I dream of a land of tranquillity as our founding fathers did beget,
Where I shall salute the national flag with zero regret,
Where the green part of the flag actually means agriculture,
Not some desolated fields where farmers lay dead as food for vulture.
I dream of a country that I shall call home,
Where I am welcomed in every part of this dome,
A land where I can work anywhere I am residing,
Where value addition is better than certificate of origin,
A country where honesty makes sense and integrity holds water,
Where elites enter politics because they have something to offer,
Where an Igbo man will in sincerity rule Bornu state as he swore,
And we shall hear the drums of war no more.
I dream of a country where ‘leaders of tomorrow’ is no longer just some song
Making me feel that my teachers all this while were wrong,
A country where the young are given due shots at leadership,
And are not stuck in an endless loop of recycling politics.
I dream of a country where a child is accounted for
And even before birth is cared for.
I dream that Religiosity died on the altar of spirituality,
Where federal character was sacrificed on the cross of meritocracy.
I dream of a Nigeria with love as its core,
Where education is loved and catered for,
Without any strikes and hate from the professor.
I dream of a nation where hunger is no longer on,
Where the gap between rich and poor is closed-up on,
Where due process everywhere is followed to the latter,
So that, be you rich or poor, ‘first come, first served’ is our new character.
Finalist of the Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest (BPPC), May 2018
Shortlisted for the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP) 2018
Published in the BPPC 2018 Anthology — CITADEL OF WORDS
