Ode to Books

by Sola Owolabi, in Commemoration of the World Book Day

Pieces of letters unite as words

Transforming into sentences, woven as chords

As the eyes scan and brood the words

Peasants and servants change to Lords

From the pages of books, conquering their world

Oh books, on you, daily we brood

Begging fools to turn to books

Freeing them from ignorance’s hooks

Filling their minds with knowledge as food

Luxury emerging from woods

As knowledge prevails

Teaching us this life’s details

Piercing barriers with wisdom's nails

We are sure not to derail

Books, on you we brood

With you, we’re no longer crude

Though the ignorant construes we’re rude

Just because we’re off the garments of fools

Thanks to books that schooled!

About the Author

Sola Emmanuel Owolabi is a Reading Habit Expert, Life Coach, Librarian, Playwright, Poet and Entrepreneur. He is currently a Lecturer and Librarian at Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. He's also a researcher at the Digital Society School, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands. Before venturing into education he has worked with United Bank for Africa, KPMG Professional Services and Synergy Sparks. He has over 42 publications covering journal articles, chapters in books and conference papers. He speaks at conferences, seminars and workshops in Nigeria and other parts of the world. He is the Nigerian Representative for the Global Vision Manchester, United Kingdom. He's an alumnus of the Digital Society School, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands. He is at the vanguard of youth reformation and orientation in Nigeria. He deploys the use of Bibliotherapy and Cinematherapy to educate young people on several issues relating to peer pressure, drug abuse, illicit sex, illiteracy, social media addiction and several others. He is the author of the Library Boy, a book that is circulating in Nigeria with over 10,000 copies already sold. He has produced three cinematherapy movies (the Crash, Rusticated and Happening Babes on Campus). He is married to Dr. Ayotunde Olayinka Owolabi who is also a Lecturer. They are blessed with godly children.

Just Before We M…

by Idowu Adegbilero-Iwari

Source: https://www.dreamstime.com/

While you seek to mine the Moon and move to Mars,

Never forget to make it a duty, 

The Earth to mind, to mind the Earth I say;

To wane her many woes;

The myriads of mire that threatens her life.

Neither for her errors nor the Maker’s though,

But for the horrors of your works and time in her.

This also note, O man!

Less a safe Earth,

Your sail to Space beyond may not persuade.

Now, you must do all you can,

To delay, nay, avert her derail as Pangaea.

Should you not, and proceed as Babel,

You may not be the one to tell how unwarm the Earth once was. 

A sonnet, composed @Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti on 28th October, 2020.

My first book, There is a Country..., is published: Hurray!

 Fresh form the mills, There is a Country...: Poetic Comments on the Place of My Nativity, is published online and available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KWB9MGD?

The book is about Nigeria: her people, places, events (sweet and sour), her political struggles, insurgency and all. In the book, I have put together comments that events, places and peoples in Nigeria have forced my witty hands to print against the pulp. They cover various issues that may get you mad at my thoughts, plaster your face with irresistible smile or altogether get your head nodding agreement or bending down in pity and/or angst or stir you up to action. Having said that, There is a Country… has the central theme, Nigeria, and in it, patriotism, political activism, terrorism, people and an enterprise of Nigerian origin that I have reflected upon.

A comment from a Literature Scholar:

This book, a brilliant piece of art in your hand is a treasure of knowledge. I welcome you, the readers into the ‘Excavations’ of excellent and illuminating endeavors. There is a Country chronicles the inherent diseases that have crippled the nation, Nigeria—the land that flows with quality milk and honey. Each poem in this book points the readers to the moral and socio-political degeneration that has eaten deep into the fabrics of a nation. Mr. Idowu Adegbilero-Iwari expresses deep concern about the laxity of the leaders on the political, Social, Economic, and humanity at large, but not without hope for a better tomorrow.

