<p>"We Hailed Thee Once"</p><p><br></p><p>Nigeria, we hailed thee,</p><p>Land of hope, so bright, so free.</p><p>Our fathers dreamed in earnest tones,</p><p>Of peace and pride to call our own.</p><p><br></p><p>With voices joined in loyal song,</p><p>They forged a bond both deep and strong.</p><p>Green fields, rich soil, the eagle's flight—</p><p>A promise born in morning light.</p><p><br></p><p>But shadows crept where light once lay,</p><p>And honor's flame has slipped away.</p><p>The pledge of unity, once bold,</p><p>Now crumbles in the grasp of gold.</p><p><br></p><p>Corruption’s hand, both sly and wide,</p><p>Tore through the dreams our sires supplied.</p><p>Justice sold for fleeting gain,</p><p>While children chant through lips of pain.</p><p><br></p><p>The anthem's words—a mournful cry,</p><p>Not triumph now, but asking why.</p><p>What happened to that sacred call—</p><p>To lift the weak, to stand for all?</p><p><br></p><p>We hail thee still, but with a tear,</p><p>For what was lost year after year.</p><p>Yet deep within our battered land,</p><p>A spark remains, a trembling stand.</p><p><br></p><p>May we reclaim what once was meant,</p><p>Our fathers’ dreams not all be spent.</p><p>Nigeria, rise from ash and flame—</p><p>Let truth and honor shape your name.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Nigeria, once the giant of Africa,</p><p>A lion crowned in West's Sahara.</p><p>Her voice was loud, her vision wide,</p><p>She stood with dignity and pride.</p><p><br></p><p>From Zik to Tafawa, hands held high,</p><p>They dreamed beneath a rising sky.</p><p>Our oil flowed, our cocoa bloomed,</p><p>Yet greed beneath the surface loomed.</p><p><br></p><p>The giant stumbled, robbed and blind,</p><p>By hands that fed on fellow kind.</p><p>A thousand tongues, yet none would speak</p><p>For justice, for the poor, the weak.</p><p><br></p><p>Elections rigged, the youth betrayed,</p><p>The scholar silenced, truth delayed.</p><p>Hospitals bare, while vaults run deep,</p><p>And promises are sold in sleep.</p><p><br></p><p>Oh land where legends once were born,</p><p>Now clothed in silence, shame, and scorn.</p><p>Our anthem fades on lips that mourn—</p><p>The dream our fathers swore at dawn.</p><p><br></p><p>Yet giants sleep, they do not die.</p><p>And from the dust, wings learn to fly.</p><p>So let the youth with fire breathe</p><p>New hope beneath the rotting sheath.</p><p><br></p><p>Nigeria, wake—reclaim your name.</p><p>Be more than echoes lost to shame.</p><p>Let honor rise where shadows lie,</p><p>And lift our flag once more on high.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
NIGERIA- MY FATHER'S LAND
By
Bu Kun
•
3 plays