Please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMaK3EfE99Q

 & https://johnaduma.ampbk.com/

The Poet

“There’s now a proverb in all Nigeria: First deconfluence.”

• John Odey Aduma.

To live and to die here,

either naturally or of some worldly causes,

to be together and not to separate,

to unite and not to divide,

to abound and never lack,

to rejoice and not to mourn,

to be happy and not to be saddened,

to grow and not to decrease,

to bloom and not to dry up,

to advance and not to retreat,

to multiply and not to depopulate,

to build and not to destroy,

to build up and never tear down one another,

to pull up and not to pull down,

to agree to disagree, and to disagree to agree,

not making oneself a bystander in the Nigerian affairs

but standing up for the nation in all things aimed

at justice and fair play

and not some of the things,

and never resorting to ethnicity –

clannism, provincialism, religiosity, bigotry,

ethnic irridentism, nepotism and unfavourable

treatments of the other citizens nor compromising

national ethics, values, standards, integrity,

but upholding and respecting national institutions

and obeying the laws of the land,

applying competitive performance,

rather than hereditary privilege in all national

appointments and not resorting

to war through (our) deeds and misdeeds,

to have a breathing space and not a shrinking space,

to progress and not to retrogress or regress,

to excel and never to fail,

to be victorious and never to be vanquished,

to be above and never to be beneath,

to be the head and not the tail,

to lead and not to take the back seat,

to keep on keeping on and never to give up,

to be put in mansions/castles

and not to be bagged in body bags,

to bless and not to curse,

to be blessed and not to be cursed,

to enjoy the fatness of the land

flowing with milk and honey,

to sow and to harvest,

to live together and not to scatter,

to love and not to hate.

God gave us this country as co-equal,

co-founder, co-joiner and not as masters and slaves,

to live wherever we choose in this our God’s beloved nation,

to walk together, work together

for the betterment of our country,

to prosper together and share with

the poor and the needy in our midst.

God has given us this land to till,

to plough and reap its superabundance,

and not to leave it fallow and die of famine without food,

to develop and not to retrogress,

to be free and not to be enslaved,

to trust one another and not fear and distrust one another,

to live and let live and not to be constantly

hounded as if we were preys in the jungle,

to give and take and not to be selfish and greedy,

to share equally all of its superabundance

and not for the few and their multi-national collaborators to plunder,

and take as their own all of its resources and wealth.

God gave us this land for the many and all; and not for the few.

God gave this country to all Nigerians,

and not some Nigerians nor a few Nigerians, but to all Nigerians.

God gave us this nation that all Nigerians might be equal

and not that some may be more equal than the others.

God gave us this nation to live together in peace

and harmony with one another,

and not to kill and devour one another,

nor for some to carry others in body bags nor for “blood

of dogs and baboons” to flow ceaselessly.

God gave us this country

to dissect, analyse, dialogue and to talk over our national problems,

argue and agree to disagree, concede and compromise,

and arrive at a conclusion that will be nationally

beneficial to all the Nigerian citizens – the stakeholders.

God gave us this Republic to build a nation of inclusivity,

and not a nation of exclusivity, where a few feeds fat on the sweat of others.

God gave us this Democracy

to be liberated and not live in perpetual slavery and suffering,

to abound and not lack

So that when we sleep at night our sleep shall be sweet

and not have our homes besieged and petrol poured

over our houses and be burnt all with our families inside

by the rampaging stick-wielding and AK-47-carrying

Philistines and night marauders in our midst.

God gave us this land to have a sense of belonging

and not to feel perpetually excluded and cut off.

God gave us this political kingdom to thrive, multiply,

and rule the world and not as a fiefdom nor a vassal

for the lords from the East and Futa Toro

to enslave and keep us perpetually backward,

so citizens retire to sleep hungry,

whilst others eat and throw away.

God gave us this country to celebrate ourselves

as Nigerians and our diversity and to be celebrated by

all the nations around us and all the world, and all humanity,

and not to be scorned, spat upon, killed, maimed and destroyed,

and afterwards be treated like a social pariah.

And just as no roses without thorns,

to enjoy peace and tranquillity

as well as troubles and chaos –

the bad, the worst, the good and the terrible

as in the colour of the confluenced Niger and Benue.

God gave us this country to ensure every Nigerian receives their

just share of the inheritance and entitlement of our Commonwealth

and not for some to remain perpetually as scavengers foraging crumbs at the country’s dump sites.

God gave us this country to serve and be served.

