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Mayor Agaba Ojobo: An iroko has fallen

Published

9 years ago

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I will be dedicating this week’s column to my uncle, Chief James Agaba Ojobo, Mayor of Udaburu community in Owukpa. The late hero was an unrepentant activist who fought against nepotism corruption in the land. Untiol his demise, he was also a strong member of the Peoples Democratic Party since 1999.  

Oh! Udaburu Ogo Ukpoji
I see tears trickling down your cheeks
Like Jeremiah of old
I can see your face swollen
Like a pampered raven
I see the murky cloud of pain and anger
Hovering over your world like idinkichi
Needed not to be told

An iroko has been looped
Yes, it is no longer news
Oyi Onyokwu is dead

It hacks like hacksaw
The sting of death
Sad, hard, bad
Great Adikwu Ojoji
Behold your son,
Fathered by Ojobo olonya gweje
Here he comes
With his staff
Ojotuyela!
That sobriquet
That reminds me of Mama Ukwo
The fearless one,
Is the journey not too sudden?
Not too long,
Comfort took French leave
Now you too?
Another rheum in eyes
The enemies will now laugh at us
The infants will pull down our beards
They will poke tongue at us
The father of the house is more
Now, the rafia fence shall surely fall
Sad to see your fertile mind
Interred in this barren soil of odokro
Tell it to Aneh Adikwu
That Omanyangra (Jerome) is no more
Remind Onyegiri and Ugwu Oriko
That Emema left us too
Whisper it to Ogbeikwu Adikwu
That James Ameh is no longer part of us
Tell it Attah Emure Offio
That Onyikpechi has crumbled
The Triplochiton scleroxylon tree
Has been cut asunder
By followers of the white man religion
If you see Ameh Ogwuba,
Ogira Ochayi
Tell them;
Tears is now our daily meal
We now mourn in sackcloth on quotidian
Tell it to our great fathers,
Omonu Odo and Ahmedu Urah
Our arms have broken
No one to straighten it again
Tell those who have gone before us,
The clipped wings of mother hen
Have exposed her chicks
To the hungry kites.
Adieu the great one
The centre cannot hold.
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