Engausa: An emerging writing phenomenon – A study of Imam and Ifatimehin’s “Kwaraption”
By Aliyu Idris
Engausa is a new emerging phenomenon that involves code switching and code mixing in English and Hausa. It’s a creative bilingual blend encompassing importance, uniqueness, and sending a message using a fusion of two popular languages (Hausa and English). It’s another genre of poetry and writing with its peculiarities. Its linguistic efforts are not to create a phenomenon that is Hausa or English but to create a genre that’s genuinely “Engausa.”
Khalid Imam and Ola Ifatimehin worked to establish a new writing phenomenon in the atmosphere of writing. After submission, they edited the ENGAUSA poetry anthology titled KWARAPTION.
Kwaraption Engausa Anthology is a poetry anthology comprising fifty-one poems penned by forty-five teeming poets. Various notable works of art have been produced on corruption in Nigeria. The poems in this anthology were written in various styles, from traditional to experimental, and they reflect the diverse voices and experiences of the poets.
One of the anthology’s strengths is its focus on Engausa poetry. Engausa is a hybrid form of poetry that blends Hausa and English languages. It is a relatively new and still evolving form of writing. The anthology features several poems in Engausa, allowing readers to experience this unique and dynamic form of writing.
The poems provide readers with a vast knowledge of Nigerian richness and valuable resources, but they’re not properly managed and are embezzled due to corruption. They also portray corruption as a major hindrance to the country’s progress, lament the nation’s current status, and inquire when corruption will end. The poems highlight many causes of corruption and its consequences.
The poets come from various backgrounds and experiences, and their poems reflect this diversity. The anthology features poems from established and emerging poets, which shows diversity in the anthology.
They try to display the pervasiveness of corruption in all parts of the country. Clearly, corruption was endemic but has now metamorphosed into an unending pandemic that continues to destroy the nation’s advancement. Several instances of the poem address corruption in different sectors of life, ranging from offices to hospitals to markets to politics to schools.
Kwaraption Engausa: An Anthology of Poems is a valuable contribution to Nigerian and Hausa literature and literature at large. It is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary Nigerian poetry or the Engausa form of poetry as a newly branded way of writing.
Aliyu Idris wrote via aliyuidris063@gmail.com.