Poem:The Day Abacha Died 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

Soyombo tweets from @alabaster85

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