God gave us this political kingdom of ours to enrich and not to impoverish, to develop, blossom and flourish

and not to be in famine of Biblical proportion always

and die for lack of food,

to build an egalitarian society of fraternal proximity

and **kwenskwently attain nationhood,

to glory and care for one another,

and not to be greedy and selfish,

to worship Him in this land

and not any other gods or goddesses elsewhere.

Nor any persons nor fellow human beings.

And in this home of giants, we are created equal,

and not for anyone to dominate us perpetually,

and afterwards become filled with “Born to Rule” Mentality (BRM).

Thus, we are all here to live and let live:

All here to co-exist;

All here to love and be loved;

All here to share;

All here to be at peace with one another;

All here to grow, advance and prosper;

And all here to flourish and bloom.

• 2018

**The poet mimicking the Northern Nigerian politicians and public officers.

DO NOT HEAD WESTWARD AND EASTWEARD UNLESS YOU ARE IN POSSESSION OF “BE A BEACON OF HOPE IN THE WORLD: A MESSAGE TO YOUNG BRITAIN”, FOR IT CONTAINS ALL YOU WILL EVER EXPERIENCE AND FACE THERE….

“BE A BEACON OF HOPE IN THE WORLD….” EVERY YOUTH WORKER’S COMPANION

COMMENT BY MR CHRIS HOBBS, AN EX- BRITISH POLICE OFFICER ABOUT “BE A BEACON OF HOPE IN THE WORLD: A MESSAGE TO YOUNG BRITAIN: 

“I think your book is excellent. In an ideal world, that book should be given to every head-teacher in the country. If I were a head I'd pick three messages every week and display them prominently, say in the entrance and /or assembly hall so every pupil could see them.  

Congratulations. 

Chris” 

TOWARDS A MORAL REVOLUTION IN THE WORLD AMONGST YOUNG PEOPLE…. THE BOOK ALL THE WORLD’S YOUNG PERSONS FROM AGE 11 AND ABOVE MUST BUY AND READ IMMEDIATELY…

ANATOMY OF GLOBAL YOUTH VIOLENCE & ZERO YOUTH MORALITY

Please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMaK3EfE99Q

& https://johnaduma.ampbk.com/

_***You can now order JOHN ODEY ADUMA’S new book BE A BEACON OF HOPE IN THE WORLD: A MESSAGE TO YOUNG BRITAIN from here: https://johnaduma.ampbk.com/ or as below:

Published by AUSTIN MACAULEY PUBLISHERS UK, one of the fastest growing publishing companies in the world, the book was released to the global public on the 4th of January 2022, and it is currently being sold by AMAZON, TELEGRAPH BOOKS, AUSTIN MACAULEY PUBLISHERS, ABE BOOKS, and a host of other bookstores, which include:

Walmart, Waterstones, WHSmith, Gardners Books, BAM (Books-A-Million, Indie Bound, INGRAM, Barnes & Nobles, nielsen, Bertrams, etc, etc.

A DISSECTION OF GLOBAL YOUTH VIOLENCE & ZERO YOUTH MORALITY

THE BLURB

Why does one youngster stab another with a knife which they will never, ever dare to stab themselves with? Why are our young people killing themselves without thinking of the pains and sorrow such barbarism and bestiality will leave their loved ones with for the rest of their lives? Why do some young persons - members of the same community prey on one another with such jungle-like ferocity in the nation’s cities? Why, why are there now so many of such gruesome, purposeless, wicked and unwarranted killings in the nation’s cities as if Britain is now a land that devours its children? More worrisome is the fact that when they are hacked to death so young, what happens to their dreams, visions, goals and aspirations?

Heart-rending as these painful questions are, Be A Beacon of Hope in the World: A Message to Young Britain does not attempt to offer answers to these puzzles arising from the untimely deaths of Britain’s children through knifings. However, it seeks to act as a guidepost, compass and a Sat Nav to point young persons in the direction of the good way and on the path of civility, decency, common sense, humaneness and universal altruism, whereupon they are expected to have respect, first for themselves, for others and for all of life’s forms. Therefore, let the alarm bell which this book has triggered off to warn all young persons in Britain and the world over that to live in the fast lane is to die young, reverberate through the vista of time.

BEHOLD, A YORUBA WOMAN IN WHOM THERE IS NO GUILE

The Right Honourable Olukemi Olufunto Badenock-Adegoke, UK’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

Photo credit: Department for Business and Trade.

• JOHN ODEY ADUMA, author of the bestseller: “Be a Beacon of Hope in the World: A Message to Young Britain” was formerly Executive Secretary, Foundry Association of Nigeria, (1997-2000), National Coordinator, The Pastoral Resolve, (General Muhammadu Buhari’s Pastoralists NGO; and Chairman, Editorial Board of the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc, 2000-2003.