Integrity Journal of Arts and Humanities

Every society in a quest for nationhood undergoes series of stages, which are inevitable and necessary for its growth. Nigeria’s pursuit for legitimate growth and development has been hampered by certain hindrances which have brought the nation to disrepute and slow development. This paper explores, from a linguistic perspective, the varying thematic issues that have impeded the growth of the nation. The paper x-rays the thematic nuances as discussed in Jide Balogun’s ‘The Desert in the River’ using stylistic tools. Five poems were purposively selected from the collection. The selection is done across the five parts of the collection. The study found that, the theme of corruption and bad leadership pervade the texts and the duo stood as the hydra-headed monster to the growth and development of the nation. Also, the theme of power and unity are evident in the text. The author posits that unless power is appropriately dispensed and unity is fostered among different divides, development is a mirage. The study therefore concludes that, beyond the frantic quest for industrialisation, proper attention must be devoted to dealing with corruption in the land, bad leadership, creating avenue for unity and ensuring proper dissemination of power and justice.