Title: Songs of an Egg-head

Author: Tekena Tamuno

Publisher: Alafeni, Port Harcourt (1982)

Pages: 184

Price: £10.00

Wide-ranging in its coverage is this set of  “songs” (poems), forty-two in all. Launched on the music circle’s platform, they combine subtle sense of humour with horse sense and are nimble in their assaults on man and the society through fictional character. Chief among these is Afari, the irreverent fire-eater of the elite Salamander Society in Labuja, his putative homeland. In matchless style, halfway between standard prose and orthodox poetry, Afari highlights sure-fire passions on his era. Afari’s provocative Songs echo far and wide. This largely meditative work on the world around Afaris reveals great insight and candour. The Age of Afari blends snuggly with the Age of Wit.

About the Author

Professor Tekena Tamuno, a professor of history, was vice chancellor of Nigeria’s premier university, University of Ibadan, where he is currently a professor emeritus. He is one who finds the medium of light or free verse a charming vehicle of expression for his genre of social commentary and articulation of a philosophy of life. Born among a predominant population of fishermen, in an island community, he deeply loves the sea and its fruits. Yet subsequent experience outside his birthplace also made him quite aware of the abundant treasures of the land and air. His abiding interest in nature, in its multiple forms, in the delicate relationship between humans and the rest of fauna and flora, is undisguised.