A Government Driver on His Retirementby Onu Chibuke

 

“A Government Driver on His Retirement”

 

  -ONU CHIBUIKE

 

Many years on wheels,

In faithful service to his fatherland

Today retires he home

And a celebration to holds

 

Many years has he pummeled his boozy throat?

In obedience to duty rules and regulations

Today he’ll go home a freeman

Eligible for his country’s service,

 

Come friends, rejoice with me

I shall booze and zoom myself home

“Away from duty rules,

Come celebrate my freedom’

Early to duty tomorrow holds not,

Thirty five years of faithful service

I’ll booze to sleep away my sufferings

Today I’ve long waited for”

 

More joy to send him home

A brand new car in his name

An appreciative symbol

For undented thirty-five years of service to

Fatherland.

 

“Come friends and rejoice more,

Joy till no more joy to joy

Today frees and makes me a king

My patience rewarded”.

And so, he boozed and boozed

Celebrating the celebration of his retirement

From faithful service to fatherland

He battled with his bottle booze

 

On his way home on wheels,

Booze, boozed his vision and clear judgment

He boomed his brand new car

And it sent him home

Home to rest in peace.

 

 

 

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY ABOUT THE POET

 

           Onu Kingsley Chibuike is a Nigeria contemporary poet and play wright.  He hails from Anambra State; the eastern part of Nigeria.  Some of his works include; ‘Good Night Africa and Collection of Contemporary poetry.

 

A BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE POEM

 

           This poem is a contemporary African poem written in the era of technological driven society on how those modern inventions can turn out to be the monster to destroy man.  The poet depicts the ominous stance and end of a certain government driver whose thirty-five years of active service comes to nothing owing to act of carelessness.  Poetry being a tool that illustrates human existence or social criticism, the poem explicates the saying. “Everything that has beginning must have an end”.  But does the government driver end it well?  The poem will answer this question.  This poem is liken to Timothy Wangusa’s “A Taxi Driver on His Death”, wherein a certain driver foresees his own death.

 

CONTENT ANALYSIS

 

           This poem is a lyrical and sarcastic poem that explores the vanity of human existence and the danger inherent in reckless, mindless and carefree life.  This poem admonishes all humans on earth that life of devil-may-care and happy-go-lucky is an invitation to untimely death.  The poem also celebrates an African proverb which says that if the gods want to kill a particular human being they first of all make him mad.  So is the life of a government driver who is the central character in this poem. Though he is not the chief persona in the poem but a character discussed by the poet. This poem does not only dwell on the good qualities possessed by the government driver who has just retired from active service in his fatherland, but also his disastrous and shameful end (early grave).  This poem therefore celebrates the government driver’s resounding service of thirty-five years and mourns his outright and sheer stupidity and folly.

           In stanza one, the poem opens with the unnamed government driver who has been driving government workers for many years, “In faithful service to his fatherland/today retires he home”.  It may also means that the driver is retiring today without any record of accident or any mishap, and a heavy celebration is to be held to celebrate such great feat and accomplishment.

           In stanza two, we are told that “many years has he pummeled his boozy throat” – meaning that for many years, the government driver has pledged allegiance to quit drinking in order to obey rules and regulations which stipulates that ‘don’t drink and drive”.  It is a strict law in Nigeria not to drink and drive; a strict law under Nigeria Highway Code.  We also learn that “today, he’ll go home a freeman” and he will be free from all the numerous rules and regulations.  He will also be spoilt with the freedom to resume his drinking spree.  His era of frequent errands for his boss will be a thing of the past.  The time has come where he’ll not be eligible for his country’s services” and will be duly and gainfully rewarded for his meritorious service for being diligent in his assignment.

