A biography of Ezenwa Ohaeto

Nigerian poet and scholar Ezenwa-Ohaeto was educated at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka and the University of Benin. The author of several collections of poetry, including Songs of a Traveller (1986), I Wan Bi President (1988) and Chants of a Minstrel (2002), Ezenwa-Ohaeto was one of the first Nigerians to publish poems written in pidgin English, bringing the cadence of a primarily oral language to the page.

Poetry: I wan bi President by Ezenwa Ohaeto

E get one dream Wey dey worry me I don dream am tire,

If I sleep small Na di dream go come If I close eye small Na di dream go come If I siddon for chair say make I rest small Na di dream go come I think say na malaria dey come,

For night when I lie for bed When hunger dey blow me When I never see food chop When I never see water drink Na di dream go come,