The evening of 30th March , 2022 was remarkable as Postgraduate students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka and its environs gathered to listen to James Eze read from his award winning poetry collection tiltled “Dispossessed”. The reading was held at JIVES entertainment centre which had a senior staff of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Greg Mbajiorgu as the Compère. Reading his citation, Mbajiorgu revealed that Eze is a man of multiple talents ranging from his banking career, administrative duties and creative ingenuity. He assured everyone to see the gathering as a worthwhile engagement.
In his welcome speech, James Eze expressed his happiness to be back to his root. He disclosed his journey in the literary career while encouraging budding writers to take time to give out their work for thorough assessment before publishing. He acknowledged that he is a late bloomer yet was enthusiastic about writing. The Guest poet read several of his poems to the delight of the audience.
In his address, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of Alex Ekwueme Federal University of Ndufu ,Prof. Ameh Akoh congratulated James Eze for writing. He described “Dispossessed” as a work that talks about life in generally. Prof. akoh also shared his career experiences while encouraging all participants to take active responsibilities in the Nation. However, the DVC expressed his happiness on the turn out of the students amidst the ongoing strike actions; in his words “I am impressed by the caliber of Postgraduate students University of Nigeria, Nsukka is raising.”
In the same vein, the UNN Odili-Postgraduate Student’s Hall Governor, His Excellency, Henry Oluwasola thanked the Guest poet and the compere, for collaborating with the Post graduate student. He assured of the Hall Government readiness to partner with them in subsequent events and remarked that such gathering promotes reading culture and love for one another.
The highlights of the evening were the performances of Mastha Mind who thrilled the audience using lyrics from the poems; notable, amongst them was “I found love when I found you”. Also, Lorenzo whose sonorous voice in his song rendition encapsulated everyone into moments of love and unity, Ceaser who performed a spoken word on heartbreak , and Deborah Uzoma ,who engaged the author in an intellectual discourse.
Amongst the guest include : the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) AE-FUNAI, Prof. Ameh, the Head of Department (Theatre Arts), AE-FUNAI , Dr Charles Okwuowulu, senoir staff of the university, Greg Mbajiorgu (Fellow of Theatre Arts), Former Student Union Government ,SUG, President of AE-FUNAI, David Okafor ,UNN Odili- PG Hall Executives and occupants led by His Excellency, Henry Oluwasola amongst others etc .
