Tears, Anger, and a Country’s Journey: A Review of Servio Gbadamosi’s A Tributary in Servitude By Chimezie Chika

The guilt incessantly troubles the poet’s psyche. In “Irritations in the Oyster” the guilt is explored with some poetic mastery: “I have danced to man-made tunes/slowly my feet withdraw.” The poem captures the inextricable link between a country’s failings and that of its individual citizens.

Let Us Choose Our Own Paths: A Review of Cheta Igbokwe’s Awele By Sima Essien

Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, once called human beings “a wanting animal.” Awele echoes this when she enthuses that human longings are “endless,” as they have unidentified needs. In the second act, the twins seek to configure their destinies in the reincarnations awaiting them, with Mgbada imploring, “Let us choose our own paths in life!”