One of the worst effects of colonialism and colonial evangelization in West Africa has been the degradation of the indigenous West African culture in general and the indigenous religious worship in particular. The efforts of the early Christian missionaries were directed at estranging the natives from their indigenous religion and "planting" in them the imported Christian religion. Christopher Okigbo sees himself as a prodigal who has left this home religion for the foreign one. And, at a moment of mature realization, he returns to his original religion to revive and preserve the indigenous system of worship. This accounts for the satirical attitude to Christianity in his poetry.

Thus in Okigbo's poetry the themes of religious suppression, anti-Christianity, religious revival, and literary struggle are predominant. Besides these themes, however, he deals with love and with political issues, but only on a minor scale. (p. 3)

Early in Heavensgate ("Passage I...