THE NIGERIA I SEE

 
Agile people                                                               Beautiful brotherhood

Cheerful people                                                         Delightsome land

Educated elites                                                          Fulfilled people & fertile land

Good people and great nation                                 Happy home

Industrious youths                                                   Jolly fellows

Knowledgeable kindred                                           Loving land

Merciful masters                                                       New Nigeria

Opportunity-filled nation                                         Priestly people

Queen Olive                                                                Radiant citizens

Savvy souls                                                                Tolerant toddlers

Unwavering commitment to growth                       Vagile labour

As my country approaches her centenary birthday, history bequeaths on me; a watchman of my beloved country to become active in the actualisation of her national philosophy, which are:

·      Live in unity and harmony as one indivisible, indissoluble, democratic and sovereign nation founded on the principles of freedom, equality and justice.

·      Promote inter-African solidarity and world peace through understanding

I have decided to act and refrain from all the voices that calls for passivity and the endless lies of ‘it has been like this and will always be like this’ ‘time will heal the mess’ ‘don’t get involve’ ‘destructive criticism’ etc. It is high time I leave this level and join the team of constructive labourers in the building of a better Nigeria.

My recent discourses with some older people who witnessed the beauty of this land in her early days and their sorrowful regret about the present happenings have awakened some questions in me. These elders talk of the days when everyone has plenty and enough to share, the days when you could walk the street in the twilight and not be afraid of danger, the days of beauty and pageantry, the days ... And some of these elders never foresaw the transition from good to bad and still bewail the present situation we now experience in a land that is barely five decades old. They put blame on different factors as causes, but mine is not to cast blame but to seek how I and posterity can once again enjoy the beauty our parents once experienced in their own days. I want to see the glory of my fatherland yet again. As we traverse the road of rebuilding a beautiful Nigeria, the word of A.B. Fafunwa ‘A nation that forgets her history will grapple in the dark.’ comes to mind.

Could the present situation be a happenstance? 

Could it have been caused by delusions of grandeur? 

Should I join the past hero and give my labour to the building of a country that has been castigated as irreparable by some bodies? 

What will become of my country if I wait too long? 

What will I answer to posterity, when asked of what I did for the growth of my country? 

Will I look back with regret that I never got enlisted, when I have the strength or will I rejoice with tears that I joined the team of builders and now have the country we fight for?

My desire for a better country has led to the study of different countries and the evergreen decisions that make them endearing. I researched and find the words of a wise King, whose wisdom was adjudged the best in his own days. His kingdom was ruled beautifully and it also puzzling that the country was divided during the time of the immediate king that ruled after him. He must have ruled with wisdom a divided people that constantly call for secession.  Nigeria, a country with many clans and tongues with constant call for secession can only be rule by a wise man. Though we can’t go to the grave to bring up the wise man but his book of wisdom can be of great help to us all.

The king gave so many startling statements and few are highlighted below, perhaps they can be a guide to the path of prosperity we all wished for:

·      Do to others you as you want them to do unto you

·      Be tolerance with others and give a little help

·      Divinity has a way of transferring the wealth of the wicked to the righteous

·      Divinity is real and will request how you spent your life (there is accountability in life)

·      Laziness, idleness and procrastination will lead to decay and death

·      More will not bring joy, but rather a heart of gratitude and contentment

·      Partnership is better than criticism

·      There are problems you cannot solve in life

·      There is a time for everything in life and there is nothing new in this world

·      There is dignity in labour

·      Seek an opportunity to serve and not be served

·      Communal good is better than individual good

·      When you die, do you know what shall become of all you have left?

·      When you die, who will gain all you have left?

·      Wisdom, integrity and education save in the time of trouble

As we all ponder on this, I hope time could stop but it won’t because it continuously winds us into the grave. I therefore encourage all to get enlisted in the battle for a better country while you can before the grave becomes our eternal home. 

God bless the federal republic of Nigeria

Long live the federal republic of Nigeria

 

HE IS EVERYTHING!

From the opening of creation to the closing of the same, he is everything

From the mountain height to the valley depth, he is everything

Through the oceans and lands; race and clime, he is everything

From the beginning of life to the cessation of the same, he is everything

From religion to politics, west to east and north to south, he is everything

He is the sum of yesterday, today and tomorrow, he is the sum of everything

When cheerful children becomes teenager; tender teens becomes adult; agile adult becomes aged, He is everything

When all our labour is spent, our research ended and all findings postulated, he is everything

When all grown chickens leaves  mother hen comes to roost, he is everything

When we remember that nothing is new in this world and nothing can either be added or removed from all that has been, he is everything

When red carpet and pageantry marks our path and the praise of men fills our heart, he is everything

When our home could no longer holds our titles, laurels and accolades, he is everything

When the past glories we once veered for is gone and dust and moist covers our once priced certificates, he is everything

When the ‘oliver twist syndrome’ in us leads us into the rat race, he is everything

When we become delivered of the ‘oliver twist syndrome’ and understand that all of life is fleeting, he is everything

When our lovely eyelid closes up and the way of mother earth our Spirit goes, he is everything

As we remember the love we had, the memories we share, the friends we have, the anger we vent; it is worth remembering that he is everything

As we see the achievement, advancement and glory of man across this mighty-wretched land, we remember he is everything

As life gives us her varied fruits, It is worth remembering that He is everything

Jesus: the sum of everything

I WILL FIGHT

… I never chose my destiny nor this battle

If there is an option of escape, I would grab the next exit

I really wish I could flee from this battlefield

But fate and destiny choose my path before I was born

The battle line was drawn ever before my innocence

I thought time will subdue it but it only postponed it

My predecessors and fellow combats have been slaughtered on all fronts and their blood wasted

Many predecessors and fellow combats have already been lost on this battlefield.

The field is wet with the blood of fellow combats and predecessors.

What will be the end of the battle I cannot tell, but I will fight

Even if I be lost in this battle, I will fight

I will rise and fight, I will dare the enemy

I will long for the cherished trophy and crown, I will wage in this war.

And if fate should choose that I be lost in the battle without wearing the crown and receiving the trophy,

Whether my blood will be spilled on this field or whether I will cross over to win this trophy I cannot tell

I know my Spirit will rest in the comfort that I fought

I either fight and die or run and die, either ways I would be gone someday.

If the trophy I win, then the blood of my predecessors and fellow combats is not in vain

To the fellow combats I have lost, to the trophy we pursue and to the grounds we have lost,

I wish we could all fight together, but the divide and break rule attack get so much to us that the enemies has conquered us individually,

If I have but a combat left we could have fought together but on this day I enter the frail all alone

Now I see the crown, our priced trophy in distance guarded vehemently by the enemies.

Either I drop like my fellow combats or I should win the trophy either way I would go on and fight before my time is over.

And when my epitaph is cast, the phrase ‘here lived a man that fought’ would be engraved on it.

Or how will I wear this crown and win this trophy, if I not but fight?