Husband of their mothers,
When the spoilers of Nigeria
Saw the Elephant that is you
They scratched their eyes, searching
And we asked them: what bothers you?
They replied: we just caught a glimpse of something
And we told them:
All the egan in this world
All the inunibini in this world
All the afojudi in this world
All the ibinu ori in this world
All the ija ilara in this world
That is to say
All the ill will in this world
Will never make an elephant
The object of a casual glimpse
Then they became a web of roots
And tried to block this elephant’s path to the river
But the mountain of the jungle dragged them along
Made a carpet of them on its path to the river
Deposited their carcass in the riverbed
For crocs to poop upon
Then the elephant had her fill of the soothing waters
In forty-five loud gulps
And returned to the business
Of building justice
The spoilers?
Their heads remain dung recipients
On the river bed.