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Reflect Nigeria… Revisited
Filed under Reflect Nigeria, Uncategorized
Cumulative
Amid the sum and scheme of one’s life…
Of certain, wilt there be splendid delight and the peaks of hope
And without a doubt, challenges and the valleys of despair
Have punctuated the course of humanity since its inception.
Thus, ’tis the aggregate of the individual’s courses within their apportioned time
That eventually makes the entirety of the life here spent, on this terrestrial terrain,
With each phase, bearing its own particular purpose and impact on living and existence.
Thus, it is incumbent on each, to nonetheless, learn from the challenges arising
But certainly accentuate the positive while cherishing the treasured moments.
For each aspect, lends uniqueness to the cumulative measure, each life lives,
An acceptance of which, may thus aid the progression of the pilgrimage indeed.
Yemil Benjoy (c) – This 29th December of 2019
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Reflect Nigeria – The Lamentable Tale Of Kidnapped Chibok And Now Dapchi Girls
Although this is a fictional narrative, sadly it is to convey what an abducted girl in captivity may write:
Mr. President,
Do you know that my sister and I were among some of the girls kidnapped from our beds at our school in Chibok and now Dapchi, Nigeria? I now live in a constant state of terror, not knowing what will happen to me next. I am completely devastated that my life as I knew it is over and live in horror that I may never see my family again. I detest what my life has become. I am helpless and unable to protect myself or my fellow captives. My younger sister was also taken that ill-fated day and I have not seen her since then. As her older sister, I shudder to think that she is also going through what I am suffering. I weep for her. I weep for myself. I weep for all the captives. I weep for my parents and over the abhorrent situation that we have been thrust into. I am worried about my parents. Have you spoken to them?
My best friend was killed on the first day of our abduction. They caught her as she was trying to run back to freedom. She died from the beating. I still hear her screaming. Since she died, I have been very scared to run away because I don’t want to die trying to escape but I don’t want to live as a slave. Which is the viable abyss? The two options are hell on earth.
I once had a dream to become a doctor so that I could help my community deal with diseases and take care of the sick. Did I dream in vain because I am Nigerian girl living in Chibok? Will that dream ever be revived? In captivity, we know no peace. We have no privacy, little to eat or drink. We no longer sleep in beds. There are no bathrooms, we have no soap and are no longer able to bath daily. Guns are pointed at our faces and at our heads. We are constantly threatened with death and bodily harm. We have forgotten the sound of laughter and they make us do the most unspeakable things. Please save us from this insanity.
At school, in one of my classes we read the Oath of Office of the Nigerian President. I recall that it includes the following:
“ I do solemnly swear and affirm … that in all circumstances, I will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, … and that I will devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of Nigeria. So help me God”.
If that is the case, why am I here? Why have we not been rescued after several weeks? Why was my school not protected? Why have we been raped? Why are we being sold like valueless commodities on the ignominious market square of slave trade. Will we ever be rescued? We are powerless and exist at the mercy of our captors and slave masters and need to be rescued. Please do not forget us.
I must stop now because I hear someone coming…
Fictional story to be continued.
YemilBenjoy ©
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Reflect Nigeria – Chibok Horror Compounded by Dapchi Terror!
Amid the darkness of the gloom
Nothing but despair abounds
In the wilderness of the arid
Drought of feigned existence,
Where no hope subsists,
Do the Chibok and now Dapchi girls find
The extreme disillusionment
Of persistent hopelessness,
That more time evading and counting
All hope, has but evaporated into
The disintegrating dust of time,
To where existence is meaningless,
And has the ironical value of the unrelenting
Real and abiding grief of total bondage and servitude.
Will nobody aid them still…
YemilBenjoy ©
Updated March 11, 2018
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Reflect Nigeria No Rooms to Confine Us…
“Heehee… I don’t know which party my wife belongs but eh… she belongs to
MY kitchen and MY living room and the OTHER room…”
The gravity of unfortunate utterances, sometimes
Echoes the enormity of cataclysmic regression, tragically
Rippling beyond the demeaning configuration of syntax
And sadly reverberating in fervent crescendo through the
Globalization of dissemination of instantaneous news,
Inauspiciously portends the oblique reality of the unfulfilled
Odyssey towards full recognition of all human rights.
Thus, a president’s commentaries, otherwise considered as
Conveying the solemnity of the advancement in optimism
By allaying fears, and elevating aspirations of a disconsolate populace,
Rather, diminish a gender, by electing to emasculate any vacillating
Progress, declared in accord with sacrosanct inalienable rights,
Further fragmenting the essence of meager hope, lying prostrate
In the forlorn vestiges residing within certain aspects of a nation.
