ANGELS KNOW WHERE TO HOUSE YOUR SOUL (For Ndubuisi Kanu)
J By AKEEM LASISI
Lagos may be a nation of rising millions
She yet has a room for a virtuous foot
She has an eye on the impactful hand
The one ready to add at least a spoonful of value
To her wonderous waters
The one willing to add even if a feather
To its Atlantic wings
Ndubuisi Kanu:
Rear in uniform and real in mufti
An Admiral admirably rare in an enviable sense
Because you gave your quota to the sea
And left a mark upon the shore
The IBILE birds are gathered at the city centre
To grace your memory with a stately dance.
From Alausa topmost floor
The BOS himself attests to the significance
Of your tenure
In Iga Idunganran
The Crown with nostalgia recalls your era:
Ministering to the mainland,
Icing the cake of the Island
You did not unleash the axe on Badagry palms
You did not soil the Lagoon with power oil
Because you did not put a spanner in the works
Of the Lagos dream,
From Oyingbo Market to the Apapa Wharf
The street extends a parting song.
Ndubuisi
I know the secret of your symbolic name
Ndu-bu-isi:
Life is most important; Life is supreme
Kaanu!
I salute the history of your principled fate.
The angels know where to house your soul
Because your position was ever clear on mother earth
Even in the depth of the darkest night
Your stand was as clear as a crystal glass
You did not dine with the hen at noon
Only to frolic with hounds at night
When you needed to join the separatist strife
You did with valour at the open square
When larger nationhood triumphed
Gallantly you marched back
Embraced the olive tree in the open space.
Your loyalty to a cause was never blind
But it was never affected by climate change
When in an unforgettable June the abominable happened to our democracy
And the goons unleashed their guns on the Watershed
Clouds descended on the nation
And vultures descended on the people’s hope
In the midst of the anomie
You proved that soldiering is not just about the gun on the fingertips
But also about the potent resolve within:
The bayonet embedded in a resolute heart
Against injustice from any realm.
Right before every eye
You pitched your tent with freedom warriors
Vocal as a parrot, visible as the sun
You did not eat with NADECO on Toyin Street
Only to wine with ABN ravens at night
At the forefront of the Coalition
You battled for the restoration of the people’s voice.
In your frank dialogue with your fatherland,
You insisted the system was upside down
You wondered why oil money would first be flown to the Capital City
Only for the bloated centre
To await the begging bowls of the producing states
You wondered why the Lagoon would bear all the brunt of the heat that yields the fattest VATs
Only to be made to play the secondary fiddle in the sharing scheme
You wondered why we ever have to run a thousand miles
To an IGP buried in prism and prison of power intrigues –
When a thief is already rummaging through our hamlets
And bandits are raping mothers and daughters in brazen turns
You asked what a hell have decades of unitary federalism garnered,
Compared to the competitive option of the regional years
Ndubuisi Kanu,
Rear Admiral in service
Admirably rare in the city
The angels know where to house you
Because your position was ever clear on mother earth.
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