Using Poetry to

solve the Problems

of Low Level of
Literacy and
Unemployment in
Africa
POETRY AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

Facts and Figures

 Global unemployment increased from 170 million in 2007 to nearly 202 million in 2012, of
which about 75 million are young women and men.
 Nearly 2.2 billion people live below the US$2 poverty line and that poverty eradication is
only possible through stable and well-paid jobs.
 470 million jobs are needed globally for new entrants to the labour market between 2016
and 2030.
SDG Goal 8:
Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

The Role of Spoken Word Poetry

Our vision has always been to develop a vibrant Spoken Word Poetry industry in Nigeria, Africa
and beyond, thereby creating opportunities for people especially the youths to express their God
given talent and make a very decent living from it.
The basis for this vision is that we are passionate about Spoken Word Poetry as a genre of
entertainment, a tool to increase literacy level, and a means of communication among people
across the globe.
The above are also premised on the following:
 The foundation for any poet is the ability to read and write. In order to improve and get
better in this art form, a poet has to continue to read and write. Therefore, ensuring the
quality of education is improved on by the practitioners of this art form which promotes
lifelong learning opportunities.
 Spoken word is an oral art that focuses on the aesthetics of word play and intonation and
voice inflection. 'It is a 'catchall' that includes any kind of poetry recited aloud, including
hip-hop, jazz poetry, poetry slams, traditional poetry readings and can include comedy
routines and 'prose monologues'. (Wikipedia).
 Thus, Spoken Word Poetry has roots in hip hop which makes it appealing to youths and
the young at heart.
 The competition aspect of Spoken Word Poetry tagged "Poetry Slam," is packed full of
excitement, nerves/ tension, intellectually stimulating performances and pure, undiluted
fun.
 It is an art form that can sustain itself and the practitioners as a source of livelihood.
  Making the art form self-sustaining ultimately leads to productive employment, decent
work and economic growth for the industry and the Nation as a whole. (Or nations in
general)

In conclusion
Poetry loving and supporting organizations are socially responsible institutions which in alignment
with the Sustainable Development Goal Number 8 “ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, as well as, promote sustained,
inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for
all”.
THE HUMAN NEEDS THAT POETRY CAN SATISFY
There are areas of relevance of Spoken Word Poetry to individuals, companies and the Country
as a whole. These are basically the benefits derivable from poetry and categorized into what I
call the 8 Es. They are as follows:

1. Education
2. Employment
3. Entrepreneurship
4. Expression
5. Entertainment
6. Empowerment
7. Emotional Therapy
8. Emotional Intelligence

1. Education: the minimum acceptable standard for a poet is the ability to read and write.
For a poet to get better, he or she has to keep reading and writing, and this helps increase
the level of literacy among poets, the audience and the general populace. In addition, the
art form makes learning fun and enviable.
2. Employment: this art form provides jobs for talented individuals and businesses for
related services. The Jobs are in form of themed poetry performance, script writing,
drama, article writing, teaching etc. While the businesses that poetry brings to related
services include stage design, ushers, sound engineer, video crew, hall rental etc. The
development of a vibrant poetry industry will provide jobs for over a million people in
Nigeria and much more in Africa.
3. Entrepreneurship: this art form creates the room for poets and related art forms and
services to start businesses. This is further illustrated in the diagram below showing the
various products a poet has to offer to the society.
4. Expressions: the art form gives children and adults a means to express themselves, as
they are able to say things they might normally not be able to express in normal
conversations. The art form provides a platform that encourages freedom of expression,
thus they are able to express deeper thoughts and stronger feelings hidden within.
5. Entertainment: the art form is intellectually inspiring and excitingly enlightening. When
it comes to poetry there are no foul words, no half naked vixens, and no soft porn, you
can safely listen and watch with children.
6. Empowerment: with the acknowledgment of a poet's talent come recognition,
appreciation and compensation in form of money and bigger platforms. It helps with
information dissemination, builds self-confidence, increases knowledge base, and
improves presentation and public speaking skills.
7. Emotional Therapy: with the various issues facing us especially as regards rape and
acts of violence, Poetry is therapeutic and be used as a form of therapy to hurt broken
minds. This based on the fact that that words are powerful, and can make or mar an
individual. Hence, the art form has a ability to uplift and motivate people.
8. Emotional Intelligence: this is the capacity to be aware of, control and express one’s
emotions and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. This
ability uses Poetry as a tool to manage one’s emotions and the emotions of others.
ATTRIBUTES OF SPOKEN WORD POETRY THAT CAN HELP GROW BUSINESSES AND
CAREERS.

