SOURCE: "Christopher Okigbo and the Growth of Poetry," in European-Language Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa, Vol. 2, edited by Albert S. Gerard, Akademiai Kiado, 1986, pp. 750-54.

In the essay below, Egudu characterizes Okigbo as "the most significant poet" of his generation.

Christopher Okigbo is obviously the most significant poet of [1960s Nigeria] not only because of his national relevance but also because of his artistic excellence. He can rightly be described as the poet of Nigerian history, for there is a movement in his work which parallels that of the history of Nigeria from her contact with the white man to the early stages of the civil war, when Okigbo died. Heavensgate and Limits are a re-enactment of the cultural (especially religious) alienation which the country experienced during the colonial era; "Distances" is a conclusion to Heavensgate and Limits, and a final reversion to indigenous traditional religion; "Silences: Lament of...