People’s General

You’re still alive! O’ Murtala Ramat The Peoples’ General,                                                                                                                                  By the enduring discipline                                                                                                     You planted in the citizen                                                                                                                Selflessness and honesty,                                                                                                         Diligence and sincerity                                                                                                                            To build Nigeria.You live! The People’s General,                                                                                                   Decades after your funeral;                                                                                                                         For those hundred and ninety nine                                                                                                               Unique days of your noble reign,                                                                                                                 Of rectitude and sacrifice,                                                                                                          Were best the sun […]

You’re still alive! O’ Murtala Ramat The Peoples’ General,                                                                                                                                  By the enduring discipline                                                                                                     You planted in the citizen                                                                                                                Selflessness and honesty,                                                                                                         Diligence and sincerity                                                                                                                            To build Nigeria.
You live! The People’s General,                                                                                                   Decades after your funeral;                                                                                                                         For those hundred and ninety nine                                                                                                               Unique days of your noble reign,                                                                                                                 Of rectitude and sacrifice,                                                                                                          Were best the sun did ever rise                                                                                            To see in Nigeria.
A trophy to the General,                                                                                                        whose days were so unusual;                                                                                                                Days no decent judgment would dare                                                                                   With other set of days compare;                                                                                               Days whose decisiveness reflect                                                                                                     His words “with immediate effect” —                                                                                      Nigeria needed more.                                                                                                                                                                                                        
The formidable General!                                                                                                     The General of generals,                                                                                                          Whose ferociously roaring voice                                                                                                       And fire that burnt in whose eyes                                                                                                                  Were menacing enough to warn                                                                                                   And simmering enough to burn                                                                                                      The dubious character.  
The iron man of strategy,                         
The lion heart, the legendary
Commander of the warrior force                                                                                                     That marched victoriously across                                                                                                 The bridge for the conquering attack                                                                               That won his rebel brothers back                                                                                           To one Nigeria.

General of the weak and poor,                                                                                                               In whose compassionate heart they saw                                                                              The saviour of the nation born,                                                                                                         Before the callous traitor’s gun                                                                                                                      Melted their prospects into tears                                                                                        That wrote the vision of their fears —                                                                                        Today’s Nigeria.    
And history would remember him                                                                                    Not only for his martyrdom,                                                                                               But for his rare humanity                                                                                                                That earned him immortality–                                                                                                         For while his body was being graved                                                                                                His name was also being engraved                                                                                               ‘Hero of Nigeria’.    
Isma’il Adamu
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