Spoken Word Poetry is an art form that is widely used by speech writers, advert executives, and
many other business minded people. Yet, the art of Spoken Word Poetry is not appreciated the
way other art forms are.
In my daily romance with Spoken Word Poetry, I have come to discover three attributes of this
art form that can help grow businesses and careers. They are as follows:

 Spoken word poetry is a tool to increase literacy levels: The foundation for any
poet is the ability to read and write. The more you read, the more you know, and the
more you know, the more you can write and speak about. In the quest to improve the
 depth of their poems and the quality of their poetry performances, poets undertake long
hours of research to increase their knowledge and get a better understanding of the
subject matter they write about.
 Poetry is a means of communication: This art form cannot be performed in isolation
as it requires the presence of an audience, no matter how small. The process of writing,
rehearsing, memorizing and performing takes hours, days and weeks to perfect, and this
is to ensure the audience feel the impact of the spoken words. From my own personal
experience, I used to be shy and avoided speaking out in public unless I had no choice.
However, ever since I decided to start performing my poems instead of just writing them,
I am able to communicate more and pass my ideas across better, which has also helped
me in public speaking. Nowadays, I am able to confidently honor public speaking
engagements and well, I usually interlace my speech with a bit of poetry. What led me to
performing my poems? It was the realization that people react immediately to sight and
sound than to what they can afford to read “later.” But this is a story for another day.
 Spoken word and poetry is a genre of entertainment: Words are tools, and there
is no better tool user than a poet. The words spoken from the mouth of a poet has
strength, style, and staying power. Thus, a Spoken Word Poet can use his/ her poems to
entertain the audience while educating and informing them at the same time. The
interesting aspect of Spoken Word Poetry is that each poet has his or her own area of
interest. So we have some poets that talk about politics; some do comical poems (using
irony and sarcasm), there are poets who talk about sad events (enough to make you cry);
poets who dwell on social issues; there are love poets and many more areas. Each poet
brings a different perspective and a unique style to the stage when performing. The poets'
use of metaphors, similes, alliterations, punch lines etc. usually ensure the audiences are
enraptured by their words.
 Spoken Word Poetry as a tool of therapy: The issue of mental health is gaining more
recognition and is being better addressed now, in Nigeria. Given the fact that words are
 powerful, and can make or mar an individual, Spoken Word Poetry could be therapeutic,
for managing mental health issues. This is because of its great impact via the power of
expression and the ability to uplift and motivate people.

The beauty of Spoken Word Poetry is its ability to wrap all these attributes together in each and
every poetic piece. Thus, I can prescribe Spoken Word Poetry as one sure way for people to
improve mentally and professionally. This art form also has the potential of being a major means
of employment for talented and creative individuals, and this is what informed the vision of our
organization.
REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT AND ILLITERACY USING SPOKEN WORD POETRY
Everybody has a need to express themselves. This need is most times expressed wrongly when
the person is unable to find the right channel of expression. Most people love music, but not
everybody can sing to save their life. Most people love jokes, but not everybody can make other
people laugh. Likewise, acting, dancing, sports, Spoken word poetry, etc are all different modes
of expression. This means that there is a mode of expression for different people.
Spoken word is a very powerful performance-based poetry that focuses on the aesthetics of word
play and story-telling. It is often used in conjunction with other art forms, such as music, theatre,
and dance, and has been an outlet for people, especially youths, to creatively express their views,
emotions or life experiences.
In Nigeria, Spoken word poetry is an emerging art-form, which is gaining strong grounds and
attracting an ardent following, especially among the youths. With the growing popularity of this
art form, Spoken word poetry can be used to reduce unemployment rate, increase the level of
literacy and possibly eradicate poverty. How is this possible? Well, Spoken word poetry as an art
form is naturally a perfect fit as:

