Score |
3
DARE TO DREAM
<p><br/></p><p>We were told,</p><p><br/></p><p>"Dare to dream."</p><p><br/></p><p>Not just dream.</p><p><br/></p><p>Dream big.</p><p><br/></p><p>But no one told us that big dreams need big spaces.</p><p><br/></p><p>That some dreams outgrow the places they were planted.</p><p><br/></p><p>Others never outgrew anything.</p><p><br/></p><p>They were simply strangled by weeds.</p><p><br/></p><p>Emeka dreamed of becoming a doctor, but JAMB jam am.</p><p><br/></p><p>Adéọlá longed to become a lawyer, but the admission board enrolled her in Theatre Arts.</p><p><br/></p><p>Musa longed to be called Engineer Musa—a title that'd stand proudly beside Alhaji.</p><p><br/></p><p>But his university turned him into a physicist.</p><p><br/></p><p>Perhaps it wasn't only the force of gravity bringing dreams back to earth.</p><p><br/></p><p>"I pledge to Nigeria, my country..."</p><p><br/></p><p>A father's daughter recited the national pledge as she embarked on her journey for NYSC.</p><p><br/></p><p>She hoped to be clothed in khaki and white.</p><p><br/></p><p>Instead,</p><p><br/></p><p>she returned wrapped in bandages.</p><p><br/></p><p>Some never returned at all.</p><p><br/></p><p>A journey that should have cost ₦20,000 became a ransom few could afford.</p><p><br/></p><p>We were told this is our fatherland.</p><p><br/></p><p>Yet the soil keeps eating its children.</p><p><br/></p><p>So tell me...</p><p><br/></p><p>Do we still dare to dream?</p><p><br/></p><p>Or do we now calculate fuel prices, data hikes, school loans, bank debts, empty pockets, empty stomachs, and garri without sugar?</p><p><br/></p><p>Do we even dream anymore?</p><p><br/></p><p>Hearts once full of hope and minds full of courage have now become brains and bodies trapped in a fight-or-flight mode.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not a fight for success,</p><p><br/></p><p>but a fight for survival.</p><p><br/></p><p>A fight against hunger.</p><p><br/></p><p>Against poverty.</p><p><br/></p><p>Against scarcity.</p><p><br/></p><p>Some dreams didn't die.</p><p><br/></p><p>They simply grew wings.</p><p><br/></p><p>They stopped climbing trees</p><p><br/></p><p>with multiple legs.</p><p><br/></p><p>They learned</p><p><br/></p><p>how to fly.</p><p><br/></p><p>They metamorphosed into butterflies,</p><p><br/></p><p>crossed oceans,</p><p><br/></p><p>and landed on foreign soil.</p><p><br/></p><p>Called "slaves" by some.</p><p><br/></p><p>But perhaps a living slave is better than a walking dead,</p><p><br/></p><p>on soil that eats its children,</p><p><br/></p><p>where dreams</p><p><br/></p><p>are buried</p><p><br/></p><p>before they're born.</p>
6
Other insights from Peculiar Yeke
Referral Earning
Points-to-Coupons
Insights for you.
Drums Before Guns
Before we had tanks, we had talking drums. Before we had political parties, we had prai...
165 views
22 upvotes
18 comments
Classism in a third-world country is ...
If you've ever driven through Abuja, you'd see the absurd theater of our class wars. A ...
352 views
16 upvotes
22 comments
The Fallen Giant: A lament for Nigeri...
Oh My Country NigeriaOh My Country Nigeria, your soil drinks the tears of toddlers, l...
120 views
15 upvotes
15 comments
Tight purse strings: trying to mainta...
Tight Purse StringsChinedu stared at his phone, the banking app's balance glaring back ...
436 views
12 upvotes
12 comments
THIS IS NIGERIA- NOT ALL OF IT
Popo stop me I fear dem wan to shoot meSearch my bags like say He wan to loot meComot m...
344 views
12 upvotes
14 comments
A CASE FOR JANUARY.
The hype of December is the very sponsor of the dread of January. But upon closer exami...
939 views
12 upvotes
10 comments
THERE WASN'T A COUNTRY
Four years ago, I joined millions of Nigerians to make demands of the government. These...
885 views
13 upvotes
6 comments
No Title
Before you read, please note, this might be a biased view as it isn't centered on any r...
323 views
11 upvotes
10 comments
A Land Flowing With Rot
A land flowing with milk and honey.
But the milk is stale
and the honey is putrid.
T...
215 views
8 upvotes
9 comments
A Nigeria with Two Presidents
The idea that Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso could share power in 2027 without the tradi...
170 views
13 upvotes
9 comments
Comments