           In stanza three, the persona declares his intention to invite friends to rejoice and drink with him ‘I shall booze and zoom myself home/away from duty rules, come and celebrate my freedom”.  This means that all that he needs to do is to drink and drive home recklessly without obeying the duty rules of careful driving and limited speed.  He is also cocksure that early resumption to work tomorrow will be a forgotten duty as he’s poised to celebrate his thirty-five years of faithful, meritorious, commendable and exemplary service as an excellent and competent government driver, “I’ll booze to sleep away my suffering”.  Here the persona opines and assures us that he will use this medium to drink excessively, probably to stupor to calm his nerves because of all that thick and thorns, trials and tribulations he had experienced during his service years, because he had long awaited for this opportunity and scarce freedom to be his own boss again.

           In stanza four, the government driver is rewarded with “a brand new car in his name” to further complement his effort as a successful driver”.  “More joy to send him home”, implies that more than just thank you is enough to compound and rekindle his happiness.  Therefore, a brand new vehicle is given to him as “An appreciative symbols for undented thirty-five years of service to fatherland”. The government feels that handing over a new car to him will help to appreciate the estimable service rendered to them as a driver.  

 

           In stanza five, we notice that there is tinge of excitement and merriment, because the persona calls his friends to rejoice with him more.  “Come friends and rejoice more” This time around he is thinking of ordering more drinks to augment the celebration such that they will “Joy till no more joy to joy”.  It means that he is aiming at once in a life time merriment and revelry. This is because his years of toiling and moiling, perseverance, diligence and patience are rewarded”.  The persona therefore sees this honor as a rare one and it must be heavily celebrated.

           In stanza six, the retired government driver continues to consume more liquor; more than his system can take without taking any precaution.

 

“And so, he boozed and boozed

Celebrating the celebration of his retirement

From faithful service to fatherland

He battled with his bottle booze”

 

          This implies that he persists in his alcoholic consumption in an attempt to celebrate his success to the point of inebriation and tipsiness.

           The last stanza of the poem shows that life is full of irony, twists and turns.  It also shows that carelessness and rudderless life kills faster than witchcraft. We are told here while on his way home after celebrating his retirement with his friends and well-wishers, the retired government driver meets his waterloo. After too much alcoholic intake, he takes to the steering of his brand new car awarded to him and crushes himself to death.  Hence he “booze boozed his vision and clear judgment/he boomed his brand new car/ and it sent him home”.  Instead of him to retire home and rest from active service as a successful-government driver, his new car sends him home to rest in peace.  His thirty-five years as a competent driver comes to nothing, for he drinks away his sorrow, freedom, destiny and brand new car.

 

 

THEMES

 

Carelessness:  an invitation to death

 

           Onu’s “A Government Driver on his Retirement” explicates the danger inherent in carefree life and the need to be mindful of the way we live life of devil-may-care.  This poem is a clarion call to all well-meaning drivers to avoid alcohol before they take to steering.  Sudden carefree life costs the retired government driver his life and thirty-five goods years of meritorious services to his fatherland.  He’s been driving for over three decades without any road mishap, crash or accident, and his successes and achievements are well acknowledge by the government, that is why he’s rewarded with a brand new car to his credit.  As this is not enough, he seeks to gratify his appetite for liquor, an habit he has dropped long time ago in order to concentrate on his job as a good and careful driver, and this is what earned him the desired accolade and appreciation from the government.  The driver reveals this in stanza two, where he admits he stopped alcoholic consumption long time ago all in a bit to obey rules and regulations in driving that say “do not drink and drive”.  Hence, he says:

 

Many years has he pummeled his boozy throat?

In obedience to duty rules and regulations

Today, he’ll go home a free man”

 

           Also, the poem admonishes us not to be carried away by our success, gain and achievement, because this often makes us lose our sense of clear judgment, thereby clothing us with pride and arrogance which may in turn send us into untimely grave, as in the case of the retired government driver. His many years of active service to the government come to nothing in just minutes of reckless celebration and excessive alcoholic consumption.  It is quite ironic, and pitiful that it is the same driving he does for thirty-five years that also sends him “home to rest in peace”.  (Kill him).

