July 22, 2010

Naija Heroes





My country was 24 when i was born. My country will be 50 in a few months time. 26 years i have known this nation. I have been nursed by its produce, taught by its institutions, conveyed by its roads, humbled by its heroes, outraged by its leaders, saddened by its horrors, lifted by its triumphs. 26 years of a love-hate relationship. 26years of not knowing whether to cheer her on or to give up on her. 26 years of pain , of joy, of tears, of laughter, of chagrin, of respect. 26 years of being a Nigerian.

Like a woman who has lost her mind, my country sells her children. She doesn't care about the price. A token will suffice. She is concerned about instant gratification. The future will take care of itself. She swallows her young. Those who survive have two choices. Find surrogate mothers or join your mother in her dance of madness.

There is another choice. People like us... We acclimatise. We learn to accept our mother the way she is...We learn to be on guard. We learn that with Nigeria the role of motherhood is reversed. We go everywhere prepared for we do not know when she will begin the dance of madness. We carry with us many wrappers to cover her nakedness. We love her but we know better than to trust her.

We are her heroes. The ones that have heavy hearts when we see our brothers hungry. The ones that are ashamed when we see our children unable to go to school. The ones that are filled with rage when we see the destruction of our rivers and farmlands by aliens whom our mother favors over us. The ones that speak out loud against corruption and rigging. The ones that are seduced at every turn by other countries but we always find our way back home. The ones that still believe in the treasures of the dark place that is our country...

Nigeria, Land of the two rivers, we greet you...May the years ahead be kind to you. May you in turn be kind to the years

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. We are the heroes who stayed behind our naked mother
    Faithfully …
    (Who cares if we were always coveting our neighbours’ good things)?
    Yeah now and again we dashed to Mrs. Thailand to get a bowl of rice
    Or to the Chinese store to buy everything –
    In fact I met my uncle when I went to the Chinese store
    He was on his way from Geneva Street
    Don’t ask me what he was doing in Geneva
    (We all know he wasn’t attending a UN Meeting).

    As I was saying
    We are the ones
    The ones that will always be there for Mum
    We will answer when she calls
    And someday when we get strong enough
    We will over power all these uncles
    Then Mummy’s house will become a palace

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  3. seee...am rubbing off positively on you...:)

    you are becoming quite the poet

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  4. "...not knowing whether to cheer her on or to give up on her." Never give up, He ain't brought us this far to leave us.

    The field is ripe with harvest (raise your eyes), do you see?

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  5. *deep sigh*. Poignant piece! I couldn't resist commenting.

    Thank you Kiah. Remarkably expressed.

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