Nigerian and Cuban Poets Celebrate World Poetry Day

In commemoration of World Poetry Day, established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to celebrate poetry as a powerful medium of cultural and linguistic expression, creativity, and communication, the Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC), in collaboration with Providus Bank, marked the event recently at the Terra Arena, Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Backed by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, the event has grown into a major literary gathering, celebrating poetry’s power to bridge cultures. This year’s edition, themed ‘Sand Dune and Ocean Bed: The Template of Dispersal,’ featured a unique Nigerian-Cuban collaboration, with poets and musical performances exploring themes of migration and identity.

This year’s observance coincides with the 30th Anniversary of UNESCO’s Routes of Enslaved Peoples: Resistance, Liberty, and Heritage program, and the start of the United Nations’ Second Decade of African Descendants (2025–2034), poetry’s role in global cultural discourse as performed by both Nigerian and Cuban poets who nuanced peculiar struggles against the backdrop of culture and language.

“Migration takes several forms. Voluntary migration, and violent migration, violent dispersal, with no volition at the beginning, the middle, or the end. Hence, the global recognition of the great harm that was done to the African continent, it was a hardcore resource centre of slavery, of that criminal tendency of humanity to enslave other peoples,” Soyinka noted.

Speaking on the theme, Providus Bank MD/CEO Walter Akpani encouraged the celebration of dispersal, challenging the negative connotations often associated with it.                                                                                                                                                             

“Today, voices converge to remind us that poetry is not just an art; it is a force of nature. As we celebrate poetry in our discourse, let us also celebrate the power of dispersal—the way ideas travel, and the way change, though sometimes unsettling, is the bedrock of renewal. Let this be a call to everyone. As the dunes shift and the tides rise and fall, let us remember that dispersal is not disappearance. It is an expansion. It is the spreading of influence. It is the promise that every word, every effort, and every dream has the power to reach distant shores.”

The event featured Nigerian poets ÀrmGemini, Evelyn Osagie, Kaffe of Life, Tijaywebster, and Chinelo Nwora, alongside Cuban poets Sinecio Verdecia Díaz, Alex Pausides, Edelmis Anoceto Vega, Israel Domínguez, and Emiliano Sardiñas.

Other special performances included the Cuban ensemble Camerata Cortés, whose music fused classical precision with the lively rhythms of Cuban tradition. Nigerian singer-songwriter Kafayat Quadri captivated the audience with her soothing vocals, accompanied by her acoustic guitar.