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 </div><p>A multiple award-winning poet and spoken word artist, <strong>Onwuasoanya Chika Tobi</strong>, has been announced winner of the <a title="CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST 2015 [March]" href="http://wrr.ng/authorpedia/call-for-submissions-brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest-2015-march/" target="_blank">March edition of the Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest (BPPC)</a> themed <em><strong>‘MAN AND RELIGION’</strong></em>.</p>
<p>Onwuasoanya, who is also a budding novelist and a Mechanical Engineering graduate, won the competition by a single point awarded for early entry after his poem,<em><strong> ‘THE PACT’</strong> </em>scored 87% to beat second placed <em><strong>‘MY PASTOR HAS HALITOSIS’</strong></em> by Williams O’Seun Alagba and third placed <em><strong>‘ONE GOD, ONE CREATION’</strong></em> by Emerald Friday Samuel, which both scored 86%.</p>
<p>Onwuasoanya is the Organizer of the ‘Swords of Words’ Spoken Word poetry competition in <em>Federal University of Technology Owerri</em> (FUTO), Imo state, the winner of ‘War of Words’ Season 2 Spoken word slam and 2nd-runner up in the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize 2014.</p>
<blockquote><p>“It was a great crop again, with very tight scores. The theme has really triggered inspiration once again.” ~ <strong>Brigitte Poirson</strong></p></blockquote>
<p>Below are the top 10 poems, with marks obtained:</p>
<ol>
<li>THE PACT by Onwuasoanya Chika Jones (87%)</li>
<li>MY PASTOR HAS HALITOSIS by Williams O’Seun (86%)</li>
<li>ONE GOD, ONE CREATION by Emerald Friday Samuel (86%)</li>
<li>THE DANCE TO PIETY by Iwundu Wisdom (85%)</li>
<li>REALLY RIDICULOUSLY RELIGIOUS by Abegunde Sunday (85%)</li>
<li>HOLY MAN’S HYPNOTIC SHOW by Impact Ayobami Ogedengbe (84%)</li>
<li>SAINT OR STAIN? by Kingsley U. Ayistar (84%)</li>
<li>TELL GOD by Covenant Chimnonso (83%)</li>
<li>THE PARADISE by Emuobome Jemikalajah (83%)</li>
<li>BOW YOUR HEARTS by Akinbode Oluwatobi Israel (83%)</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>THE PACT by Onwuasoanya Chika Jones (87%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>When man first discovered that God,<br>
was not between his legs,<br>
He set out to find the diviner’s rod,<br>
And fill his flesh bowl with cloud dregs,<br>
The Nazarene walked the seas and earth,<br>
He resurrected dead men and corneas,<br>
He calmed seas and diseases of the earth,<br>
Some say he rode on a donkey not an ass,<br>
The man from Mecca walked the dry deserts of history’s pages,<br>
Said five prayers to the one God,<br>
And sought payment in the blood of cows for man’s wages,<br>
Some say he put great faith in a starving man’s word,<br>
The cross legged man wouldn’t hurt a fly,<br>
He sat prone for eons, searching for the still blade,<br>
With which he could split open the bowels of the sky,<br>
Some say he sat so still, he became stone and began to fade,<br>
When they met on the hills, between here and there,<br>
They shared a hug, a laugh and a mat,<br>
And made a pact, of who, what, when and where,<br>
And gave Agape the keys to world and man.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>MY PASTOR HAS HALITOSIS by Williams O’Seun (86%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Be it caused by unsuspectable perfidy and lying<br>
or from dining on rains of grains of dishonest gains<br>
seeds not ‘sown’ but actually stolen<br>
thro’ hypnotising unwary congregants’ hearts<br>
and enthralling the unsuspecting pew’s minds<br>
Like a gallant horse blighted with Zygomycosis<br>
my pastor has halitosis.</p>
<p>Maybe thanks to bouts of shantoribobo abracadabra<br>
being master of onomatopoeia, pun and paronomasia<br>
or from surreal visions and fictitious, fictive fantasies<br>
of unseen, unreal phantasm and moving fantasia,<br>
Like the noisome durian fruit<br>
my pastor has halitosis.</p>
<p>Maybe, it’s of a divine cause<br>
induced due to our humble supplications<br>
to the Prime Mover, the First Cause<br>
But the Supreme Divinity does no evil!<br>
Often, freely and wrongly, he’ll superpose theurgy<br>
on theology, saying “All is possible with faith!”<br>
Yet, despite countless visions, he never saw this coming—<br>
My pastor has halitosis.</p>
<p>Yes, I know the germ theory of disease<br>
But does not everything have a divine cause<br>
as he compellingly preaches each Dominicus?<br>
Then, maybe true to nemesis or for poetic justice,<br>
without hiatus, he’s got a metaphysical bad habitus<br>
My pastor has halitosis.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>ONE GOD, ONE CREATION by Emerald Friday Samuel (86%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Resting my weary self under the shade of a fruit tree<br>
