Where Shall We Go?

The poem where shall we go is a poem that was written by a Nigerian citizen of 24yrs of age. If tells about the Nigeria’s contemporary situation in temrs of the forwardness or backwardness of the country from 1999 to date. The poem is a protest poem, because it is againsting some people’s attitudes toward the progress of the country because of their sole interests.

Zakariyya Ibrahim Sama'ila

zakariyyaibrahimsamaila@gmail.com

07062610341

Where Shall We Go?

We are parked like serdines inside a van.

The passengers were too many, almost 200 people.

The van is capable of carrying all of us.

The van’s engine is highly equipped.

The van’s acceleration was ealier speedy

for the first six hours of the journey.

It later began to high-jack on the tenth hour.

The Octogenerian passengers began to get

Tired of the driving system of the septuagenarian

The driving system was unprogressive.

Some of the passengers need a Samaritan

Diver while others don’t

The van high-jacked and progressed

at the first eight hours of the journey

The driver propagate the passengers peacefully

That the van shall accelerate faster.

There was no progress at all.

The passengers later decided to change

The driver.

A driver that may take them to their

Destinations.

For the driver to accelerate, there is

The need for penalfitings to the van.

Let the driver be.

For others doesn’t like the progress

Of the journey.

They wanted us to stay at one place for centuary

They always against the penalfittings

Of the van.

Oh!, Where shall we go with such

Itrutions?

ABOUT THE POEM

The poem "where shall we go" is written by a Nigerian citizen of 24yrs of age. If tells about the Nigeria’s contemporary situation in terms of the forwardness or backwardness of the country from 1999 to date. The poem is a protest poem, because it is againsting some people’s attitudes toward the progress of the country because of their sole interests.

The writer described Nigeria as a van full of passengers in the poem. The passengers on the other hand is said to be the Nigerians living inside the country. The writer tried to explain to the readers that the country is full of natural resources like lands for farming, iron ore, charcoal, gold, bauxite, and crude oil. Reflection to this is when we refer to the line 4 of the first stanza where he says:

“The van’s engine is highly equipped’. Since the almighty God has made everything available for us, what remain is for us to manage the gifts accordingly. Consequently, some people of the country do have the heart to privatize the materials indirectly to themselves by exploding what is primarily meant for the public to their respective souls. However, the writer tried to describe the Nigeria’s situation from the year 2000 up to date. Therefore, the writer has no idea or eye witness of the Nigeria’s situation of the 1900(s) and 1800(s) but he had the historical background from the elders. It was vividly stated to the writer that during the 1900(s) and 1800(s), that issues like kidnapping, bomb exploitation, crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers were issues that could be heard in the radio that such happenings only happen outside the country.

Consequently, the people of the country have changed in the sense that what we heard outside our home is now right behind everyone of us, that is issues like kidnappings, terrorism, armed robbery etc. are issues that are right on our door steeps. Most at times the writer do ask himself about what really brought about these disasters, is it unemployment, struggle for power, political instability, poverty, tribalism, or religious intolerance that brought about these foreign issues? Also, the writer do asks himself that why is it that committing such crimes is always made by the youth whom are the back borne of the society’s development.

So, the writer do answered himself that our ancestral fathers were not trained and did not trained our parents about such taboo acts. If for example, unemployment can influence one to commit such a crime, one should think about how our grandmothers and fathers survived even without committing such a crime? An answer to this is that our grandmothers and fathers were self reliant. Looking at the religious intolerance, if a Muslim should refer back to the holy Qur’an, there is a verse where the almighty Allah says that we don’t need to force one to accept the religion (Islam). So, if your creator should order you not to force one to accept your religion, who gave you the power and authority to do such act. With the little knowledge I have, no religion gave room for intolerance. For instance Islam means peace.

Therefore Islamic religion means religion of peace. Many incidents explained this when we look at how the prophets do interact with people. What actually influence the people  committing such illegal acts are the people that love themselves more than others, to make things available to themselves not others by all means. This can be duely understood when we consider the lines 2, 3 and 4 of the last stanza. It says:-

“For others doesn’t like the progress of the journey”

“They wanted us to stay at one place for a century”

“They always against the penalfittings of the journey”

Conclusively, the writer suggests that we need to be religious tolerants, untribalistics and things asuch to make our country progress as new generation.