Nigerian writer, inspirational poet and performance artiste, Kudo Eresia-Eke, who has published works spanning poetry, short stories, academic articles, essays and music, last week presented his latest book, 25 Words of Gold (Volume One), to art writers in Lagos.

And for anyone who has read his writings especially his poems, his latest book, 25 Words of Gold, is a treasure trove of inspirational and motivational verses, exploring various and varied aspects of human experience, knowledge, conditions and predicament.

A unique feature of this collection is that each poem is 25-word long. Published in 2021 by Ipress Printing and Publishing, Port Harcourt, River State, Nigeria, the 106-page book, the author notes, is dedicated to ‘’all Seekers of Truth’’.

It has 100 poems, loosely classified into themes: Man and Spirit, Wisdom and Reason, Love and Life, Family and Friens, Attitude and Gratitude, Pomp and Power.

Significantly, ‘’in a society where hate, angst and man’s inhumanity to man have attained unimaginable levels; where our time honoured values have been thrown to the mud; where greed, avarice, unbriddled corrurption, nepotism and immorality are recognised as acceptable modes; where leadership is either weak or non-existent; these poems serve as a voice – the still small voice – redirecting us to the very essence of our existenceon earth – our relationship with our creator and with other humans as a precondition to our realizing the world of our dreams. Each poem maintains a unique structure of 25 words.

The poems are presented in a relatively simple diction to make its didactic appeal accessible to a wider audience.’’ Prof. Emeritus Ayo Banjo in the forward, describes 25 Words of Gold as ‘’poetry at its most elemental: enlightening while delighting.’’

According to Banjo, ‘’while keeping the form constant, Eresia-Eke has made the content as varied as one can imagine, but always in the guise of aphorism.

There are one hundred poems in the present volume, in which the poet examines the whole gamut of human condition and predicament.’’ Speaking with New Telegraph, Eresia-Eke noted that he was trained as a communicator, and through his training, a few things he learnt, the prominent one is ‘’if you really know anything, you know it well.

Then you should be able to say it briefly and simply. That has informed my entire outlook on life. If I am not able to say something briefly and simply then I need to work a little bit harder, I need to understand it more better.’’

He explained that 25 Words of Gold is a reflection of discipline, that rigor to have the ability to say things simply and briefly so that you can reach almost everybody and there is non that is read that will not give you something to take away so that you get value for your time ‘’Then we have the use of social media, instagram, that kind of disciplines or forces people to discipline themselves into writing things briefly.

In today’s world, first a lot of people are not reading and secondly they are having difficulty even trying to follow a difficult reading: reading that requires you having to consult an encyclopedia or dictionary before you make progress.

‘’Even though all genres of literature are suffering a set back, I think poetry is suffering the most, because for some reasons poets believe that the more esoteric, difficult and the more high profile, the more of an appeal it has to the elite to enjoy it,’’ he said.

‘’But I am an African being an African I know that poetries are not for some people, poetry is for everybody. If you ever grow up in the village, the songs that we sang and folklores that we relate everything was done in such a manner that even a little child will understand.

They are usually brief not too lengthy. It’s that tradition of African folklore form of poetry that informed me and trained to believe that if you ever knew anything well, then you should have the ability to say it simply and briefly.

Those thoughts and constraints gave birth to what I hope will be a continuous stream of 25 words as poems. I am an observer of life. I take a very keen interest in observing God speak through nature.’’ He recalled that as a young child he was very interested in the river, just watching the river flow.

‘’Just by watching and listening to the river I think I learned a lot about time. About the fact that you don’t step into same river twice, and the fact that the river can conquer anything, it does it with time.

Slowly but it never gives up. When it gets at something even if it’s a mountain it keeps going at it. It may not cut the mountain in one day but be sure it will cut it. The love for nature probably informed the kind piece you have in ‘25 Words of Gold’.

‘’We don’t create a poem even though a poet will tell you I created the poem, what I found out is that the poem come to you and use you as a channel of expression, this expression sometimes comes when you are sleeping or in your dreams.’’

Eresia-Eke, however, feels saddened to see ‘’a lot of noble intellectuals that have walked through the forest of poetry and have plucked wonderful fruits but could not be useful to their own people because they are covered in thorns of languages that no one could have the courage to access.’’

Eresia-Eke holds a Ph.D. in Political Theory and a B.Sc. in Mass Communication and has had a career tour through the Media, Academia, Government, and the Oil and Gas industry, where he rose to become General Manager/Executice Director, External Relations of Nigeria LNG.

He was also at various times the Chief Executive Officer of the Oil and Gas Industry Foundation in Nigeria, Commissioner for Information and Culture, as well as the State Director of the National Orientation Agency, Rivers State.

He is the Founder and Director of Starlets Academy Group of Schools and currently lives in Atlanta, where he is the Vice-President of Concept Engineer- Participants during the New York event if AfricaNext ing Group of Companies