Traditional Izon Court and Modern Poetry: Christian Otobotekere’s Contribution

Abstract

Few rulers in traditional African societies practice poetry or can be called poets. Rather, they surround themselves with poets by whatever designations they call them. One can say that the kingship or chieftaincy institution in Africa is steeped in poetic traditions. The Asantehene of the Ashanti people in Kumasi, Ghana, has his “linguists” who are poets. Similarly, Hausa, Fulani, and Kanuri rulers in Northern Nigeria have their musicians and praise-singers. The Yoruba obas by their respective titles also have those who chant their orikis. In the Senegambian and Mali parts of West Africa, rulers have their griots who are not only poets but advisers and chroniclers of their people’s history. Zulu and Tswana kings in Southern Africa have their imbongi who sing their praises through the established medium of izibongo. It is thus a surprising and pleasant change to see the Okun of Tombia, Christian Otobotekere, a modern poet, heading a traditional institution in which poets are supposed to serve him rather than be the poet himself. The surprise does not end with his being a poet. He is a modern man through his education at Fourah Bay University College, Sierra Leone, and the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. As a result of the nature of British education in the mid-1950s, though his major was Economic Studies, he still took courses in Latin and Literature.