WITHOUT IGBO PRESIDENCY, NIGERIA IS A  FAILED STATE

Surely, indisputably, indubitably, and for sure

A thing is  a thing when it is a thing

And I said to the Nigerian man

Who stood in the middle of Onitsha Bridge

Your nation is a failed state without Anyamiri presiding

Tell me Truth That I may tread safely into the unknown.

And he replied gruffly, “Go out into the shade

And put your hands in the hand of Satan.

That shall be to you better than Truth

And a little cozier than what you seek!”

So I went swiftly  and finding the hand of Obi

Clasped it firmly with both hands as

Though my life depended upon mere Obi

Comfy, snug, and homely was Obi’s sweaty palm

We tread  gladly into the womb of the night.

And He led me onward the mountains

As brightness kissed darkness at the break of day

Therefore, my heart, be still

What you need is a little trust

Then Obi spoke in a proverb for which

His Ndiigbo are principally noted for

“Ikuku adighi ama n’onya,”he says

Hell! What does Obi mean by this?

“Ikuku”  is the wind, current of air, breeze

“Adighi ama” means does not get trapped

“Onya” is the trap used to ensnare or ambush

Then Obi disappears into the night

Into nothingness Obi vamoosed, evaporated,

He ebbed before the batting of my eyelids

Perplexed, mesmerized, trapped in mystery

I scratched my hoary head in confusion

There was puzzlement in the Hausa face

Perplexity registered on Yoruba like a lace

Senate President lowers the gavel in mystification

Nigerian stocks wobble with uncertainty

Nigerians were thrown into convulsive disorder

As I pondered “Ikuku adighi ama n’onya”

The wind doesn’t get trapped

Neither does a castle keep the odor out

“Look in the sky,” a voice commanded imperially

Regally, majestically, colonially, arrogantly

Like Chief Wachukwu, the Woke of the Wawas

                            Whom the Igbos revere as embodiment of Biafra

James Agazie, 12/20/2016

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