The Call

From the sweltering heat of oppression
From the ugly seat of racism
From the deep labyrinth of confusion
Let's rise, brother!

At home the broom rests gracefully
Hundred broomsticks bonded together
Like the broom sweeps the dust away
Brother, we shall sweep our foes to death

No more laid down gazes brother
No more bent backs and swollen knees
When the master barks at you
Stand tall brother, roar at him

Tis true say we are Blacks
But ain't we proud of it, brother?
A white man you can be anyday
But once black is lost, its gone forever

Are we not the sons of the Kikuyu?
Did our father's loins breed goats
Haa! The son of a lion dare not eat grass
We must stand up tall and fight

A Slave's song II

The unspoken lament of a Black Slave[i]
" my tongue longs for the fountains
oh! cool sweet refreshing fountain
reminds me of Africa, my sweet home
Africa, the land of the spotted Deers
Africa, the land of lush greeneries
Africa. the home of thick black skins
Alas, here I am, my back bent over the sickle
toiling all day long in the White man's
plantation
digging, pruning, clearing, planting, and
harvesting
while the White master walks round
Brother! he walks like a man with a boil on the
anus
pipe in mouth, puffing away all day like the
smoke from mama's cooking place
the koboko in his hand to whipe any defaulter
brother! we work all day without pay
but I am not in this alone
Blacks from different climes, different tongues
we have come together in this table of
hardship
we are one by the reason of one sweat, one
tear
one death, one lot.

To the African Woman

An English Professor once said that writing is a special art, it is not something that can be learnt in school because it is a natural gift. He averred that it is the "Muse", the literary god  that chooses who to possess and not the other way round. He concluded by saying that every work is precious no matter how mundane it might look because it is not the writer who chooses the words, it is the god who dictates.

If this is so, then Ngozi Adichie must be completely possessed by the Muse. I admire her wonderful talents and the fact that she inspires me to pick my pen whenever I read her work, she is great.
Ngozi Adichie is a literary aficionado, the Hercules of the literary world, a woman of great talents, an African woman indeed.
I particularly admire the names she gives her characters, "ifemelu, kambili..." It makes me proud being an African.
Africa is so blessed.
I pray more talents be discovered and appreciated in our land, Amen!

A Slave's Song

You call me a monkey and spit on my face
You teach your littles to call me ugly
You shout and rave and shove and push
But still, White Lady, I know who I am

You tell your whities "the negroe is dirty"
You ask me to cook then laugh me to scorn
You give me your dirties to wash and to dry
But still, White Lady, I am who I am

This skin you call ugly, White lady
In the Sudan, maidens jitter at the sight
This round face you call a monkey's
Nsongo looked into it and gave me her soul

This back you have kissed with long deep sours
It bore bags of palm fruit from the farmland and back
And when little droplets crease its face
Young maidens do not hold it, they
Come swooning like horny Queen bees

These hands you call lazy, weak and frail
These same hands, they tilled the community soil
These legs you say are too hairy and black
These same legs, White Lady, won me some battles

You call me a monkey and spit on me
But still, White lady, I Know who I am.

Female Genital Mutilation

What is Female Genital Mutilation?
In the most simplest terms. FGM is the removal of the clitoris, clitoral hood, the vagina lips and most times "infibulation" which means to sew up the vagina leaving only a small hole for urine and menstrual flow.
  In many parts of sub-saharan and northeast Africa, female circumcision is practiced, usually on teenage girls. The highest recorded case of FGM is in Somaliland with 98% practices, followed by Guinea with 96% and other African countries.
This is no time to shy away from the topic, plenty ladies live in perpetual agony because of this inhumane act. Someone who has gone through a surgery once knows how painful it is when the analgesic wears off, could you imagine how these girls bear the excruciating pains before and after the exercise? Usually, it is done with a sharp razor or knife, which most times are not sterilized; leaving the young girls vulnerable to tons of diseases. Imagine walking around with stitches in your vagina.

Why do they do this?
Most African societies believe it'd curb the rate of premarital sex, so to ensure that the husband is the first to have sexual knowledge of the girl. Though the intentions are good, this is ridiculously wicked.
First, fidelity or chastity is an act of personal conviction. Even infibulation cannot stop a promiscuous girl. Shouldn't the society and all concerned be more interested in inculcating good morals in young ladies than acting as surgeons, inexperienced as they are?

Female Genital Mutilation is an I'll wind that blows no one good, not to the victims, the men or the society at large. On the wedding night, the husband has to use a knife to cut open the threads before he can sleep with his new wife and who receives all the pains? How women suffer!
It might lead to keloidal growths in the vagina, which don't look so nice. Also, since most intricate parts of the vagina are removed during the practice, it'd lead to sexual dissatisfaction on the woman's part, because her major stimulators have been removed.
Can't we see FGM needs to be nipped in the bud? This is no culture, it is the highest barbarism! I advocate for the end of Female Genital Mutilation in Africa. Together, we can stop this.
Say NO to FGM today.
     Okoye Precious Onyekachi

Old Love: A Poem

        OLD LOVE
N'er have i seen such bond
Two hearts dancing in love's hall
Never have i felt such love
Affectionate passion, here befall

Bodies shriveled in many years
Eyes speaking of lovely days
Hearts brimming in golden bliss
Love, brighter than the Sun's rays

Many years he said to me
"You my dove, are my fantasy"
Many years she cooed to me
"Oh dear! You drive me crazy"

These days we do not talk so much
Sickness has dealt us several blows
But now when i look deep inside
With happiness exclaim, "only the hearts know"

Prospects of Traditional Medicine

I learnt something from a friend today, she said that if a wrapped cloth is placed on a pregnant woman's head, it'll forestall delivery till it is removed. Also, that if a little child is hiccuping and a thread or rope is tied round his head, it'd stop the hiccups immediately. I have witnessed one myself, the Urine therapy. If a little child that is convulsing drinks the urine of his real mother, the convulsion will cease. I don't know if i should call these superstitions or magic because they have worked for many people. If it is effective and the art can be learnt, even passed on to generations, then it is no magic but science because it can be replicated to achieve same results. To be on the safe side, though, i call it Traditional Science.
  This traditional science has proven to be very effective, sometimes even more than Orthodox medicine. The use of herbs has cured many of the so called intractable diseases that defied Orthodoxy. Take, for instance, "Mouringa". Mouringa is a medicinal plant that cures all manner of illnesses ranging from the mildest headache to the most stubborn fibroid which a heap of drugs would've worsened. Today, i read a paper that had an advertisement by a guy recently graduated from the department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, UNN who discovered a potent herb that could turn Hiv positive to negative and he proudly doled out the phone numbers of his previous clients that received the miracle cure. If his claim is valid it means that traditional medicine has done what orthodox medicine could not do. Where does this leave us? We suffer lesser risk of adverse effects like cancer because the medicine is natural and natural things dont hurt or do they? They are cheaper too. So what do you think? Is this not the manna we have been waiting for? Shouldnt unemployed graduates veer towards the traditional health sector? Who said old native doctors should do all the job? What do you think?