passes always an epic struggle. This much is evident in Freedom Lament and Song as
well as History is the Home Address. On his part, Ofeimun engages with exile and its
imbrication on colonial past by constructing a spatial juxtaposition of the postcolonial
city of Lagos and the imperial city of London. In the dialogue that ensues, the poet brings
freshness to literary discourses on exile and postcolonial understanding of this
phenomenon. In the other works, each poet justifies the merit and uniqueness of his arts.
Oguibe, for instance, fuses his reflection on exile with the Nigerian political instability
and military tyranny of the late 20th century in order to dramatize the link between them.
From a generally satirical angle in “Sketches from London” in Of Chameleons and Gods ,
Mapanje adopts typical clarity and lyricism to usher us into the world of “New Poems” in
The Last of the Sweet Bananas. The sobriety that is prevalent in “New Poems” reinforces
the seriousness of exile/ transnationalism which is forced on people by the prevailing
hostile circumstances of home, in this specific case, the Malawian state. By privileging
the metaphor of Agbenoxevi , the foot-loose personality, Anyidoho stretches our
imagination of African exile in a manner that blends distant history of African diaspora in
the West with the contemporary nudge of exile, while at the same time reflecting on the
values of return for development. The highpoint of Ojaide’s aesthetics lies perhaps in the
grand paradox and suspense that he registers on the title of When it no Longer Matters
Where You Live ; not least because contrary to the expectations of readers, the overall
impression in the poems, especially the title poem, is that exile, even at its most
hospitable, cannot compare with the sense of gratification and dignity of home.
Finally, in view of the scope and limitation of this study, I make no claim to exhaustive
exploration of the discourse of exile in African poetry, which leaves room for further
study by other scholars and students of literature. Importantly, a study of female poets in
this generation can be undertaken either within the sub-Saharan division or as an African-
wide study still dealing with the question of exile. It is also my recommendation that
similar studies can be carried out on poets in this generation by comparing them with
poets of the first generation or those of the third. On a more ambitious plane, a
multilingual study of this generation can be carried out in which case by transcending the