CRITIQUING THE VIDEO OF THE 2022 TEACHERS’ DAY SPOKEN-WORD POEM BY HAFSAT ABDULLAHI

The 2022 Teacher’s Day spoken-word poem titled “Not all heroes wear capes” by Hafsat Abdullahi is a ballad with satirical expressions. It was a rendition to commemorate the 2022 teachers’ day. It focuses on the value attached to teachers and the importance of teachers in nation-building, especially in a country like Nigeria. She opened the poem with the expression Not All Heroes Wear Capes reinforcing the importance of the subject matter in the event. 

The energy put into the prologue is captivating. Also, the unique storytelling and the narration abilities of Hafsat set a good background for the presentation, as it gives an idea of the poem even before he began.

The subject matter of the poem is the teachers and the teaching profession. The poet considers the sacrifices made by teachers in impacting lives and building dreams, how the society overlooks the contributions of teachers, overwork them and the general apathy towards the teaching profession. It also called on the people to remember the teachers and embrace the teaching profession as almost no one or just few people desire the teaching profession.

The poet’s intention, goal or purpose is to celebrate teachers and motivate people, especially the growing ones to consider the teaching profession 

Hafsat narrated how she was asked at nine years old what she wanted to become in future and she said she would love to be a journalist. Some wanted to be gynecologists, doctors, lawyers, bankers, Superman, Spiderman, Scooby Doo. And it made her feel bad that out of the twenty one students in class, none wanted to be a teacher, hence, the inspiration for the poem.

Not all heroes wear capes, some wear collars, skirts, shirts on tailored pants, covered with dust, chalks, sweat and sometimes in tears. This tells the agony teachers. People in this profession go against all odds and societal stigma. They sweat under the hot sun, in unfavorable weather conditions, they go all out to give our children a better future. Though these teachers may not be seen everywhere, they may not have the muscles and the physique, but they have unmatched patience, superpowers and the ability to discern dreams and potentials and mould talents. They may not have flashy names, cars and whim, caprices. They help mould the society. They help build dreams and guide even the rejected to success.

Her points are well-outlined as the points making listeners see that those who could be considered heroes of the world because of how they train other professionals are left uncelebrated. In fact kids and young ones do not want to be teachers because of the way the society views the profession. 

The poem is not just motivational, it is a good presentation for career talk shows and orientation events for students in tertiary institutions.

The title “Not all heroes wear capes contributes to the subject matter of the poem, emphasizing the way people look down on the teaching profession, knowing that they are the bedrock   of society.

The slow and steady tempo of the rendition aids the flow of the making it captivating to the listener. It’s obvious from the reaction of the audience that fell in love with her style of rendition as they interrupted her accolades through nods and claps.

The background music, rhythm and rhyme infused by Hafsat certainly put the listeners in an attentive mood, making the atmosphere comfortable and serenading.

The music also gave a warm and captivating outro and epilogue of the rendition. 

That Hafsat wanted to be a Journalist shows how the journey of life could be mysterious. How man could find himself in a profession he never thought he could do. Hafsat now became a poet leaving an indelible mark in not just Arts but poetry. Her prowess certainly brought her to the Maltina Teachers’ day event.  That is the irony of life.

Significant poetic devices used by Hafsat to convey her message are;

A caesura, a deliberate pause within a line adds drama and allows the audience to reflect. In Hafsat’s rendition, a line like “They begged for justice—none came.” makes the reader pause, emphasizing the hopelessness of the situation.

The use of rhymes makes the poem unique and pleasing to the ear. The line “some wear glass and never missed classes”, “the muscle to battle bad guys”

Inversion, which involves altering the normal word order, can emphasize certain aspects of a poem. For instance, instead of saying, “They Never missed a day to teach,” she said “Never missed a day to teach”. This draws attention to “never,” showing the relentless efforts of teachers in mould the future of students.

The time-to-time repetition of the title, Not all heroes wear capes reinforces key ideas, and makes the audience stick to her rendition. Though with multiple stanzas, the use of the title in-between the rendition makes the audience appreciate the power of arts, craft and prowess of the poet making them think over each line and gives a lasting memory even after the event.

Anaphora is a repetition of a phrase at the beginning of successive lines. This is a powerful tool in protest poetry.

For example the use of this title at the beginning of every expression shows anaphora.

Like this; Not all heroes wear capes, never missed a day to teach, reprove, reprimand, inspire, never tires of preaching, not all heroes wear capes not all has super speed, super laser eyes, not all have super muscles to battle bag guys, some just have unmatched patience and super powers, discerning eyes that see dreams, nose that perceive potentials and mouth that mould talents to good credentials.

The repetition raises the feelings of empathy for our uncelebrated heroes, the teachers. It also reinforces boldness and courage on the poet.

Critiquing Hafsat rendition further, I would recommend that her poems be compiled into a book. It should also be performed at the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) events. However, because of the human angle of the poem, it will be of good to humanity that the publication be sponsored by the United Nations or its arms like UNICEF, UNESCO and the UNDP to make sure everyone from different social strata have access to the book. I also recommend that it be translated into local languages in order to make it stand the test of time and become evergreen just like D.F. Odunjo’ “Ise L’ogun Ise” work is the antidote to poverty.