Anioma: The Good Land - a poem

The poem – ANIOMA: The Good Land

Anioma! Ani di nma!
The land of my cradle blues
The beautiful bride
Baked in the oven of peace and love and joy, unmatched
Dressed in unblemished apparel
That mark her people
So unique, they pride themselves.

The land that flows with milk and honey
Her fecundity, her people flaunts.
With fields of barns to feed
And cassava to augment
No wonder her soil
So rich, treads in fear of desecration
With tubers growing like giant poles
And her fishes, a threat to navigating ships.

Bound in the heart of familiar foes
To test her might
Her territory, dared
Springs the Ekumeku warriors
To guard the fort
That once held the ace of the green regency.

Oh! A people
Sired in diverse culture
Aye rich and oiled in uniqueness.

From her glorious fountain of harmony
Visible in luscious glow
That shines in her offsprings, dazzling
Atop empires
That pillars the world.

I love the land of my birth
From Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika, Oshimili
Where her purity in tenets
Besets a parliament of peace
And watched by the great river.
Anioma, the land of my cradle blues
I crave and love.

Philip Ngozi Ifechukwude © 2016

 Analysis of the poem:

The six stanza poem begins with an opening eulogy describing Anioma as the good land ‘ani di nma’ depicting her richness in topography and further enhances her positioning as a ‘beautiful bride’ to many suitors. Naturally, only a beautiful and well-groomed bride places herself to the enticement of hordes of would-be suitors seeking her hand in marriage. The environment is ‘baked in an oven of peace and joy’ that is unmatched. This tenet stands her out in the present day Delta State as the ethnic grouping is devoid of the incessant militancy attached to other ethnic domain despite her sizeable control of oil in the Aboh axis of the area. There is a showcase of pride and class attached to her unblemished white apparel ‘akwa ocha’ which her people are known with. Indeed, anywhere in the world, an Anioma son and daughter stands out adorning this unique apparel.

In stanza two, a paradigm of fertility is expressed as the imagery of a land flowing with milk and honey holds sway. It depicts the richness of her soil that is ever ready for cultivation. Without mincing words, travellers plying between the eastern and western part of the country always make a stop over at Anioma towns like Umunede, Igbodo, Onicha-Ugbo and Ekwuoma for dependable staple food items like well-fried garri, yam and cassava marsh. Going interior enroute Abuja and other northern axis, fishes – fresh and dried from Ugbolu and Illah makes a travellers’ delight on arrival to his base. An average Anioma farmer floats a rich barn of yam at the end of every farming season because of her rich soil.

Her peoples’ resistance to the British Imperialists with the Ekumeku uprising is expressed in stanza three. Thus, the fearless and warrior status of the Anioma man is not taken for granted. Her territory is ever secured for visitors and her children alike. Her unity of purpose which played in their valiant show of resistance to the powerful weaponry of the British army of soldiers remains a focal point of Anioma unity today.

Upon the uniqueness that lies in the diverse cultural environment and background that sired the comity of towns that make up Anioma nation, love still abounds. This trait is carried in stanza four where the descendants and migrants from Nri, Isu, Ezechime, Igala and Bini have lived and co-habited in love of one another for ages without segregation.

Aniomaland is blessed with illustrious sons and daughters who control different empires in the world today. In stanza five, it is evident through the imagery that their visible exploits all over the world sees them dazzle in the world of sports, shipping and maritime, oil sector, education, freight forwarding, banking and finance, airspace management, insurance, transportation, military, music and technology. Both dead and living Anioma legends remain celebrated till date. Anioma has produced and is still producing giants in their own world and areas of specialization all over the world.

Finally, the poet’s love for his ethnic enclave of Anioma remains unparalleled. This forms a narcissist spirit that flows in his veins as he relishes the growing up in the environment of Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika, Oshimili under which acronym the name is derived. The inherent beauty attached to the land of his birth is painted in this stanza, while the blues that adorned his growing from cradle to adulthood makes a sumptuous reminiscence.