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BEFORE I AM NIGERIAN
<p><br/></p><p>Everyday and night</p><p>Citizens sleep without both eyes closed,</p><p>without the fear of disappearing —</p><p>because disappearing is no longer a fear,</p><p>it is a schedule.</p><p><br/></p><p>Local individuals carry the weight</p><p>of what this land did four years ago,</p><p>and four years before that,</p><p>and four years before that.</p><p><br/></p><p>We don't even know who we are anymore.</p><p>Our identities — swallowed.</p><p><br/></p><p>They ask me, WHO ARE YOU?</p><p>I say I am Igbo before I am Nigerian.</p><p>I am Yoruba before I am Nigerian.</p><p>I am Hausa before I am Nigerian.</p><p>Because Nigeria has not learned</p><p>how to hold us yet.</p><p><br/></p><p>The reason we asked for a social contract</p><p>was to walk without looking over our shoulders,</p><p>to bleed only when our bodies choose —</p><p>not when bandits decide.</p><p><br/></p><p>But the blood of the innocent</p><p>has never asked permission here.</p><p>And the government we elected to save us</p><p>is busy saving themselves.</p><p><br/></p><p>It is still this same country</p><p>where thousands of lives are lost to empty pockets,</p><p>where parents cannot feed their children,</p><p>let alone fund their futures.</p><p><br/></p><p>The Federal Schools they promised the less privileged —</p><p>are a nightmare dressed as opportunity.</p><p>And NELFund, the loan they handed us like salvation,</p><p>is just another burden dressed in good intention.</p><p><br/></p><p>The anthem they fed us as children —</p><p>we are the leaders of tomorrow —</p><p>has grown old waiting to come true.</p><p>Tomorrow never came.</p><p>We were trained for a throne</p><p>that was already occupied,</p><p>polished with promises</p><p>and hollow at the center.</p><p>They sang it to us like a lullaby,</p><p>not knowing they were putting our futures to sleep.</p><p><br/></p><p>BECAUSE I AM NIGERIAN, DOES THAT MEAN MY DREAMS MUST SHATTER?</p><p>THEY SPEAK OF FAITH —</p><p>IS IT NOT ENOUGH TO LOSE FAITH IN THIS GODFORSAKEN NATION?</p><p>I HOPE THE CRIES OF THE LITTLE ONES ARE HEARD.</p><p>THE TIME TO MAKE A DECISION THAT WILL DECIDE OUR FATE IS ALMOST HERE.</p><p>I HOPE WE DO THE RIGHT THING.</p><p> </p>
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