth.once she sneaks into the United States. Your mother twice married Cares as no mother would For your father’s other children. Vice-Minister. Your younger sister refusing to leave Her love and Nicaragua. The following lines recount the complex social problems encountered by Deborah Ortega’s family which are reminiscent of those encountered anywhere in the third World: The house on the hill has been Hurled into the sea by a hurricane. Since then the Nicarguan . she faces a new life of relative peace.colonialism came like a hurricane and “hurled it into the sea”. Your father seeks your blessing For a third marriage and to make More babies from your age-mate. Sitting on top of money a fallen Marxist angel like many I know at home (P. but not without its psychological side – effects. Like Ojaide who escapes from Nigeria. They are both overwhelmed by the desire to bring succor to their home countries and not only to find comfort for themselves in the United States. The metaphor of “the house on the hill” is symbolic of the cultural heritage of Deborah Ortega which was once highly esteemed before the twine force of colonialism and neo. pregnant. Ojaide expresses solidarity with her not only because they share the same country of exile but because their home backgrounds are similar with regards to political upheaval and social disorientation.82). And your uncle. the poet seems to explain. The destruction of her Nicaraguan home exemplifies the destruction of her cultural and spiritual essence which she seeks to rebuild by sending her earnings in the US home for its rehabilitation. the poet says Deborah Ortega make her money in the United States and sends home as an indication that she would one day “return home alive”. It may therefore not really matter where one lived at any given time. We see Deborah Ortega’s parents marrying several times to different spouses. may have its . I have had vision of you in different lives and lands and now don’t blame me for this brewing hurricane. However. has witnessed a degeneration of its norms. Thanks for the privilege of making me see you and me as just one traveler in flight (P. her younger sister getting a baby out of wedlock.society. the poet buttresses his position that both home countries and countries of exile have their fair share of advantages and disadvantages. 82). His conclusion is suggestive of the universalist solidarity amongst exiles who share Deborah Ortega’s fate and concern for their home countries: You send money to relatives as we do all who believe a safe journey takes you back alive. “a fallen Marxist angel” denouncing his ideology. This myriad of problems are enough to discourage anyone who escaped into exile from returning home. With the Deborah Ortega’s example. Exile. Deborah Ortega’s story of migration to the United State is a story of alienation from the country she loves but cannot at present inhabit. and her uncle. live it is obvious that Ojaide. After analyzing a series of poems from. Ojaide’s regret is that even these lowly subjects of the United states and European countries who could have found compatibility with these African and Latin American exiles. questions the modern concept of globalization based. the country of exile itself has its fair share of the downtrodden who are discriminated against and subjugated by the privileged members of that society on account of race. like Ngugi. In this regard. The poor and the downtrodden in Africa and the Third World are portrayed as not too different from one another and from those in the advanced industrialized nations. social and economic status. They suffer all sorts of discriminations. The United States. prejudices and subjugations in the hands of the ruling class which seeks to increase their materials worth in the context of global technological accomplishments. . that irrespective of whether one lives in the First or Third World. colour. look down on them because they come from Third World countries. His paradoxical acceptance of globalization is however within the context of the universal depiction of the conditions of the living of the subaltern all over the world.phyrric victory and its temporary comfort but it is accompanied by a deep sense of alienation and other consequences. Ojaide justifiably says. on the positive mutual sharing of global resources. it does not really matter. When it No Longer matters Where You. from the point of view of a revolutionary artist. Oxford: Heinemann. “African Writers. London: James Currey 1993. 2003 Wa Thiongo. Ojaide. Tejumola. “The Commonwealth writer in Exile” in From Commonwealth to Post Colonial (ed) Ann Rutherford. Tanure. 1991. Sydney: Dangaroo Press. Onookome (ed) Writing the Homeland: The Poetry and Politics of Tanure Ojaide. Calabar: University of Calabar Press. When It No Longer Matters Where You Live. Vol. . University Press 2002 Olaniyan.WORKS CITED King. Okome.4. Moving The Centre: The Struggle For Cultural Freedom. Ngugi. Exile and the Politics of a Global Diaspora” in West Africa review. The Blood of Peace and Other Poems. Ojaide. Bayreauth. Tanure. Bruce. 1998. 1992. Keffi in Nigeria. Whispers of Distant Drums. He also received a MA (Creative Writing) from the university of Maiduguri in 1988.Terhemba Shija holds a PhD degree in African Literature from the Benue State University. Makurdi Nigeria (2005). . a collection of short stories. Serenades of Zaki-Biam and a volume of poetry Cantos for the Benue. Letrary theory and creative writing at the Nasarawa State University. He is the author of a novel. Dr. Shija is at present a lecturer in African literature. Sincerely. Terhemba Shija . I hereby send a copy of my Paper titled: Exile and Globalization in the Poetry of Tanure Ojaide: a case study of “When it no longer matters where you live” intended to be presented at the 3rd Global Conference in Salzburg.Prof Rob Fisher. Dr. Austria.