 A genre of entertainment: The art form is one with great intellectual content and plenty
of entertainment to keep the live audience excited and viewers glued to their seat. This
art form is thus content for audio and/ or visual networks.
 A tool to increase the level of literacy: There is no degree requirement for becoming
a poet, and no degree program can guarantee that graduates will become good Spoken
word poets. However, the foundation for any poet is the ability to read and write. With
this foundation, a poet will still need to develop and improve on his or her writing skills
and increase their knowledge about all writing genres, and different aspects of life i.e.
politics, love, finance etc. :)
 A medium of communication among people across the globe: the ability to express
one's emotions and thoughts in a clear and concise manner is an act of communication.
Thus, most people are able to connect with a poet's performance/ poem because it is
something that they have experienced or at least, know about.
 A means of livelihood: This is the vision we have for this art form. And nowadays, we
have very few Spoken word poets who get paid to perform at events (sometimes, themed
events). However, for this art form to be a full-fledged means of livelihood, there is a
major need for investment and support of this art form by individuals, corporate
organizations and the Government.
Spoken word poetry captures all genres of people, the young, the old and the high network
individuals. Given its intrinsic value, it is an art form with the potential to keep the youths (and
the general populace) entertained, educated, literate and employed.
IF WE HAD A MILLION DOLLARS TO SPEND ON POETRY FOR A YEAR
In January:
We would start the publicity for War Of Words Africa (Poetry Slam Competition), and entries
would be via video submission through one of the following: Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, or
Twitter. The theme of the competition can either be:
 Around a company's brand e.g. Words give you wings (Redbull), Made of Words
(Guinness), With Words We Glow (Globacom), Just Say it (NIKE), Keep Talking
(Johnnie Walker) etc.
 Around a Social Cause: Trade not in Punch be a Guardian, Halt Hatred Learn
Love, Poets Preach Peace, Words should heal not hurt etc.
 Around a product or a service.
In February:
Video Submission starts till end of the month.
In March:
Best 100 video submissions are invited for auditions and 40 poets are chosen.
In April to May:
The 40 poets face off every weekend and elimination is by Judges (i.e. professional poets and
celebrity judges) and online/ offline voting. The winner from the top 3 poets is decided by
votes.
In June:
The top 3 poets and other poets go on a campus tour of some Universities in Nigeria namely:
University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Benin, Delta State University,
University of Calabar, University of Port Harcourt, University of Jos, University of Ilorin etc.
In July:
The top 3 poets and other poets go on a tour of poetry circuits in Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, and
South Africa.
In August:
We will have "Word Up Poetry Fiesta" - a 3 day event which will run from Friday to Sunday. Day
one will be an open mic event, day two will be seminars and lectures on branding, poetry
performance, event management, entrepreneurship etc. Day 3 will be a concert which will
feature the top 3 poets from the slam, celebrity poets, established poets, soul singers and 2
world renowned guest poets.
In September:
We will organize an invitational poetry slam competition and invite top slam poets from UK and/
or USA, to face off against the top slam poets from War Of Words Africa.
In October:
We will organize a poetry slam competition for Secondary Schools in Nigeria.
In November:
We rest awhile and look up on the latest happenings in other art forms that we can integrate
into our events.
In December:
We will have open mic events every Saturday/ Sunday evening in different parts of Lagos State
and in other States.
All Year Long:
We will have Poetry TV and Radio shows, poetry training sessions, sale of poetry merchandise
during and after the major poetry events, develop and allow free download of app(s) for poetry
lovers to watch and listen to poetry on their mobile devices, as well as, upload their own poetry
performances.
WHY POETRY?

Poetry, or specifically, Spoken Word Poetry is one of the oldest form of the literary /creative
arts which includes Drama and Prose, thus, it is a genre of entertainment. In addition, Spoken
Word Poetry is a tool to increase literacy level, a means of communication among people across
the globe, and a source of livelihood for talented individuals.

SPOKEN WORD POETRY IN NIGERIA

Over the years we’ve seen many art events like comedy and music take center stage in different
parts of the world. The new addition to Nigeria’s entertainment industry is Spoken Word Poetry.
Spoken word poetry is a form of poetry taken out of its literary written context and dramatized
through a vocal medium. Unlike other forms of poetry, spoken word is written to be performed.
The art has been in existence for a long time but it is just coming to limelight in Nigeria’s
entertainment industry. When one listens to some spoken word performances, they can be
likened to rap music but spoken word poets are not rappers, they are creative performers who
make use of words and delivery in a rhythmic style. They make use of rhythm, rhymes, punch
lines, metaphor, similes and other elements that make the art stand out. The rise of spoken word
movement in Nigeria can be traced back to a decade or so, with the likes of Sage Hasson, who is
regarded as Nigeria’s premier spoken word poet, championing the cause.

But recently, the art branched out in search for publicity when some spoken word poets came
together to aggressively create awareness through different events. Though some may argue that
the revolution actually started with Poets like Beautiful Nubia in Lagos, and others say the Abuja
Poets own the credit. But it has been observed that the revolution that stalled for a long time has
taken a new acceleration in the last 5 years with the efforts of Poets like Torpedo Mascaw (Tope
Sadiq), Dike Chukwumerije, Plumbline, Olumide Holloway (Olulu), Enigmatic Olumide, Efe Paul
Azino, Ken Ike, Bob Ekat, Donna, Uche Uwadinachi, AJ Daggar Tola, etc. who could be referred
to as some of the leading icons in the Industry.

