The hills of Enugu applauded the exposition.
Olumo smiled from her position.
The southern streams catwalked to her seat's edge;
As the northern ball lit up the stage.
"Now on to the crux of the matter,
Welcome to the 'Niger Area Cantata'
Frederick had always loved adventure -
Or, so was the palpable conjecture.
If not, why will he flee his heaven,
And trot to the hard have-nots' haven?
Why would he shut his eyes
from beautiful butterflies kissing lilies by the seas?
Why did he rather bare his flies
to the brandished proboscis and fleas?
Could it be that the too many "c'est ne pas" in the French lexicography,
Had been why he didn't take Flora to Paris FOR her photography?
Maybe, we'd ask Osun,
Who allowed him paddle the nipples of her waters.
In respect, we'd ask Ogun,
Who allowed the mad nomad razzmatazz his matters.
We'd in total reverence quiz Amadioha,
Why his thunder claps and rumblings scared him not.
Why didn't nature protect for this virgin what they owe her?
We'd address residue questions to the northern gods who turbans bought.
And so, the fishes shook hands with the aquatic debris;
As their ship blared back to Canterbury.

And so before Frederick's feet secreted his feat,
The natives conceded defeat;
offering him and his bum a seat.
They offered all they could afford.
Yes, they crowned him their lord.
"Gratitude for speaking our Creole,
To your angelic tongue by the gods we know it's cruel.
Many thanks for stealing our crude,
May it placate your anger at letting you see us nude.
The lord who abhors the job of the sluggard,
Our undisputed Frederick Lord Luggard."
So, Frederick straightened the land's dignified contours,
And doctored their doctors.
He stripped the natives of their regalia of nakedness.
With the Pence, he bought them the lenses of wickedness.
Beheading James decorated his wrists,
He moved on to being Oliver Twist.
He unsheathed his swords;
Made them swallow their words.
He sheathed their penis,
But forgot to discard where their pen is.
Then, he invited his kinds in legions,
Biblicized their religions.
He dragged the unwilling public.
Public yet to see hairs, pubic.
He wedded nineteens to fourteens
Even when they were yet teens.
And so one eventide,
During one of such love love ride,
Frederick his mistress, tickled.
She shyly reacted with a giggle.
Again, he tickled;


And again, she giggled.
Her giggle sounded like "Nigeria",
"The land of Niger Area".
Perfect name for a country budding;
Perfect game for the people he was lording.
Hardest of feats are achieved without flexing a muscle.
There, with a giggle, she's solved his puzzle!
And so, all through this mock marriage,
It's been a tale of saboteurs, nationalists and a sage.
And so, the fishes shook hands with the aquatic debris;
As their ship blared back to Canterbury.

When the teen turned 60 with uncertainties,
With the residue of his father's property,
the heir was settled like an apprentice.
Propagandized media prints;
Beheaded thumb prints.
Shovels of laws,
Dug fossils of wars.
Echoes of neglect,
Birthed stench of the elect.
The future, frankly nebulous;
The vocal focal view, at a loss.
Coup cooed dirges of wickedness.
The ravenous craves for the black, swallowed our greenness.
Biafra fried fickle flexibility for freedom.
Fragility hence usurped freshness in this kingdom.
And so, the fishes shook hands with the aquatic debris;
As their ship bled back to Canterbury.

Hundred years after being teen spouses-
After Khaki shorts had been replaced by multi coloured trousers,
Time mated with enlightenment.
The pen romantically entangled himself with entertainment.
The nimbus fell off St. Frederick's head.
We now see why he fled when we bled red.
We see his bugs and ticks in our politics.
We see the formula of tricks in his mathematics.
We don't need more of his questions to solve our equations.
We have the salt and water for a solution.
With the Eyeseepeasea and Earfseesea's chats,
We got blotted off of the most corrupt countries' charts.
We ruptured Saint Fagots' structure
By simply arc knowledge in our culture.
With "there's God o " scenes in the rears,
We curbed Boko bombs and the insurrection fears.
With choking jokes, salt water and Kola,
We deported Sawyer's Ebola.
With our multi-layered arts,
The bull's eyes attest to the precision of our darts!
With our multi-layered arts,
We engrave the history of our hearts.
And so, the fishes shook hands with the aquatic debris,
As their ship blared back to Canterbury."

(w)16-05-2015. 11:51PM

Graciano S. Enwerem is a spoken word poet, radio presenter and an online poetry teacher. Winner of WarOfWords3, SPIC Most Outstanding Achiever 1 of the year, 2014. He emerged as 5th who Rocked Nigeria in 2014 according to EGC platform and 3rd in the Spoken word category. He promotes poetry at FOS (Figures Of Speech), an online poetry platform that had birthed over 8 radio platforms where poets showcase their poems absolutely free of charge. He was also awarded "The Atonisona Of Poetry II " at the IFA Awards Nigeria, 2014.

Join us for quarterly performance poetry event tagged #BB at UI Zoo New Admin building, in front of UI Zoo, Ibadan on 25th July 2015. Kick off 12pm.