The Day Abacha Died (Poem)

By Soyombo Ayomikun
1. I was in church
The Pastor was preaching
Nigeria was then on fire
You dare not sneeze in public
I daily felt that snipers were everywhere
Ready to shoot anyone who shrugged at the government

2. Suddenly we heard a scream
From just outside our church
“Abacha is dead,” the person yelled
Our pastor paused
Someone right on the front row jumped up
He leapt onto the streets

3. The second member ran out of the church
The third followed
I saw a mama in one corner
Shedding tears of joy
Our church service scattered
The streets became our chapel

4. We all danced
We sang praises
Nigeria burst out in tears
Tears shed in a rapturous joy
As a child I felt freedom
I knew terror just died

5. All the bars declared free drinks
Palm wine sellers distributed free kegs
Markets all over Nigeria scattered
Everyone celebrating redemption
All because dracula just passed
The nation breathed liberty again

6. Relatives called themselves
To pass across the rare sweet news
We didn’t really care what killed him
An apple, bullet or woman
We began dreaming of sweeter climes
We never knew a leader would one day honour terror

7. Nigeria became 100 years
A golden list was compiled
Of sacrificial hearts that laboured for the country
Of martyrs who bled for all
Lo and behold
We found “Terror’s” name on the list

8. We didn’t ask for a list
Of the good, the bad, & the ugly
We were expecting a roll call
Of rare beautiful idols of our land
But then our president shocked us again
By doing the unthinkable

9. Nigeria knows her heroes
We know our warriors
Within the Aso villa choose whoever you want to celebrate
In our hearts we know those to honour
We can’t all just forget the miracle we felt
On the day Abacha died