Above me a plethora of leaves adorned with abundance of fruits<br>
I closed my eyes in awe as I felt the gentle breeze<br>
And in a moment, it seemed as though I was in a trance<br>
For I could hear the fruits speaking distinctly<br>
Debating on how their wellbeing came to be;<br>
How the nutrient is being sourced for and fed to them.<br>
Some adored the branch on which they hung<br>
Some argued that the stem be revered<br>
Some pledged allegiance to the leaves.<br>
Whilst they strive to prove their points,<br>
I saw what none of them could see;<br>
Buried beneath where I sat is the tree’s root that nourishes them all.<br>
My eyes opened again and I was brought back to reality<br>
A world where men still fail to reason alike,<br>
That beyond the crescent and the cross<br>
Is one true God who created all.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>THE DANCE TO PIETY by Iwundu Wisdom (85%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Around the glen of piety wanders man<br>
Under the scorch of its rays, he craves a tan<br>
Savoring the redolence of its incense<br>
And to its flame, makes himself a devout fan</p>
<p>An abysm of creeds, a gulf of nonsense<br>
Sermons of peace, yet a pamphlet of violence<br>
Man and Religion; perfume on a casket<br>
An ungraved casket, a fort without defense</p>
<p>On the concourse of his thought stays a gasket<br>
To pin him to pious rules, as its mascot<br>
Through smogs of Religion, man flies with wings shut<br>
Soon, surely, to fall or get caught in its net</p>
<p>Religion, a needless want; Man, the stale glut<br>
Pirouetting to its rhythm, swaying his butt<br>
And bathed in the pinafore of its smut<br>
O, when will Man, in his folly, stop this strut?</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>REALLY RIDICULOUSLY RELIGIOUS by Abegunde Sunday (85%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Religion is a gifted bag of goodies to humanity.<br>
It heals man’s ignorance about acts and art of divinity<br>
Yet, we have ignorant maddened men who prefer peril to peace<br>
By totally misconstruing reality of tranquillity that religion teaches.<br>
So now I know of these radical men who are really ridiculously religious.</p>
<p>True religion is bravery as a lion shoved<br>
With the true gentleness of the turtle dove.<br>
How then do these Boko men get us pissed us peace<br>
As their kind of peace breaks fellow human bodies to pieces?<br>
I tell you these radical men who are really ridiculously religious.</p>
<p>They’ve sleeted throats in the name of ‘Allah’<br>
Thinking themselves as saints when they’re slaughterers.<br>
How intoxicating than all liquor, I’ve ever heard or ever seen<br>
Is that their drunkenness in religious madness is not tagged sin<br>
So now I know of these radical men who are really ridiculously religious.</p>
<p>The keenness of your fanaticism and extremism<br>
Stings the very heart of our men, women and children<br>
Like venomous adder-mentored scorpion does your havoc seem.<br>
O’ dear Bokos, God’s true word for you is that you love thy brethren.<br>
I tell you, you’re but radical men who are really ridiculously religious.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>HOLY MAN’S HYPNOTIC SHOW by Impact Ayobami Ogedengbe (84%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Dressed in blood praying to the Lord<br>
Fortified with charms mishandling the sword<br>
Killing for pleasure feeling no remorse<br>
Beautified disguised devils of the cross.</p>
<p>Inhuman to the core, the Lord cries<br>
Men whose heaven lies between juicy thighs and tithes<br>
Instead of spreading knowledge, it’s deceit they spread<br>
Religion misinterpreted, the book they’ve wrongly read.</p>
<p>Today, they parade themselves as God’s own oracle<br>
But His rules and ordinances they refuse to follow<br>
And all in the name of breakthrough and miracle<br>
They deceitfully send people to the death hollow.</p>
<p>Some have made themselves earthly deities<br>
Blindfolding worshippers to spiritual realities<br>
Some baptize ladies with libidinal secretion on weekdays<br>
And still take to the lectern on Sundays.</p>
<p>To justify themselves, they defend their fleshy lust<br>
By supporting what they know to be totally wrong<br>
In fact, their stand on religion is so strong<br>
Oh! religion misinterpreted, humanity is being lost.</p>
<p>Who will save humanity from this hook?<br>
Souls are dying with their erroneous book<br>
Why won’t religion be taken for a clown<br>
When their deceits have worn a crown.</p>
<p>All I know is that hell is real<br>
And unrepentant souls will be its meal<br>
Nemesis will equally catch up with wrongful deeds<br>
When it’s time to separate the weeds from the seeds.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>SAINT OR STAIN? by Kingsley U. Ayistar (84%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Who marches on with virtues vain<br>
