NIGERIA AT 55 – HOPE REKINDLED

Source: thewillnigeria.com

How hope was rekindled
In and for this great vast blessed land
The bride of African continent
And untapped, non-exhaustive international transactions

Still stumps the senile and sages
More convinced I am in “Ordained Time”
And no time was indeed timelier
When the gentle harbinger – the nationalistic patriot

Simply known by the world as Muhammadu Buhari
Whose veins and arteries in entirety
Flow the Nigeria's course ad cause
How this nearly lost hope for unity
How this nearly lost hope for peace
How this nearly lost hope for life itself
And how this nearly lost hope for Nigeria's existence

Amidst compatriots meshed in confusion, confrontations

Remains an act of the non-human
Nay the focused assemblage
A handful of best human membranes
Endowed on this space, for too long
Has strived for survival and greatness
And for growth the struggle had continued
With indefinite direction until 1960
Nay the 1st of Gregorian October
When the white claimed to have left us
In this disguised independence
Then the Owelle of Ontisha, Zik of Africa
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe sat on the throne
With great efforts to integrate us
Our then disunity in diversity
And the struggle through our great men
Great men were they, Nigeria simply complex
Aguiyi Ironsi can and tried
Murtala Muhammad came and tried
Yakubu Gowon came and tried
Olusegun Obasanjo came and tried
Shehu Shagari came and tried
Muhammadu Buhari came and tried
Ibrahim Babagida came and tried
Ernest Shonekan came and tried
Sani Abacha came and tried
Abdussalami Abubakar came and tried
Olusegun Obasanjo came again and tried
Umaru Yar'Adua came and tried
Goodluck Jonathan came and tried
And on the 29th Day of May 2015
After such polls marvelous at “Ordained Time”
Against a democratic but burdensome incumbency
The table was turned
And a history was made
On the 31st Day of March 2015
When on the 28th Day of March
Nigerians enmasse marched to polling units
For the gentle soft-minded but tough giant
Declared winner by unruffled Nigeria's electoral umpire

And for the first time the 'Ordained Time”
After a long scramble in election fallacy
The same name voted Nigerians heard
And here came Muhammadu Buhari
The Master of economy
The Understanding minister of success
The Humble master servant
The Advocate of Nigeria's wholeness
The Meritorious figure of transformation
The Monumental wall against corruption and indiscipline

The Authority embedded in faith and compassion
The Duty-bound incorruptible sage
The Unity-driven Nigerian cosmopolitan
The Brain-box for economic diversification
The Unlimited gunner for excellence
The Hatrick superstar to contest the fourth, defeat incumbency, less worldly

The Arbitrator for the long oppressed
The Human known messiah for Nigeria today
And the Irresistible liberator of the masses
This is Muhammadu Buhari
Now with Nigerians, for Nigerians and by Nigerians
This is Muhammadu Buhari
Loved by lovers of Nigeria
Feared by looters of Nigeria
And even abhorred by the evil plotters for Nigeria
But alas! It is a tide of change come to stay
To cleanse the iniquities and injustices
To purge wicked minds, strengthen pure souls
In my beloved motherland – Nigeria
The hope has been rekindled
And our maturity at 55
Gradually steadily beckons a reality
From cosmetic theory to leadership exemplified
Even as the fear of the name
But what really is in that name – Muhammad!
Pricks the beginning of wisdom
So we await the Buharization of this land
We await the uncommon transformation ever since
We await the free flow of real fresh air
We await the strangulation of injustice
We await the termination of corruption
We await the identification of real patriots and statesmen

We await the cancellation of electoral marauding
We await the frustration of political money-hunger
We await the exposure and degradation of treasury looters

And we await the decimation of obsolete laws and systems

How beautiful and greater this land can be!
O how lovely it could be soon!
As we await the integration of our souls in brotherhood

For love to permeate; solidarity to thrive
For justice to prevail; patriotism to overcome
And we begin to fee in our blood streams
Our economic independence without oil and gas
Our educational excellence without truants
Our agricultural mechanism without importations
Our technological exigencies without delays
And our attitudinal revolution without sentiments
Then our groundnut pyramids can resurface
Our cocoa farms can occupy our vast land
Out plantain plantations can be redoubled
And our palm trees can boost our revenue
Then we can also reawaken in us
The spirits of our heroes past
Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macaulay, Obafemi Awolowo
Ahmadu Bello, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Aminu Kano

  1. S. Tarka, Eyo Ita, Denis Osadebe, Ladoke Akintola

And Akanu Ibiam. All set standards of governance
Then we can live together whenever
Within this strip of land and shake hands
Without care to our tongues, tribes or religions
For we should never replay our losses
From our civil war, Niger Delta insurgency
Book Haram terror, kidnapping menace
And the easy fire starter – religion manipulations
Over-exploited in our politics
Hope rekindled, actions and greatness assured.
How Nigeria remains 55 still baffles me
When she was born in 1914
We ought to rejoice rather
Not acclaimed elusive independence
Wherewith we have toddled for 55
Or we cheer May 29, 2015
A Nationhood Day, not Democracy Day
***Muhammad Ajah is an advocate of humanity and good governance.

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