Have you not heard?
That upon the sands of Aluu,
Murder appeases a crime?
That the men of Aluu, threw stones
For the have–never–known crime?
Have you not heard?
That upon the walls of Mubi
Twenty lost their rubies?
That this same walls of Mubi
Knew the bitter taste of their fury?
Have you not heard?
That four pillars, upon the sands of Aluu,
Were pulled down and mashed to sands?
That the men of Aluu displayed prowess
With their brothers’ blood on their hands?
Have you not heard?
That upon the sands of Mubi,
The absence of political contentment
By willful little aliens in Mubi
Caused tears that make endless oceans of pains.
Have you not heard?
That upon generations of Aluu,
Kamar shall abide
And the brave men of Aluu
Shall for ever fight the fight?
Have you not heard?
The cry of thwarted dreams in Mubi…
…Voices crying for revenge?
African dreams, splashed upon the walls of Mubi,
Their blood soaking into our helms!
Have you not heard?
That we have drifted off our altar?
That our fatherland has lost its name?
That Aluu and Mubi have rightly fathered
The true reality we keep and tame?
Have you not heard….
For those massacred in Mubi and the four victims of the Aluu killers: Llyod Michael (Civil Engineering, Year 2), Ugonna Obuzor (Geology, Year 2), Tekena Elkanah (Computer Science, Year 2) and Chiadikobi Biriga (Theatre Arts, Year 2).
meet the poet: Owokere A. Etim
