The Words Finesse

At Sixty-Seven

(for: Col. Oladele Babajamu rtd.)

By: AbdulHafeez Oyewole 

You stand

like a baobab after rain,

medals breathing softly

on your chest of seasons.

Your pen-

a tireless masquerade,

has walked through barracks and books,

teaching words

the discipline of light.

Soldier of duty,

keeper of memory,

you turned poems into bugles

for a waking nation.

Now young voices

gather beneath your name

like birds around water.

At sixty-seven (o'clock),

and time still removes its cap

when you pass.

In an era where literature continues to evolve beyond the printed page, Nigerian poet and media professional AbdulHafeez T. Oyewole has embraced the digital shift, making his poetry anthologies Tides of Verses and Air Around Us readily accessible to readers worldwide.

Originally published in 2015 and 2017 respectively, the two collections have now found new life online, offering literary enthusiasts, scholars, and casual readers the opportunity to engage with Oyewole’s work with just a click. This move signals not only a step forward in accessibility but also a renewed invitation into the poet’s deeply reflective and emotionally resonant world.

Tides of Verses, Oyewole’s compelling debut anthology, poses a powerful question: What if poetry could speak your thoughts, challenge your perspective, and inspire your soul, all at once? The collection answers this with grace and intensity. Its verses ebb and flow like tides, at times calm and introspective, at others bold and thought-provoking. With a rich blend of styles and themes, the book connects with readers seeking meaning, creativity, and emotional truth. It is, by every measure, a collection that lingers long after the final page.

Get Tides of Verses here: 

Following this is Air Around Us, a more expansive and structurally layered anthology that asks: What if the air around you could speak, what stories would it tell? Through this work, Oyewole captures the shifting moods of life, human emotion, and the complexities of existence. Written with both depth and simplicity, the collection is divided into three powerful sections, Homage, Border, and Concession. Each section offers a unique lens, from reflections on art, nature, family, and identity, to quiet confrontations with solitude, and ultimately, a courageous awakening of the human spirit.

Every poem in Air Around Us flows with clarity and emotional resonance, reinforcing the idea that simple words can carry profound meaning. It is more than a collection, it is a companion for thoughtful minds and searching hearts, encouraging readers to reflect, question, and rediscover themselves.

Get Air Around Us here: 

Beyond poetry, AbdulHafeez T. Oyewole is a seasoned PR and media practitioner with over a decade of experience across diverse media platforms. His work has gained recognition locally, nationally, and internationally, underscoring his versatility and depth as a storyteller. He is the current Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Kwara State Chapter; Assistant Secretary of the Guild of Digital Journalists (GDJ); a member of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN), and the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), further affirming his active role in both literary and professional communities.

His literary portfolio extends beyond poetry. Among his other notable works are Twin Faces of Tomorrow and Other Stories (Prose), Bright Minds, Brave Hearts (Poetry), and Balqees and the Beauty of the Hijab (Drama), reflecting his broad engagement with multiple genres.

With his works now available digitally, Oyewole opens the door wider for readers across the globe to experience his voice, one that is reflective, probing, and unmistakably human.

Readers are encouraged to explore these collections, discover the depth within their pages, and share the experience with others. As literature continues to transcend boundaries, AbdulHafeez T. Oyewole’s poetry stands as a testament to the enduring power of words, whether on paper or on screen.

Àkànbí, dance like the small snail! 

- Dr Kehinde Rueben Akano, an award winning poet, is an Associate Professor in the English Department of the Kwara State University.

Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo

Su’eddie Vershima Agema

As teasers, here are excerpts from reviews of the three poetry collections. First is Agema’s Memory and the Call of Waters in AnoteArtHub: “From ‘When traffic lights went out’ in honour of Pius Adesanmi who died in a plane crash to ‘Transition II’ where ‘Our compound is a testament to the earth’s theft/ littered with concrete mounds, pillowed with/ fading names. Forgotten stories,’ Agema mourns the beginning of nightmares in his people’s encounter with herders who are the genesis of ‘earth’s theft’ of his compound. While in ‘Transition,’ ‘these graves are an encyclopaedia/ pages of our mostly forgotten past’, of deaths that occurred naturally, ‘Transition II’ assumes the macabre dance of herders murdering whole villages just to make way for cows to graze:

‘This river, this river…running behind the houses,/ rushes with urgency and waves as I leave/ warning of a time when herdsmen might lead us to Golgotha./ Our ityo, elders stand helpless while my daughter sighs from afar./ I raise a dirge of too many memories filled with holes,/ waiting to be patched when I become the earth.”

Saddiq Dzukogi

Also from TheNews magazine by Nehru Odeh is Dzukogi’s Your Crib, My Qibla: “Still, the pathos in Dzukogo’s poetry not only rings true it is also palpable. The collection is not just about a poet grieving the loss of his child, but a poet betraying strong, haunting emotions, which the reader senses line after line, metaphor after metaphor and imagery after imagery. And the memories that keep bopping up again and again and the sense of loss grip the reader so well that they also feel the poet’s pains and trauma.

“A salient feature of the collection is its polyphony, its multiplicity of voices, the striking manner in which the poet gave his daughter voice in the second section of the book and makes it dialogic. The book is not just about a poet expressing his own feelings but also about how he makes it dialogic, democratic and interactive by making his daughter, who is still alive though dead, express her own feeling.”

Romeo Oriogun

And Romeo Oriogun’s Nomad is described thus: 

“Oriogun combines the exploratory intensity of travel poetry with the confessional fidelity of a memoir to paint the journey of a curious child sculpting his truth into questing words across strange and known terrains. The result is a deeply attentive work brimming with wisdom and a power of observation.”

Undoubtedly, all eyes is now on October when the winner will be announced from the shortlist of three poets. Fingers crossed. 

Best wishes to the trio, from all of us at The Words Finesse (TWF).