By Donu Kogbara
I came across this seriously sad poem online. It was written by Chinedu Nnadi Nwangwu; and I love it and have decided to share it.
“Weep, Nigeria—
For the soil is heavy with blood,
And the sky hangs low with despair.
A land where godfathers pull strings in dark rooms,
Turning the law into a puppet on fraying threads.
In Rivers, a pipeline is breached,
And in the blink of an eye—State of Emergency!
Yet where is this urgency
For the lives buried in Benue’s fields?
For the soldiers fallen in Borno’s sands?
For Sokoto and Zamfara’s crimson dust,
Where bandits write their will in blood?
Weep for Rivers State,
Where politics wears the face of tyranny,
And the Constitution trembles at the sound of ambition.
A state of emergency declared in haste,
Not for lives lost,
But for pipelines broken.
Is oil thicker than blood?
Is property dearer than life?
Weep for Benue’s farmers,
Cut down where they stood—
Machetes singing death into the soil,
While the earth drinks deeply of their pain.
Weep for the soldiers of Borno,
Whose boots march into battle,
But never return home.
And for Sokoto and Zamfara,
Where the fields bloom with graves,
And the wail of widows is the only anthem.
Weep for Lagos,
Where the Assembly turns into a theater of shame—
Two speakers, two gavels,
And one house split by greed.
They mutiny and install each other,
Turning the halls of governance
Into a marketplace of ambition.
If leaders cannot lead,
Then who shall steer the ship?
Weep for the Senate,
Where the halls of power stink of shame.
Where hands meant to pass laws
Instead reach where they should not.
Sexual harassment plays out on the nation’s stage,
And the people watch in disgust—
A spectacle of impunity.
Weep for the East,
Where Mondays bring silence,
Not by choice but by fear.
Where the streets are empty,
And freedom is held hostage.
The sit-at-home echoes louder
Than the government’s voice,
Yet where is the state of emergency here?
Is the pain of the people so easily ignored?
Oh Nigeria,
How many wounds will you bear before you break?
How many tears must wet the ground
Before justice rises from the soil?
They kill our sons,
They bury our daughters,
And in the corridors of power,
They laugh.
Yet we weep not in defeat,
But in fury.
For the tears of the oppressed
Water the tree of resistance.
And though they declare emergencies
Only where it suits their greed,
The true emergency is the awakening of the people.
Weep, Nigeria—
But not for long.
For dawn is coming,
And the day of reckoning is near.”
CAN WE RECOVER FROM CONQUEST?
My Uncle, Jonas Odocha, regularly shares his numerous concerns about the state of the nation with various people, including me.
Sometimes recipients of his articles respond. Please find below a grim reaction we all recently received from Uncle J’s friend, Samuel Ohuabunwa.
When you have read it, contact me to tell me whether you think there is any hope for suffering Nigerians who are not members of the predatory elite. And ask yourself the following questions:
Can we ever recover from the conquest that has been inflicted on us across the board and especially in my home state, Rivers?
Terrifying Boko Haam terrorists and feral bandits have overrun villages and army bases in Zamfara and Borno. They have murdered thousands of citizens. But it is only in the relatively peaceful, oil-rich Niger Delta that a state of emergency has been declared!
Is Mr Ohuabunwa right to throw up his hands in despair? Are we finished and vanquished and helpless? Or do we have what it takes to robustly resist tyranny and insist on a brighter future?
“Nigeria is a conquered nation. The politicians have conquered the people, weaponized poverty and immobilized all form of opposition or resistance. Many have raised their voices and cried till they become hoarse. Read the daily newspapers and the columnists, listen to Arise and Channels!! The people have lost power completely.
Nobody cares and nothing happens except being arrested and charged with cyber crime or cyber stalking or terrorism. What happened to the young people killed in #Endsars or those imprisoned in #EndBadGovernance?
I wrote weekly columns in three newspapers from 2012 to 2019 and gave up the day Buhari sacked the Chief Justice of Nigeria! AND NOTHING HAPPENED!!That was part of my motivation to try getting into politics.
Not much will change if the politicians and their brand of politics do not change. In theory, demand determines supply, but not in Nigeria’s political supply chain. The suppliers determine demand.
If you disagree, then you will meet them in court.
Continue to write Sir! Who knows!! God bless.”
@Vanguard