Much has been written about Niyi Osundare’s “Not My Business” on this literature website and elsewhere, from content analysis to thematic analysis. However, the theme of military brutality is hardly stressed enough as the fodder for the poem. It is undeniable that Osundare’s “Not My Business” illustrates how military regimes bring about physical, mental, and social suffering for individuals who dare challenge injustice, many of whom are unjustly detained and silenced. This is why I am writing a post on the theme of military brutality in Niyi Osundare’s “Not My Business”.
Theme of Military Brutality
More than the readable experience of the common man in the poem, “Not My Business” also implies the physical, mental and social torture fomented on the helpless masses.
As the background of the poem provides, military rule in Nigeria featured physical power mischief, anarchy, suspension of the constitution, injustice, and the unspeakable misfortunes of daring compatriots. In this vein, it is credible to suggest that the unfortunate victims of military outrage (suggested by ‘boot’ and ‘waiting jeep’) are the crop of citizens who dared to affront the injustice of the government – artistes, writers, journalists and a few politicians. The victims here in the poem are a prototype of the daredevil representatives of justice who were compensated with untold hardship and brutality.
There was in the era the arrest and detention of those who sought social justice against oppression. It was this draconian administration that scared many others to silence until emancipation and transition to civilian rule.
Furthermore, the nominal allusions to regional names in the poem suggests the tribal politics of military rule. The consequence of this was the xenophobia and fascist dictatorship leading to war in the early years of independence. Power rotated among the three major ethnic groups in a revenge play and supremacist claim to political autonomy. Still in this light, we can suggest that the poet uses the suffering of Akanni, Chinwe, and Danladi as an index to portray what politics meant for even the patriots of the newly-independent nation – loss of jobs, voice, and ultimately life!
Finally on this note, the tone of the poet is laconic. Of course, anyone will be silenced into oblivion, seeing the eyesore of military oppression. Therefore, not being his business is a paradox of the anxiety of existence under bad governance.The poem altogether vociferates the climate of fear that hovered – and still does – over Nigerians under the past and present contraption of governance and citizenship.
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