 

Danger of Alcoholism

 

           This poem examines the danger of excessive alcoholic intake and its consequences.  So drunkenness does not have anything to offer other than pain, lost, disappointment, disgrace and consequently untimely death.  The retired government driver has lived a disciplined, self – restraint and obedient life devoid of misfortune, but when he resorts to alcoholism, he lost all including his life and the privilege to enjoy all that he has labored for the last thirty-five years and his years on earth.

           However, we learn in stanza two that he paused or quit his habit of drinking to enable him succeed as a responsible person in his office as a government driver, and to obey all the laid down rules and regulation governing his job and the laws ascribed to driving, only to flaunt these rules as soon as he retires as an experienced and veteran driver.  The persona opines “many years has he pummeled his boozy throat/ in Obedience to duty rules and regulations’, today he’ll go home a free, / eligible to his country’s services”. To the driver, being a free man or regaining this freedom means lots to him.  Firstly, he will now embrace the freedom to drive recklessly; beyond the prescribed speed limit, and secondly, freedom to engage in alcoholism.  He therefore uses this medium to welcome this habit of drinking and reckless driving.  “And so he boozed and boozed celebrating the celebration of his retirement / from faithful service to the fatherland he bathed with his bottle booze… boomed his brand his vision and clear judgment he boomed his brand new car / And it sent him home to rest in peace”.  This means that he consumes excess bottles of the alcohol, becomes tipsy and inebriated and accelerates his brand new car beyond the normal speed limit and kills himself.

 

Reward for meritorious service to our fatherland

 

           Although this poem centre on the disastrous end of the retired government driver after thirty – five years of awesome service to his fatherland, but it also examines the need for reward after long years of service to one’s nation.  It is quite essential that the driver receives such recognition and accolades.  He has received a rowdy welcome from the government, friends and well – wishers, and successfully becomes rewarded with a brand new car in his name.  The government has given him more joy to send him home “a brand new car. / an appreciative symbol for undented thirty five years of services to fatherland”.

           Furthermore, his year of being a disciplined, dedicated patient and careful driver who is a strict teetotaler (one who does not drink alcohol) has come to nothing.  He has been completely teetotal for many years in order to perform his duty as a perfect driver. The poet persona says “many years has be pummeled his boozy throat/in obedience to duty rules and regulations”. Therefore, the retired driver is being celebrated here because he has sacrificed a lot and has written his name on gold and he deserves such recognition, award and validation.

 

The need for sobriety and temperance

 

     One’s “A Government Driver on his Retirement” criticizes alcoholism in totality and addresses the need to be strictly teetotal.  Dutch courage, that is, the false courage or confidence that a person get from drinking alcohol kills faster than poison and it must not encouraged or found among drivers.  In the poem, the government driver retires after thirty five years of driving without road mishap or accident.  During this time he’s been able to adhere strictly to Nigeria High Way code which states that ‘don’t drink and drive’.  Some other rules and regulations in his job routine are not left out too, for he carries them out to the letter.

          Consequently, his moment of celebration and merriment turns out be bullet and gun with which he kills himself, as he reunites with his appetite for liquor consumption.  The government of the day rewards him with unlimited praise, but only to reward himself with alcohol and untimely death.  The last stanza of the poem captures this moment of pity and regret with a tone of irony.

 

“On his way home on wheels

Booze, boozed his vision clear judgment

He boomed his brand new car

And it sent him home

… To rest in peace”

 

     This implies that the retired government driver loads his system with excessive alcohol, takes to the steering and has himself killed.

 

Poetic Devices

 

1.      Alliteration:  In lines 29 and 32, we have the sound/b/, Line 29.  “He battled with his bottle booze”, while line 32… boomed his brand new car.

The sound /b/ in both examples emphasizes the idea of fullness implied in the expression.  The repetition of the sounds also enhances the Iyrics quality of the poem.

2.      Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds is found in line 9: “I shall booze and zoom myself home”, and line 5: In obedience to duty rules and regulation.

3.      Inversion:  It is the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase, such instance are found in this poem in line 3: “today returns he home” instead of”  He returns home today”.  And in line 13: “Early to duty tomorrow holds not “instead of “Early to duty tomorrow will not hold”.

