I scripted this poetic piece a couple of years back
Since then I've been using them on days like these, back to back
I may not really know if the celebrations are worth it
But take some time to read this, it's worth it.
Oh Nigeria, my country of origin
Your story I tell with a sip of Orijin
Giant of Africa, mangrove evergreen
In your good and ugly, I’d always ever grin
Once wallowed in slavery, freedom thou sought
Then rose your heroes, and manfully they fought
Resilient they were, dogged in the struggle
Victorious they emerged, beating every hurdle
Once upon a time, you could clearly spell sovereign
And your rights, no longer subject to bargain
Ager cultura was bloom, your soil, richly arable
Your aged cultural heritage, I now sing in parables
Oil yield was good and economy was boom
Till the cankerworm came and ate it to doom
As smouldering embers, it burnt yet slowly
And the greed in us fuelled it to glory
But who’d bail the cat?
The cankerworm aim at?
Without fear or anguish
Gun the monster to vanquish
The wealthy unperturbed
The government, unresolved
The poor all drained of hope
All praying for grace to cope
And so I saw in a vision
While on a fictional mission
The cankerworm, a moving train it was
Trampling on your riches, and silently you watched
So I thought to myself, who can stand on its way?
To hinder the monster from making headway?
Then i saw also, your leaders in the train
Or maybe I couldn’t see well because of the rain
Again, I thought of standing on its rail
But then I realized ‘twas nothing but grail
I might get crushed, yet the train won’t stop
But only derail and smash the next shop
I raised my eyes, perhaps I could see the future
But all I could sight was a nation in suture
So I buried them back, looking at my feet
Closed my eyes and prayed for its defeat.
© 
Happy 58th anniversary, Dear Nigeria 🇳🇬
