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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
“A prophet is not without honour, except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home” (Mark 6:4).

This Bible verse aptly describes Victoria Falls-based poet Obert Dube’s long but unrecognised journey in the arts industry where he has seldom impressed since 2014.

With six poetry albums, Dube only won one National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) in 2015 with his debut album Uhambo Lwami.

Last year, he tried his luck at the awards when he submitted his sixth album, My Journey, but alas, it did not even get nominated.

He was not discouraged and produced a video of one of the poems on the album, which he posted on his Facebook page – Obert Dube fan page last week for Africa Day celebrations.

The poem, Africa, which laments some African practices that have been abandoned as people have adopted cultures from other continents which are deemed superior, earned him recognition from renowned Kenyan Pan Africanist, orator, political and social analyst Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba and his charity organisation of PLO Foundation.

The well-choreographed video was shot a week preceding Africa Day at Chamabondo Primary School’s culture centre with other scenes done in the bush and KoMpisi Village in Monde, just outside Vic Falls. It showed different African cultural practices and went viral on Facebook where it has reached more than 77 000 views and over 4 000 shares on PLO Foundation’s Facebook page and over 4 000 shares on Prof Lumumba’s personal page. It has also been shared more than 1 200 times and viewed 31 000 times by people from across the globe on Dube’s Facebook page, while also trending on several other social media platforms.

An impressed Prof Lumumba last week shared the poem’s video on his Facebook page, PLO Lumumba, where he urged every African to listen to the poem while looking for ways to reach out to Dube.

“Every African and every person of African descent should listen to this moving Pan-Africanism poem. Anyone who knows this revolutionary poet, kindly contact the PLO Lumumba Foundation,” posted Prof Lumumba.

In an interview, Dube said he received a phone call from Prof Lumumba who congratulated him for speaking for the motherland through his poem.

He said Prof Lumumba tasked him to write another poem about Africa for his Foundation, something which may just be the breakthrough Dube has been yearning for.

The poet said he came up with the idea of recording a video for the poem as he wanted to get people to celebrate Africa Day not knowing it would open doors for him.

“I thought of doing a video after realising that the poem had an African theme. I posted it around 5AM and around 4PM, it had reached 10 000 views. I also received several messages from people telling me that Prof Lumumba was looking for me.

“Some gave him my phone number and on 27 May, his PA contacted me to set an appointment. Prof Lumumba later called and congratulated me. He said he was touched by my poem and was seeking permission to use it on his platforms. I permitted him and he asked for other poems about Africa and also gave me an assignment to work on, of which I am already on it,” said Dube.

Some organisations like Good Stuff from Africa and Word Smash Poetry have also taken interest in the video. He said artists from United States of America, Botswana, Cameroon and Zambia also contacted him seeking to collaborate with him. An Argentinian artist also asked for permission to add Spanish subtitles to the video for publication in the South American country.

With most of his works in IsiNdebele, Dube said he is glad that he took up the advice of using English as recommended by some who did not understand his mother language.

“I had been doing my poetry largely in IsiNdebele and somebody advised me to use English. I took that seriously and it has worked as my audience is changing. I am not abandoning my language but broadening my scope.”

On the recognition the Africa poem, Dube said: “I’m a Christian and I believe that everything has its own time. So I believe all these years were an opportunity for me to prepare myself for recognition.

“The recognition has started from outside and I pray it will come home and that everyone gets to watch and listen to it. The video talks about how Africans should be united, stick together and desist from the begging mentality while also managing their resources well.”

Dube who has toured Argentina, Botswana, Chile, Eswatini, South Africa and Zambia with his poetry, has been getting mciing gigs for weddings and events locally, where he would ecite his poems and jokes. His albums are Uhambo Lwami, We are One, Half time, Impilo, Ngilestress and My journey. – @ncubeleon.