The presentation of the poems in this book aesthetically details the personal experience of the author as profoundly expressed in the fluidity of the language that is beautifully woven in the manner that the readers become glued to the pages from the beginning to the end. The author’s thoughts are detailed lucidly in an easy to understand language that feels the readers with a mixed emotion of sadness and excitement....

 Ayoola Gabriel (PhD.), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 

Encouraging me will mean: one, getting your copy; two, recommending by sharing to your networks and communities.

The print edition is also being worked upon, to come out soon. So, watch out.

A LIBRARY FOR UWA by Shade Adepoju

A library poem by Shade Adepoju

Uwaila Omozuwa

Those who raped Uwa Omozuwa, leading to her death, must have kept a trail on her. 

They must have known she was headed for the church at that point in time on that fateful day.

They must have known she found the church as an option to a library that was never available for her to study.

Uwa's is a story of failure

The failure of hope, in our desire to return the dying reading culture among young people.

Uwa's community failed her.

Her country failed her.

The lack of a library failed her.

We failed her.

We should have known better to avail Uwa a Library to read.

Her community would have obliged her a library to read

Her country should have obliged her a library to read

Maybe, just may be, she would have still been alive.

If only Uwa had a library in her community. 

She wouldn't have been exposed to the company of her rapists, alone.

If only governments funded libraries.

There would have been several for other Uwas who love to read.

If only governments would do better, virtual libraries will offer benefits to users with remote access.

For every Uwa out there in search of a place to read.

You don't deserve to die in pursuit of it.

It should not be.

Your community owes you a library, if government fails to provide one.

We owe one another a  library.

As everyone deserves one

Just as Uwa did.

#FundLibraries

#SafeSpace

-Shade Adepoju. 

National Library of Nigeria

Abuja

Note:

Uwaila Omozuwa simply known as Uwa, was the first-year Microbiology student of the University of Benin who was raped and brutally murdered while studying in a church in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria on May 27, 2020.

GLO

Our business is getting you talking

Our duty is linking you up

Our goal is connecting you to the world

Our mandate is getting you going

Our aim is to make you grow

We work to see you glow

Come on, GLOw With Pride!

As greens cover the earth so shall your reach be

As the forest grow without restraints

So shall our network thicken your business with grace

The green that we are, feeding you as greens feed the world

A pride of all stones, the emerald

So shall this Glo mobile your life to stardom

Enthroning you to Rule Your World!

Talk! Talk! Talk long; Talk! Talk! Talk cheap

Talk deal, talk biz all with the ease of sheep

Without rush, call! With pleasure, talk!

Talk, win; talk, cross borders; talk and get rich

This we do nerving the masses.

All we know to do, it’s our manner,

Glo! We Get People Talking!

Composed 22^nd Aug., 2009 @ Abeokuta. Nig. Modified with 3rd stanza 13^th Aug., 2011 @ Ibadan. Nig.

© Adegbilero-Iwari, Idowu Jan., 2012.

A Poetry Book for You

I recently used the platform of PoemHunter to e-publish some of my poems, it was just a trial. Find the eBook of poems here in Idowu Adegbilero-Iwari Poems.

Helmsmen

Dear helmsmen
Your attitude to the assault on our kinsmen
By the heartless herdsmen
Portend for our country a foul omen

As you endlessly make a claim
And baselessly proffer a blame
By calling the departed a name
And leave our villages in flame

While the farmlands burnt to ruins
Perhaps, with the plot of the Midland to clean
Busy, you danced in the Eastland like a newlywed queen
In a rally for their votes, the duty to which you are keen

Ah! Blood here, blood there; there is blood on your hands
E'en as you stroll the blood-stained land
Leaving us to wonder whose concern you bear
The herdsmen's or kinsmen's, O helmsmen!

Adegbilero-Iwari, Idowu 
In concern for the deaths by the Fulani herders and failure of governments to care.