The efforts of the above mentioned poets led to a more rapid growth in the development of the
industry with the involvement of younger poets who organize poetry events in various institutions
across Nigeria and lead various poetry movements online and offline.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SPOKEN WORD POETRY AS AN INDUSTRY

 The art form is in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
i.e. ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all, as well as, promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic
growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.

 The art form events will aid the growth of the spoken word poetry industry,
thereby creating employment/ jobs for creative individuals i.e. the performers,
event organizers, event promoters, video crew, photographers, Poetry bloggers,
magazines, TV and Radio news crew, sellers of merchandize/ branded poetry products,
poetry teachers /trainers etc.
SOCIAL IMPACT OF SPOKEN WORD POETRY AS AN INDUSTRY

 Spoken Word Poetry is a genre of entertainment, a tool to increase the level of

literacy, a means of livelihood and a medium of communication among people
across the globe.

 It will cultivate and improve the reading culture amongst youths.

 It will encourage acquisition of knowledge amongst the youths.

 Provides positive content for websites/ bloggers, magazines, TV and Radio.

IMPACT OF A VIBRANT POETRY INDUSTRY ON AFRICA AND THE WHOLE WORLD

The projection of this art form will ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote
lifelong learning opportunities for all, as well as, promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable
economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. In addition, it will
aid the growth of other related art forms, thereby creating employment/ jobs for creative
individuals.

TARGET MARKET
These include individuals between the ages of 11 to 45 years of age from different parts of Africa
and/ or African descent.

RISKS/ CHALLENGES
Two key challenges we face are: awareness and funding. Fact is, awareness brings funding, and
funding brings awareness. We had been funding our events from personals savings, contributions
from families and friends, and some support from one or two private organisations.

We basically had had to be more dynamic in our thinking and operations. So aside event
organisation and promotion, we also do poetry content production (for our online sites), online
competition, app development (work in progress), blogging, poetry event reporting, social media
marketing, training and mentorship etc.
ABOUT i2X Media

i2X Media Company Limited is a major organizer of Spoken Word Poetry Events in
Nigeria. We are passionate about Spoken Word Poetry as a genre of entertainment, a tool
to increase the level of literacy, a means of livelihood and a medium of
communication among people across the globe.

From February 2012 till date, we have successfully organized over 40 Spoken Word Poetry
events in Nigeria on a monthly, quarterly and bi-annual basis. Our poetry events include WORD
UP, War Of Words, Chill and Relax (Open Mic), Word Up Mini Series (Open Mic)
and Word Up Talk/ Seminar Series.

The reception to our Spoken Word events has greatly improved, as attendance at our events is
an aggregate of about 13,000 people. We have engaged over 10,000 people through our
interactive social media platforms and provided a stage for over 200 poets to showcase their
talent to the world. In addition, with our real time twitter updates, online video streaming and
post event activities (videos, pictures and event reports) we have over 5,000 people listening,
watching and enjoying our events.

We also have a poetry social media community with over 200 members –
www.warofwordsng.com, where people from all over the world partake in our online performance
poetry competitions, upload their poetry video and audio files, watch poetry videos, and also,
listen to “poetry on the go” from their mobile phones.

Our investment in the development of the spoken word poetry art form in Nigeria and beyond is
over $385,000 and most of our events have been self-financed.

Our vision is to develop a vibrant Spoken Word Poetry Industry intriguing to the
audience and poets alike; thus allowing creative individuals to earn a living from their
poetic talents and skills.
From the year 2016, our vision can be said to have been partly achieved with the swift increase
in Poetry events all over Nigeria (i.e. from 8 major poetry events annually to over 3 poetry events
monthly). However, there still need for injection of funds/ awareness for the full development of
this emerging industry.
FOR MORE INFORMATION

Our websites are: http://wordup411ng.com/ , http://warofwordsng.com/ ,

http://wordupnaija.tv/

Our email addresses: holla@wordup411ng.com , wordup4one1@gmail.com ,

olulu4ever@gmail.com

Our Youtube channels:

https://www.youtube.com/user/olulu4eva , http://www.youtube.com/user/WordUpNigeria

Twitter: @wordup411, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wordup411/ , Instagram:

@wordup411

Telephone: Olumide +2348025070892, Ayo +2347068400846, Quazeem +2348080918265