Where do the rivers lie?
Do we run to the mouth of the Niger
or the bank of river Benue
do we crawl along the Zambezi
or wash our wounds in Congo’s waters
Do we hide behind the promises of
our leaders or rise as one?
do we wash our hands off this bloody bowl
Bow our heads and say we are done with this dish
And the one and only way out is, japa!
Motherland, A land where children fear to sleep or dream too big,
Where we look over our shoulders with suspicion
As generations of unhealed trauma breathe down our necks.
Sunburn in the fierce heat of corruption
yet in our tears are stories of tenderness
medals of our creativity as we
inscribe our signature on every continent
and on every heart bold enough to love.
We are the precious stones of our bejeweled land
There are riches locked within you, one, two, and three
This land rises when we break the shackles off our minds
The slaveholder is reflected not in chains but in how we think and act,
It’s in our hesitation to claim our greatness.
Let this elevation free you to more.
When we yank off Substandard-ness and entitlements
When we do not wash our hands off our obligations
Abandoning higher reasoning,
in a chase to boil the ocean.
(short music chant)
Where do the rivers lie?
When we are the source of Africa’s cleansing
Flowing with our own salvation,
paths forged by the quality of our little actions,
This Elevating is an authentic encounter with truth
Would you dare to take a mirror to your soul
And step towards healing, towards oneness
My mother told me of the elevation strategy of unclenching
As babes with unclenched hands raised up, anticipate a lifting
How would the universe release your tomorrow
If you cannot stretch for it?
How, would even God give to a closed heart and hand?
This is a call to elevate as one and as a continent
a chiselling out of chaos a masterpiece
catalysing the rising of our nations as we get to work
so we can do this dance of elevation together.
(music)
Cultures and ideas colouring our views push division
like a cloak so tight we can’t breathe freedom
Systems and governments may not always be fair
Can you rely on yourself to be fair?
Every citizen is deserving of honour
Let’s dazzle with brilliance, and this brilliance
is not the prerogative of one gender
man and woman, elevate!
Do not consent to descending standards
This transitioning is an upward movement
So, let no stereotyping kill this confidence,
Our African dream is a resilient one
My Nigerian dream is a resilient one
a willingness to show up and step up,
blessing the earth with our essence,
our genius, our music, our food, our innovations
This confidence is a stubborn hammer
tenaciously, striking at our limitations.
They search Africa for drama and headlines,
But to Search Africa is to excavate the treasures within ourselves,
The sustainable solutions that serve both planet and people,
This is how nations come to our light!
(pause)
Let’s dry up the wells of injustice, in the
acclaimed land of the happiest people on earth,
Your belief is not a tool of coercion
Our streets should not be battlefields
The skirt is not a signal to shame
A bus ride should not transport one to the grave,
one chance, and the many pains we do not speak about…
Now, breathe, motherland, breathe.
I pledge to love you enough to arise (music starts )
to ignite solutions and fires of change
to build with conscience, competence and courage
So, where do the rivers lie?
I’d say…flowing from the Fertile Crescent of our hearts
rising from within us to heal our land.
We will flow across the length and breadth of Nigeria
From Abiriba to Abuja
From the smallest village in Sokoto to the highest cathedrals in Lagos
From the oil fields of Port Harcourt to the tech hubs of Yaba,
We will engineer connections of hope across our land
and beyond our borders, flowing forward
We will flow across the length and breadth of Africa
From Mombasa to Morocco
One continent, many nations, one dream
Engineers, Elevate!
Africa, elevate.
(Full ELEVATE music)
©Shola Amaraibi 2023
