Poets tasked on addressing societal ills

Authors have been urged to use their works for society building by addressing societal decadence.

The President Abuja chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Halima Usman, who made the remark while commenting on the World Poetry Day celebration said the occasion presented authors ample opportunity to engrain their importance in the society by speaking against kidnapping, banditry and other societal challenges through their works.

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She said the day was celebrated in Abuja by having a discussion about several challenges facing the country and how poetry could be used in making lives better for the citizenry.    

She said the only way by which the country can tackle these challenges is by going back to the families. She described societal ills as life-threatening hence the need for a concerted effort at addressing from the root – the family.

“The celebration was one of the key events of the Abuja chapter this year. The theme for the Abuja chapter is poetry, family and society. We have noticed that there are a lot of challenges. Society has decayed to a very disturbing state. We have banditry, kidnapping, corruption, so many issues and we discovered that the genesis of the society is the family,” she said.

She said there was a need to make a case for a godly family, “Once the family fails, the society will continue to fail. We challenged ourselves as authors to address these issues through our poetry.

“We are calling on every member of the society to go back to the family and begin to address these issues at the family level,” she added.  

A member of the association and the Artistic Director of Arojah Royal Theatre, Jerry Adesewo, said poets have a role to play in correcting societal ills.

He said, “We said this year our celebration of poetry will be one of family and society. What role can the poets and writers play in ensuring an ideal family which will in turn ensure that you have a stable society because what happens in society today is a reflection of the family? When you have an unideal family, it reflects on society.

“ANA Abuja Chapter is challenging poets specifically. When they write, they should speak to the society and the family so that we can have the society that we all dream of.”