SILVER LINING: For Akinwumi Ambode
By Akeem Lasisi
Composed in May 2016 in acknowledgement of the outstanding performance of the former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration – amid the generally uninspiring show of the then All Progressives Congress’ federal ‘Change’ government
In an era when OPEC went into a coma
And the naira slumped in the market square
The agenda for change caught flu
The Broom was caught in a morning maze
But, Son of a Diligent Teacher,
You have kept alive the doctrine of hope:
Like a silver lining in the national sky
You have imbued the Lagoon with renewal light
The cynics asked what could the cockerel do
You said they should take their time to see its crest
They asked what could the elephant do
You said they should watch its head for a giant tusk
Itesiwaju ilu Eko,
Morning has predicted the colour of noon;
A chip off a tested heritage,
Your slogan is not an empty bag.
Because you have infected our Lagos with a fertile aura
Bridges are sprouting like lilies in a loamy soil
From mainland to hinterland,
Life is breathed into forgotten roads
Because hoodlums are feeling the pulse of your firearms
Our markets are gaining a breathing space
Neighbourhoods long abandoned in selective despair
Are feeling the impact of your punctual broom
Countenance of a dove,
Wings of the eagle:
Was it not a single day
That you armed the cops with a hundred vans?
Was it not a single day
You planted armoured planes in our joyous sky,
Was it not a single day
You calmed the sea with dragon boats?
But now that we know your appetite to build is very large
We will reward your diligence with a longer list
The path of progress is clear and square
But there is still a flood to drain from the water pot.
Son of a virtuous teacher,
We claim the rail, we claim the pledge
The pledge of a Fourth Mainland Bridge
And the healing promise of a MediPark
Son of a listening teacher,
But lower your ears, I have a gist
I am the invisible eagle on the Carter Bridge
I see the turns and twists of our aquatic state
I know of a school in the outer land
Where teachers resume at 10 and leave at 12
There is a hospital in the central zone
Where nurses batter patients with bladed tongues
Son of a noble calling,
The harvest is plenty,
But your resolve is grand
The morning has heralded a viable noon
The sun that rises in Lagos West
Will renew your strength for further strides
The smiles that flow from the people’s hearts
Will reward your diligence with solid health.