MOONLIGHT TALES

Adegbilero-Iwari, Idowu

Moonlight tales the African stories

Children grinning their brows

As they chant the story of the ancient

Sweet soothing songs handed by history

To us who by richness of culture

Brightens the dark hours of night

With instinctive thoughts of succinct stories

Of fairy and the fair events fixing a folklore

We who drain the dullness of night

Simmering the turbulent sorrows of day

With night activities that quickens the queasy acts

Even with fairy tales that throws agog the sluggish night

Never here do you bed with worries

That drown in the ocean of stories

Puzzling riddles from ready mouths

Of the aged and all of us, sharing the moonlight tales

WANDERLAND

Adegbilero-Iwari, Idowu

It is an open secret afterwards

The matter the night revealed

The ignorant knowledge I had

Of the false truth the boy had told

That dead bones walked the weary street

In the valley mount of Djebel

As his legs held on to the soil

And his hands ran in the air

He began to run from the real shadow of his head

And the day was already blind the time he came

But as sunlight smiled upon the morning

He rose from the corner of the suite that lodged him

Though, the dead men were still sleeping as the Diya burns

Yet, the streets were shouting for a barred day

And the factories sweating at winter

The wise fool was smart to ask, why?

Only for the elders to childishly reply

With the question that answered his quest

That he knew the deaf danced to his drums

And the dumb had told him all he needed to hear at the Wanderland

Weepy Day

Adegbilero-Iwari, Idowu

Who burst your boil that you burst into tears, O day?

Whose acrimony has caused you this lachrymose moment?

This effluent of your pain has brought us worry

Leaving us with the tale of a day for which we are sorry

The mountains were mashed in your tears and the trees must weep

The isles could not evade the torrent from your eyes, the lakes must dance

Weepy! Weepy! Weepy eyes! The day is bitter and we all could see it

These chilly tears have caused us all to ask, what befall you, O day?

That the laissez-faire with the heart of a sparrow that prides on pity

Was caged to the comfort of the nest in which he dwells

To further oppress the unlucky bed he troubled all night

To snore and gnaw his jaws, pour his sluggish rain to wet his tired bed

But for the mighty with the heart to dare the effluence

And make a wreck of the effusive pour of a mournful Day

To take his dwelling from the border of deceitful rest

And betray the patience to further embrace your tears, O weepy Day!

Be My Anchor

Adegbilero-Iwari Idowu

You are strong I am frail

When in the storms of life I sail

Anchor my soul by your glorious hail

Lest I’m swept off my lonely course

Sourced from https://stealourstuff.wordpress.com/

You are with might I am light

When I’m sift in the stormy blight

Cover me with your steadfast love

Lest I’m lost in the air as dust

You are certain I am vain

When the vagueness of life fills my veins

Make me last as your ever reign

Lest I’m ruined by the fleshly lusts

I am lighter than nil, be my aid!

I cannot stand alone, anchor me!

I am weaker than frail, raise me!

Link my hands to Yours lest I fall from grace!

Harvey

Harvey,

You came so hard with forces so ferocious

In a manner we rarely see, you stormed Texas

With shivers you put Louisiana on edge

You ravaged Houston, flooded the streets and blasted her flora

Harvey,

The rampant storm that rendered the houses rustling

And the people homeless, for safety scampering

Shelters were shattered by you, children crying

And miles and bridges in rumbles you left

Harvey,

You broke the addiction of Addicks

She spilled her waters that boats plied the watery roads

And the cars of Houston were submerged like submarine

Monuments were moved ashore by your rivers

Harvey,

Austin and Washington could not but answer your thunderous call

As compassion flurried from all of earth

Prayers and vigils from distant lands to strengthen

The gallantry of men and women on ground, lives to rescue

Harvey,

You have left a trail and a tale that will long be searched and told

Now you must go away and let alone

The city of my love that hosted my feet for four hours

When she admitted me to the nation that put her trust in God

Harvey,

You have done your part, now the people shall arise

Their bits to do with courage; and steel themselves

To turn the gory story that Harvey has told

To a tale of glory the world shall ever tell

Idowu Adegbilero-Iwari

Nigeria, Thee I Hail

 Nigeria I hail thee

Great nation, noble land

Great people, gallant minds

Great God, the Father of all

Thou art blessed, oh nation!

