A country our forefathers left with legacy and fortune
A rich nation, full of honey and milk.
Will we now mar her or let her be?
Will the eagle soar above chaos and crisis?
Will her cracks break her or heal up?
The many riddles she could not fathom herself
Nigeria, the lame giant.
Will she hatch the clamoured ‘peace’ and ‘unity’
Or peck on her eggs to break it into parts and doom?
Nigeria, the old woman who still crawls.
Will she eats the flesh that she herself has bred?
Will the claws of fate damn or bless her?
When the umbrella only shelters the people holding it
And not us all, will gun wrestle power to rule again?
The maize calls the umbrella black
Will the greedy harvesters let us all feed on it?
When the drum of war is struck and we say it produces silence
The drum head, like time, tells tales.
Nigeria, a nation where love and truth are strangers.
But in trust, we make toasts of wine to the anticipated togetherness
And we say, Long live Nigeria.
Written by: Omotayo Onimisi Omodaiye
Edited by: Kukogho Iruesiri Samson