Nigerians have been enjoined to invest more time in reading and on creative ventures, as Nigeria celebrates World Poetry Day this week.
Students, lecturers and poets who spoke with fresh fm correspondent, Adeola Bankole on the occasion of 2022 World poetry day themed “to bring attention to the importance of poetry in the conservation of old languages in human growth in general and in bringing about global awareness” said that poems help to enrich knowledge on cultural and behavioral values.
World poetry day is an international annual celebration across the globe on 21st of March as declared by the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization UNESCO since 1999.
The day is set aside to celebrate the linguistic expression of people from all diverse cultures.
In ancient history, the Greeks where the first major European civilization to create complex literature with One of the oldest styles to be Poetry, specifically epic poetry which uses verses to tell a long story about a hero and their works that influence us today in many ways.
Modern world developments were also credited to the activities of past poets as their use of language led to enrichment and beautification of human knowledge and understanding.
Some students aired their opinions on how poems have shaped their way of life.
“It helps human being to think and express themselves on how they feel life,how they feel the world as a whole.
Poetry spells our culture and languages all over the world through writing and oral.
It also helps to understand and appreciate the world around us,it teach us how to live,like literacy skills in the aspect of reading, writing.It has help to make us to be able to speak fluently in English”.
A poet and literature lecturer, Dr Charles Akinsete has pointed out that poetry has been adjudged to help in achieving fluency in reading as well as widens creativity as writing Poetry helps in learning by revising ideas and developing precision with language.
“Poetry encourage the culture of reading and recitation, reading in the 21 st century is declining in order because of the exigencies of the internet,so the significance of World Poetry Day is to bring back the culture of reading,to reiterate the importance of the culture of reading and Viz a Viz recitation of poems.Poetry deals with the very source of creation itself and source of creation is the use of Imagination”.
Another lecturer in the Department of English, Dr Ganiyu Bamgbose stated that learning of poems repeatedly gives adults and children an unforgettable memories, heritage and better understanding.
“To teach moral value,to teach etiquette and beyond that, they have been helpful in sustaining the beauty of our environment, growing up there were many poems we were exposed to and useful in building our moral lives and that also helped us identify the values,the beauty and the aesthetics in our indigenous languages”.
Poetry like any other form of artistic creation is a vital tool to widen human’s knowledge as it helps to understand and value the world around us by following the paths of emotion, sensitivity and imagination Poetry also helps to transmit knowledge and human values. Above all, it shapes the human being, body and soul.
