THE TIMID GIANTS

So, Aniekan Ekpenyong asked me to write a poem/ article about my TRUE feelings on Nigeria, mirroring her craziness and uniqueness, from my heart. And I did.
Though I wrote it, it belonged to him cos I wrote it for him.
Well, he just granted me the permission to share it...lol.
Here it is.....ENJOY!!!😄😄😄
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THE TIMID GIANTS
I am a Nigerian because I was born in a geographical contraption called Nigeria.
Maybe, if given a chance, I wouldn't have ended up here but...here I am.
I love Nigeria...that kind of love that comes when you have no other option.
 
I once believed in the Nigerian dream, I still believe
I believed in meritocracy and progress
I believed my generation can make Nigeria work.
I believed in our youths, the so-called 'leaders of tomorrow'.
But I was wrong and inexperienced.

Nigeria is in trouble, in deep, deep trouble
Like a quagmire, looking hopeless on the surface
Our history is complex and the complexity keeps haunting us
We are tied to our past, a locked up past.

But I love Nigeria
I love the humor of the people, the ingrained resilience
We weather every storm with our ability to laugh
It's beautiful actually, how we make jokes of everything
Of the government, the economy, the people, the system
We keep laughing even in the midst of pain.

I believe that our humor is our major weakness and strength
We laugh at everything, we don't take things seriously
We laugh when our leadership is sick
We laugh when our revenue is stolen
We just keep laughing and joking
Taking nothing seriously.

A free Nigeria came from activists
Those who stood in the rain and in the sun to get us the freedom we abuse now
The freedom we take for granted
But now, we are no longer free but we don't know it
We are trapped in our fear, our fear of tomorrow, our fear of yesterday
No matter how bad the government is, we remain silent
Those who speak, speak quietly, hiding behind the screens of our gadgets and community of friends.

I believe this fear originated in the Nigerian Civil War which is known as the Biafran War
Where people were brutally killed for being different and for having a voice
Where we realized that our lives matter, but some lives matter more than others
Where we realized that we have a government, by the government and for the government
Where we realized that Nigeria, as a nation, matters more than its people.

I love its diversity, tribes upon tribes with different beliefs and looks and languages and history
A diversity that is beautiful yet ugly
A diversity that embraces yet segregates
We are one people, different in our oneness but different all the same.

I love her people, crazy and unique
Different sizes and shapes, colors and beliefs
Different, contrasting beliefs
Each one trying to convert the next person.

I love her faith, different yet strong, faith in the unknown
We believe our faith would see us through
And we believe strongly
We believe, even when we do no work
We believe, even when all hope is lost
It sees us through...sometimes, not all the time.

I hate our mediocrity, our excessive contentment
I hate our tendency to pardon evil deeds
We hate the looting leaders yet our arms are widely stretched when they give us 'handouts'
We praise them, we hail them, we treat them as gods and address them nobly
Even when we know and they know that they have no noble thoughts towards us.

But this is the only country I know
They say we are the Giant of Africa
We believe we are
Our economy revolves around oil and we refuse to diversify
Governments upon governments make us promises and don't deliver, yet we don't rebel
We believe we are fearless yet we fear our government, we fear death.

I still love Nigeria, I have no other country
I love the vegetation, the weather, the people
I love...even when I have nothing to love
I believe...even when hope keeps fading away.

But, even in our craziness
Even when we are blind to any hope
Even when the economy keeps on dwindling
Even when the youths keep being marginalized
Even when some of the youths don't even care
Even when our governments keep deceiving us
Like a typical Nigerian, I still believe...in the future of a nation that has fathered me so far
I believe in its humanity
I believe in its potential, human and mineral resources, but mainly human.

 I know that I'll keep believing
I'll keep trying, I'll keep praying
...and so will many of us.
I believe in the Nigerian dream
A dream that fades and fades
A dream that resonates and resonates
And one fact remains the same,
Till my dying day, I will still believe in Nigeria
One day...we, definitely, will get to the promised land.

-Alli Akudo.

Comments

  1. jine10 September 2016 at 14:06

    I'm Nigerian. Till I die. My Nigerian blood would flow through my vein. Proud of my roots....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nubian Eccentrique23 September 2016 at 07:47

    I like that you feel that way @Jine

    ReplyDelete

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