A poet, playwright, and fiction writer, Humphrey Ogu, is a media and public relations practitioner based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He is the immediate past Vice Chairman of the Rivers State branch of the Association of Nigerian Authors and co-founder of Seaview Poetry Club. Humphrey is the author of Echoes of Neglect and a co-editor of a recently released anthology of poems, Virtuous Verses. He currently works in the Information, Publications & Public Relations Unit of the University of Port Harcourt, and serves as Associate Editor on the Editorial Board of UniPort News, the official news bulletin of the University.

Humphrey Ogu

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Artisanal Refiners

What should we say to them,
the artisanal refiners,
the kpo fire people?

Should we thank them,
for solving our problems
of scarcity and poverty,
providing petrol and kerosene
by destroying the ecology
and endangering our health?

Should we pity them,
the kpo fire people,
for earning a living by dying
in installments?

Should we curse them,
for earning a living
by killing the living little by little?

Kpo fire: Illegal refining of stolen crude oil in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.