Aishetu by Paul Ugah

The Poem 

Aishetu

You walk in beauty

Like African queen

In her Queendom

At home you're Aishetu

Unlike others you refused to

Adopt campus names such as

Paula, Sandra, Juliet, Frances

Unlike others you refused to

Expose your erogenous zones

You shunned skimpy skirts

Because there is no mileage in it

You're original!

Our girls in quest of passing beauty

Have turned themselves into shadows:

Dark complexion is fair completion

Shadows! Shadows! Shadows girls on

Our campuses

Their real selves are buried beneath

Their fading beauties.

AISHETU

Cover us with the heart of African's love

That we may take shelter in it

Listen! Listen to the soothing

Voice of Africa calling

A- I- S - H - E -T -U

In acknowledgement of your beauty

And originality.

The Story 

I came across a lady from my village in Benue State whose name is/was Ochanya. Ochanya means Queen of Women in Idoma language. On that faithful day, she was dressed in a mini skirt walking along with some of her coursmate. I called her, but she pain me no attention. I kept calling until one of her friends turned and I gestured to her to call her friend for me, pointing at Ochanya. The friend now said, "Paula, someone is talking to you". Paula? I was perplexed. Ochanya turned, looked at me and stopped. I walked to where she stopped after we exchanged greetings. She said that nobody on campus knows her as Ochanya. I asked her how she came about the name Paula. She laughed and walked away. 

I came across a Hausa lady called Aishetu, a few days later. She was dressed in a modest African way with her natural beauty in dark complexion.  I observed other ladies and discovered that most of them who exposed sensitive parts of their body adopted English names with meanings they know not. I also discovered that they do that to hide from their tribal persons who might identify their tribe through their names and scold them of their misbehavior on campus. So Aishetu is a symbolism for the well behaved girls in terms of dressing and attitude across the higher institutions. That is what moved me to write the poem "Aishetu". 

Thanks.

The Poet 

Paul Ugah is a broadcast journalist,   publisher, editor, an award winning Author and staff of Brothers FM, Makurdi. He is a former Auditor of Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ), Benue State Council. Ugah is the immediate past Chairman, Benue State Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors ( ANA). His major published works include What Goes Around (Children story book, 2013), Voice of Africa (a collection of poems, 2014) and the widely  acclaimed Midnight Cry ( a collection of short stories, 2016), The Holiday Camp (2021). He also co-edited Season of Laurels and Thrills  ( an anthology of poems and short stories, 2020) and Fete of Letters in Honour of Tyotom Keghku ( an anthology of poems, Short Stories and Essays. His poems and book reviews are published in several anthologies and dailies. Ugah's publishing company (Chapuga Publishers) has published about forty books across diverse academic fields.