Forms of Political Consciousness in the Poetry of Tanure Ojaide: A Study of The Endless Song and When It No Longer Matters Where You Live

Tanure Ojaide has become a major force in contemporary Nigerian poetry. Indeed, in the generation of Nigerian writers after the Achebe – Clark – Okigbo – Soyinka era, Ojaide’s ascendancy is incontrovertible. This relevance is not just in the prolificacy of his output, but also in his social relevance as the voice of the voiceless. With particular emphasis on The Endless Song and When it no longer Matters where you live, this paper shows how Ojaide uses his craft to comment on the political reality of his day. The paper also posits that far from being an indifferent commentator, the poet is a fully partisan recorder of the struggles that play out on the Nigerian national political scene.