Thy vast land, thy glory

The endless resources of the greatest worth

These are thy richly crowns

Thy abundant human resources thy pride

Swarming thy soil like bee the hive

In tongue, though they differ, in tone one they art

In thy children, the nations art blessed

Thy geography is great, thy location perfect

In Africa, though biggest, the head thou art

In the world, a force; yea, a voice thou art

Nigeria, thee I love, Nigeria, my pride thou art

Thy many tribes thy colour

Thy various tongues thy crown

North and south home thou art

East and west, nay, a stranger never thou art

Forbid me if I talk of thy different people

Thy unity in diversity still will I praise

Farther a thought is thy various nations

All I see is the one, virile Nation, Nigeria thee I hail!

Left Alone: A poem

Left Alone

You picked whom you know

You helped your very own

You left me alone

To walk in the cold untold

You scurried off your car

You left me by my heart

To ponder o’er your act

But my heart did its art

And sang a joyous chorus

Though the cold perilous

But walked with gaily pleasure

To reach my throne glorious

Herdsmen: A Poem

HERDSMEN

Herdsmen or hard-men?

Who are these that slay without restraint?

Who are these that thirst for blood?

Who are these that plunder the land?

Their herds destroy our land

Turning fields of greens to grounds of ruins

And giving our farms the semblance of siege

As if to say the locusts had stricken

Their hearts abhor our princely heads

They disdain our natural rights to life

They rebuke with the whip of death

Our courage to query their heinous deeds

At their might miles of farmland were thrashed

In their hands many a soul have ceased to breathe

Villages were razed and races aborted

These are not herdsmen but hard-men, the enemies of mankind.

National Poetry Day: An Ode to the Heroes

For their rights to place a demand

For their demand of what’s right

Today, 1976, Soweto wailed!

Tears streamed down the cheeks of mothers

When Regina could not save the boy

When the fathers gasped to cope with awe

The awe of children lost to bullets

Unkind barrels that fell the likes of Hector

Hectic moment in the life of a people

People of all colours the like of a rainbow

Who now bow to the wishes of a pardon

Pardon advanced by a “prisoner” of old

That reproached the horror the Isle bestowed

To become the prince of his people by grace!

Written and Dedicated this day, 16^th June, 2015 to the children lost to the 1976 youth uprising in Soweto

By Adegbilero-Iwari, Idowu @ Pretoria, SA. 

The Poem: "We All Came"

Commemorative of the four-week stay in Pretoria with Librarians from Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa (the warm host) in the Carnegie CPD4 programme, the Poem "We All Came" is a memoir of a grateful grantee. Being my first publicly read poem, the rendition may not be the best you will expect with some minor errors in the reading but certainly you will enjoy a bit of it.
Thanks Edward for the coverage.

We All Came- A Poem

As we go, I wish to submit here the poem I rendered tonight at the farewell dinner.

We All Came!

From the rising of the Sun

To the place of her rest

North to South from all nations 

     suburb the Sahara

We all came to the root of our clan

The South of Africa down beneath

The land of hue in rainbow shade

The pride of our clan we all acclaim

And we dwelt in the land Pretorious once abode

To learn at the staple of wisdom

Wisdom from those that know

Who can fill the holes

In precious souls that crave to know

The learning of the calling of morrow

For his eyes that see beyond the now

For his love to groom the trees

That will make the forest of what to come

In the future that knocks with a cry

Cry of a want of men of might

But for the help that came from North

Upon the thought of one but a man

Bothman whose dream has born a race

Of men to take the race

To heights beyond their mace

Raring to go and grow in grace

But till then, We All Came, we saw,

       and are set to sail.

Composed by Adegbilero-Iwari, Idowu on June 18, 2015; and dedicated to everyone involved in putting up the Carnegie CPD programme.