Analysis of "Our Own Oga Sold Death to Us!" from The Hole in a Donut by Chibueze Prince Orie

The Poem

The poem contains 3 stanzas.

• Stanza 1:

  • Talks about “our big oga” who stops paying salaries after three months of his re-election.
  • Stanza 1 shows how workers are owed up to four months.

• Stanza 2:

  • Presents how the artisans in “our big oga’s Kingdom” receive their ‘fair’ share, which is the destruction of their workshops and sheds, resulting in their wandering about in streets (i.e., they become jobless).

• Stanza 3:

  • The persona exposes the big oga’s agenda, which are ‘destruction’ and ‘sans innovation’ (i.e., no innovation).
  • The big oga’s idea of development is to demolish existing structures and to frustrate the inhabitants of the state he governs.

Theme

1. Bad Leadership:

   • Big oga is presented as a leader that refuses to pay salaries as and when due, a leader who destroys existing structures and has no innovation.
   • This shows that he has no plan of developing the state.
   • For not paying salaries, the persona says he “sold death to them.”

2. Frustration:

   • This is another theme identified in the poem.
   • Both government workers and artisans are being frustrated as their means of livelihood is being blocked.