Amongst the saints with fleshly strides,<br>
Daubbing himself a spotless man<br>
With colours fit in his own eyes?</p>
<p>Who bags heart as hearse for curses,<br>
Truth-barren tongue rooted in mouth,<br>
Love stuck in lips but banned in deeds,<br>
Yet trusts name on the Life-leaved Book?</p>
<p>Who has pride pinned in boasting breath,<br>
And plucks respect with riches won<br>
From offerings heaved and tithes raked,<br>
But his flock, in soup, abandons?</p>
<p>Shall he with vestment of deceit,<br>
His sword for profit scabbarded,<br>
Racing astride on reckless zeal,<br>
The ditch of damnation evade?</p>
<p>Judge yourselves ye as Christians famed,<br>
But robe of Adam’s nature put:<br>
Saint or stain? Ye who call Him, ‘Lord’;<br>
Do you stand firm with clayey foot?</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>TELL GOD by Covenant Chimnonso (83%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Dear mister I-Know-God-Too-Well,</p>
<p>When next you whisper words into his majesty’s ear,<br>
Do not fail to mention that your private jet costs the life savings of<br>
your congregation.<br>
Please tell him, when next you converse in low tones,<br>
That when I was hungry,<br>
You placed your manicured hands upon my head<br>
And cast out several demons of hunger<br>
Without bothering to offer me bread.<br>
Tell God that I slept hungry that day.</p>
<p>Mister teacher, yes you!<br>
Tell the one who lives beyond the clouds,<br>
And sees even our darkest of hearts;<br>
Tell him of Baga, of Bornu, of Chibok;<br>
Of Maiduguri.<br>
Tell him of our daughters lost to religion;<br>
Of our brothers slaughtered on the streets of Niger.</p>
<p>Tell the big gu above of our escapades with death,<br>
Of our beheaded fathers, mothers, sisters;<br>
Of the charred torsos that litter the now deserted roads.</p>
<p>And please, don’t forget to tell him;<br>
That many were slain, branded infidels,<br>
And roasted in his name.<br>
Tell God that assassins now roam,<br>
Bearing his emblem, wielding his armour.</p>
<p>Please, when next you see God, ask him this:</p>
<p>“What the hell is religion? “</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>THE PARADISE by Emuobome Jemikalajah (83%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Who with mind as feeble a man,<br>
Could fathom the beauty that was home;<br>
Where the first man and first woman<br>
Were left by our dear creator to roam.</p>
<p>Bright throughout the season,<br>
A garden with lush meadows and streams pure,<br>
With magnificent walls, beautiful and brazen.<br>
And estate complete with great allure.</p>
<p>But God left man with just a word;<br>
Never to taste the tree of good and evil<br>
Lest be banished from paradise, barred with a sword.<br>
But there was one not happy – the devil.</p>
<p>So man failed the simple test.<br>
And now we pay the steepest cost,<br>
For our souls never again will find rest<br>
Until we regain paradise we have lost.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>BOW YOUR HEARTS by Akinbode Oluwatobi Israel (83%)</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Bow your hearts, not the head.<br>
Bend your knees, not our lives,<br>
Let life sleep soundly on her bed,<br>
Leaving freely her seeds on her shelves.</p>
<p>Take the Holy book not as a tale,<br>
Read between its lines every alphabets,<br>
Then you will learn to fill man’s pail,<br>
Without a lash from your belts.</p>
<p>You kill, you steal, you destroy,<br>
Only the devil I knew had that fame,<br>
You conclude you are in God’s coy,<br>
A fight to raise His name?</p>
<p>You’ll one day take a bow from life’s stage,<br>
Will applauses escort you?<br>
Or silence with full rage?<br>
You’ll only get one of the two.</p></blockquote>
<p><a title="SAMSON OLUWATOYIN WINS BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST 2015 [February]" href="http://wrr.ng/authorpedia/samson-oluwatoyin-wins-brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest-2015-february/" target="_blank">Samson Oluwatoyin, a student of the Ladoke Akintola</a> University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Nigeria, won the <a title="CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST" href="http://wrr.ng/authorpedia/call-submissions-brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest/">February edition of the BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST 2015</a></p>
<p>Enter for the <a title="CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST 2015 [APRIL]" href="http://wrr.ng/authorpedia/call-for-submissions-brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest-2015-april/">April edition of BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST, themed “WIND OF CHANGE”</a> here.</p>

 
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