Also, in line 5: “Many years has he pummeled his booze throat” is used instead of “He has pummeled his boozy throat for many years”.

4.     Pun:  The poet plays on a number of words to buttress his points, ‘such expressions are found in line 26-27 and 29:  “And so he booze and booze celebrating the celebration of his retirement”.  Line 29 “He battled with his bottle booze” Also, we have pun in line 31:  “Booze boozed his vision and clear judgment”.  Pun is used here to create humorous effects and to illustrate the rate or level of the retired driver’s drunkenness.  It is also found in line 27:  “Joy til no more joy to joy”.

5.     Repetition:  The use of repetition is a bit obvious in the poem.  Some words and expressions are repeated for emphasis to substantiate the subject matter of the poem such words include: line 2 and 28:”… faithful service to fatherland”.  The word “Booze” in the poem which means to drink is repeated in line 5, 10, twice in line 26, in line 29, twice in line 31, also, “wheel” is repeated in line 1 and 30.  The word “joy” is also repeated three times in line 23.  “Home” is repeated twice and the first one means his earthly home while the second home means grave.

6.     Sarcasm/Irony/Humor:  There’s a sarcastic and ironic tone in the poem found in the last stanza of the poem.  It is quite ironic that the retired government driver who is the subject of discussion in the poem lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation which fetches him an air of honor and awards, only to be consumed by the brand new car awarded to him for his meritorious service to his fatherland.  Hence he “booze boozed his vision and clear judgment/He boomed his brand new car/and it sent him home… to rest in peace”.  This also evokes a wry laughter as the persona mocks at the retired government driver.

7.     Hyperbole:  The poet persona also makes use of a few exaggeration TO drive home his point in line 15, “I’ll booze to sleep away my sufferings” and line 29, ”He battled with his bottle home”.

8.     Personification:  Human attribute is being given to non-human object such as car in line 33-34”And it sent him home… to rest in peace”.

 

a.     “And it sent him home (line 33) refers to the grave or eternity

b.     “Home to rest in peace” (line 34) is a euphemism for death.

 

9.      Onomatopoeia:  Here there is an imitation of the natural sounds of a thing.  It creates a sound effect that mimics the things described in line 10”I shall… zoom myself home and in line 32, he boomed his brand new car. (Both zoom and boom represents the sound made by the gun and vehicle.

10.                         Tone:  The poet persona’s attitude towards the retired government driver is

 that of excitement and appreciation at the beginning and middle of the poem. The driver feels so excited and Joyous to have been rewarded bountifully, but the tone changes to that of sarcasm and mockery as a result of the driver’s foolishness.

11.                         Mood:  The state of mind of the persona towards the retired driver who is the subject in the poem, is that of happiness and mockery or sadness.

 

12.                        Language/Diction: The words used by the poet were carefully chosen to convey his message and feelings.  The words are clear simple and easy to comprehend. For instance, in line one, the poet mention “wheels” which refers to cars. “Booze “refers to drink.  Although some Euphemistic expressions are also used in the poem, but they don’t have problem with interpretation of these word.

 

LIKELY WAEC AND NECO 2021 – 2025 QUESTIONS

 

1.     Identify the central theme of the poem and discuss it extensively

2.     Attempt a critical appraisal of the poem

3.     Justify the assertion “Alcoholism and carefree life kills faster than witchcraft in relation to the poem.

4.     Examine any five(5) poetic devices used in the poem

5.     Discuss the theme of the need for sobriety and temperance

6.     How is the concept of reward and death presented in the poem

7.     “A Government Driver on His Retirement” teaches the danger of alcoholic consumption in the poem.  Discuss

8.     Attempt a justification of the poem’s sarcastic expression “He boomed his brand new car/And it sent him home/home to rest in peace”

9.     Examine the appropriateness of the poet’s diction in the poem

10.                        Assess the spate of indiscipline and Dutch courage and its consequence in the poem.