Not My Business
Encyclopedia
Not My Business is a free verse poem by Niyi Osundare
. It is included in Cluster 2, Poems from Different Cultures, of the AQA Anthology
.
, but the voice says that it is not his business if he is not taken. Eventually, he is taken but there is no-one left to save him.
that ruled his country under General Sani Abacha
from 1993 to 1998. During Abacha's rule, writing poetry was considered a dangerous activity. Osundare regularly wrote poems for a Nigerian national newspaper which commented on the lives of people in that country. As a result, he was frequently called to account by security agents and quizzed about what his poems meant and to whom they referred. Osundare himself says, "with the kind of poetry I write, I can never be the dictator
's friend. So I get a knock on the door at two in the morning a couple of times."
The poet criticises people who allow injustices to go on as long as it does not directly affect them. He suggests that if no one stands up against military dictatorship
, cruelty, poverty and injustice, it will, eventually, affect their lives.
Niyi Osundare
Niyi Osundare is a prolific poet, dramatist and literary critic. He gained degrees at the University of Ibadan , the University of Leeds and York University, Canada...
. It is included in Cluster 2, Poems from Different Cultures, of the AQA Anthology
AQA Anthology
The AQA Anthology is a collection of poems and short texts which are studied in English schools for GCSE English and English Literature, produced by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance...
.
Description
In Not My Business, the people around the voice of the poem are unjustly taken in NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, but the voice says that it is not his business if he is not taken. Eventually, he is taken but there is no-one left to save him.
Background
Osundare used his poem and others to object to the dictatorshipDictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
that ruled his country under General Sani Abacha
Sani Abacha
General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader and politician. A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, he was born and brought up in Kano, Nigeria. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998....
from 1993 to 1998. During Abacha's rule, writing poetry was considered a dangerous activity. Osundare regularly wrote poems for a Nigerian national newspaper which commented on the lives of people in that country. As a result, he was frequently called to account by security agents and quizzed about what his poems meant and to whom they referred. Osundare himself says, "with the kind of poetry I write, I can never be the dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
's friend. So I get a knock on the door at two in the morning a couple of times."
The poet criticises people who allow injustices to go on as long as it does not directly affect them. He suggests that if no one stands up against military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
, cruelty, poverty and injustice, it will, eventually, affect their lives.