Featuring poems on Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Late Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Ahmadu Bello and Chief Anthony Enahoro.
SOCIETY OF YOUNG NIGERIAN WRITERS is a literary organization based in Oyo State, Nigeria. It was established to promote literary and creative writings among youths in the country and is an international and local affiliate of the Association for the Study of Poets, Playwrights and Novelists lives and works and World of Poets and Literary Society.
ODE TO AWOLOWO
The man of Ikenne, the son of a farmer
Indeed the value of humanity you did not batter
You deliberately refused to sit on the back-bench
The reason you made an impact is not far-fetched
A one-time typist, a self-made leader
The standard of living, you help made intact
To you I write this ode, to you my pen do hail
At your time, the masses knew no pain
Asiwaju omo Oodua, the pride of most Nigerians
You distinguished yourself among power barbarians
A leader who would not relax
Always the fighter of public menace
You are indeed a legal Iroko
A man we can boldly tag an hero
With him life is abundant
With him nothing is redundant
Intellectually Obafemi was a hero
Politically Awo is not a tyro
Your impeccable fight against oppression can never fade away
Several live you touched will never again go sway astray
What would Nigeria be like under your free education policy?
Who would argue that your ideas are one of a noble origin?
Naira, you coined as our currency
In your time we have a stadium called liberty
WNTV, best in Africa you established
I lack the word to say you are distinguished
Your impacts cannot be forgotten in a jiffy
That you will live in our minds forever is indeed real.
Elijah Ifetayo Gloria
Arise! O compatriot
Thy fatherland call obey
A land of bliss
And of serene surroundings
Peaceful as if a unicorn
And so many resources at her disposal
Thy fathers suffered a lot
For this blessed nation
In the hands of the white-faced men
Who enriched themselves with our resources
And in their den of slavery they endured
The tormenting fire of arduous tasks
Fifty-two years passed by
After our independence
From the short-nickered men
Who stealth our golden heritage
And replaced it with cheap beverages
So sad I couldn’t help!
Now, it is time to stand
And throw away our wheeled-chair
This is the time to be awake from our long slumber
To revive our lost heritage
For the labour of our heroes past
Should never go in vain
The splendor of our cultural past
Should not be thrown to the dogs
While we jog hither and thither
On the surface of the globe
Our Art… Our Culture – Our pride
For this is indeed a great nation.
Jimoh Ibrahim
