A STYLO-LINGUISTIC INVESTIGATION OF INSECURITY IN IDRIS AMALI’S TEARS OF DESERT WAR

Abstract

There are studies on the causes of and remedies to the menace of insecurity in Nigeria from sociological, political, economic, religious and cultural points of view. Howbeit, there is inadequate information on linguistic analysis of literary texts that have been used to describe insecurity. This study examines the linguistic indices selected by Idris Amali to recount insecurity in his poem Tears of desert war. The paper adopts an eclectic or integrative approach for analysis. Findings show that, at the graphological level, capitalization is used for some common nouns to depict their esteemed value. The question mark and the comma are omitted in some places in the poem to reiterate the haste with which the poet pens down the narrative and to foreshadow the dejection the account produces in the bard. Simple diction comprehensible to the average reader marks the piece. Besides, some personal pronouns are deployed to reiterate the authenticity of the narrative, to identify the poet with the natives of the region and to depict the adoration of some agricultural yields of certain places in Maiduguri. Tropes used to lace the poem add to the elevation and aesthetics of the language of the work. The historic present is used to establish the immediacy and actuality of the narrative while sparse use of the past tense points to the historicity of the desert war and indicates the time of the commencement of the war. Furthermore, the use of the phrase, clause and simple sentence to recount the desert war entrenches brevity of the language of poetry. The paper posits two forms of insecurity in the poem namely Boko Haram insurgency and banditry, while the executors of the war are Boko Haram insurgents and bandits. The aftermaths of the desert war are decimation of humans, economic animals and farm yields; homelessness, abandonment of farming and animal husbandry, looting and unending tears.