Nigeria, Sept. 22 -- I recently ran into my favourite Fuji musician, Saheed Osupa, at Addis Ababa Airport. He was returning to Nigeria from the United States.

I have been an admirer of his music since he performed at my 2018 governorship declaration. Osupa is not merely an entertainer; he is a deep and remarkably gifted composer. His command of Yoruba-its proverbs, imagery, humour, philosophy and subtle nuances-is extraordinary.

Had he chosen poetry as a profession, he would undoubtedly have excelled. But who says he is not already a poet? After all, Bob Dylan, the celebrated American singer-songwriter, was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature for creating new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition. The bounda...