Poetry Review: ‘I Am A Nigerian’ Envisions A New National Citizen

The poem “I am a Nigerian” by Sa’id Shuaib tells the Nigeria story of hope, resilience, tolerance, and togetherness.

Though somewhat ambitious, it chronicles the somewhat tolerance strength of almost every Nigerian, though differ in religion, tribe, and culture, yet live together and even inter-marry.

First, it starts like a pledge with strong words like “My loyalty is to my nation, Which Extends to my brethren,  And the multitude of People”. These connotes commitment to the motherland and evokes love and loyalty.

The poet starts off with a boast of the diversity of Nigeria, her different tribes, and even chronicles some of the different traditional stools across.

Hear him, “I am Firstly the Son of the Sultan of Sokoto, But also, the Son of the Emir of Kano,

The Ooni of Ife, Oba of Benin, The Obi of Onitsha, Oba of Lagos, The Olu of Warri” and several others.

He creatively educates his readers about different traditional stools drawn from different tribes that make up Nigeria.

It is a subtle attempt to show the interconnectivity of Nigerians even when a person lives or operates outside where he or she originally hails from.

He drew strength from the lessons of the Nigerian civil war and how the nation remained together despite that test of unity.

His lines “That we survived the civil war and remained united is a testament of our inner strength,

And the character fortified by the belief in God,

And the oneness of our country”, is nothing but sheer admiration for Nigerians.

Shuiab admired the unity of Nigeria, bonded by inner strength and an undying bias for God, though a Muslim, he obviously tolerates the beliefs of other religions in Nigeria.

Hear him “And when I hear the Adhan call to prayer, I find peace

I am reminded of the greatness of this nation,

A nation built on tradition,

Ifa, Christianity and Islam”.

In these four lines, the poet smartly tells the story of Nigerians who hold differing religious beliefs.

The poet has probably caught the travelling abroad bug as he admits that he desires to experience the culture of people outside Nigeria but quickly restates his undying love to retain his Nigerian identity.

A beautiful twist is his confession of human imperfections but backed with a promise to remain a servant of God in Nigeria. This obviously means irrespective of what life throws at him, he will remain steadfast and God-fearing.

The poet acknowledged the preference of different tribes in seeking wealth. Hear him “An Igbo trader,

A fisherman from the Niger Delta,

Even orphans the have come from the North, The South, the East and the West,

The Skies and the stars that I gaze upon with my Naked eyes”. This subtly tells the story of why people seek greener pastures outside their native communities.

Obviously, he is a great optimist, who believes Nigeria will remain a land of hope and unity, greatness, irrespective of the scars caused by bandits who leave in their trail pain.

He ends the poem with the desire to be buried in Nigeria soil no matter his sojourn for greener pastures.

The 61 lines poem is a beautiful story of Nigeria and Nigerians, who have borne scars but are united because they refused to be defined by the challenges nor pains.

Shuaib rekindles the Nigerian dream, powerfully, beautifully, with a sense of humility.

He is also planning to release a documentary on national unity based on the poem in the next few months.