As such, the sardonic words of the Nigerian President…
Paradoxically spoken to his female counterpart, miserably
Communicated to his citizens and the world, no respect,
But censoriously categorized the nation’s First Lady, by description,
To the ignominious equivalency of a belonging, a mere chattel,
Devoid of independence and human dignity, assigned by others, for
Their use to rooms, in which she neither owns nor has any property value.
Alas, the bell for social justice loudly tolls; to engage in concerted effort
The quest for reclamation of any tangible progress previously gained, and to
Negate the irreverent milestone propagated by the untoward vituperation
Which in derisive posture, attempts to devalue the essence of humanity and
Self-determination, freely bestowed on all, but is injudiciously circumscribed
By reprehensible might and circumstance; lest the downward degradation
Resonate in permanent habitation to the lasting detriment of all humanity.
Dr. Yemisi Solanke Koya Esq., Golden Poet ©
Filed under General, Life, poetry, Reflect Nigeria, Uncategorized
Hope’s Hope
Hold not to the regret of yesterday
Rather in steadfast measure,
Cling to the promise of tomorrow.
For what futility of purpose does it serve,
To descend immobile, into the abyss of remorse
Yearning for what was lost or has not been,
More despair, in the company of bleakness.
Shake off the miserable melancholy and reverse
That energy into earnest utility, and towards
The unbridled optimism within the sphere of hope.
Yemil Benjoy ©
Filed under Life, Uncategorized
The Black Death Saga Continues …
Sadly, the life expectancy of the black man
In America…
May be a few seconds to a few minutes
After he encounters the unbridled callousness of some police officers
Who somehow believe that the execution, in their uniform, of the black man
Without affording that life, the benefit of the right to a fair trail or
To be adjudged guilty, let alone the right to live,
Before the immediate imposition of a death sentence,
Is theirs in wanton disregard to deliver, rather than to protect,
Like the white life afforded all benefits in similar or worse circumstances.
Question me not … black man, do not ask me why I want to arrest you
How dare you speak to me, who do you think you are, do not breathe,
Do not talk, you better not look me in the eyes
Be careful, your life is my hands and I will snuff it out
And will probably get away with killing you …
Alas in a few fleeting moments…
The tragic truth is that the black life ends…
YemilBenjoy ©
Filed under General, Uncategorized
Reflect Nigeria – Encumbered Inheritance
Yet, public servants owe an unequivocal fiduciary duty
To serve, unreservedly as custodians faithful to the people.
But alas, some elected to serve to advance the nation
In diabolical measure violate the essence of stewardship, in
Blatant unabashed indifference to the canons of democracy.
For they, with and in wanton disregard contravene principles
Of oath of office, constitution they are sworn to uphold,
All concepts of morality and fundamental human decency.
When as albatross, on the neck of the populace, and as
Fettered chains, shackle Nigerians, to a legacy of the
Profundity of their ineptitude and voracious gluttony for
The wealth belonging to the masses and not to those who
By virtue of unfortunate circumstance, swarm the corridors
Of infamy, masquerading as an assembly of legislators.
For if it is not but malicious greed, how, when the citizens
Endure the harsh reality of increasing maternal and child mortality,
Diminishing optimism and five decades is the life expectancy;
Can some conjure up the unconscionable scheme of
Looting the national coffers in billions to buy 120 vehicles, in
A country, in 2016 where, citizens are condemned to the
Caricature of public transportation in flimsy contraptions with
No protection on the death traps camouflaging as roads,
The constancy of electricity is but a figment of a mirage,
Flowing portable water is as elusive as the illusion of progress
And education is at desperate and contemptible levels,
Causing the citizenry to lament the protracted despoliation
That has taken malignant root within the boundaries.
Forsooth, if the legislative contingent, in most despicable
Manner, embark upon an reprehensible conspiracy to
Deplete the community’s treasury while further subjugating
The masses under the scourge of oppression, ensuing from
Their seeming confusion, that contemptuous exploitation
Equates the proper discharge of their obligation, and that by
A mere outcome of an election, a custodian transforms into
An Illegal heir apparent, committed as vagabond to plunder
In discordant and unfathomable magnitude the funds of all.
Then the disconsolate and downtrodden masses should in
Concord, demand accountability with commensurate
Incarceration for those who breach the public trust through
Pernicious foolery and as pestilence foist a plague of despair
Upon those, who clutching to the promise within the veneer
Of a representative government, conclude disheartened
That the core assurance in the ideals of a democratic society
Has been violently decimated by the squandered fidelity.
Thus, the citizenry inherently vested with ownership of the
Collective resources and in whom the unabridged power
Of self-governance resides should with vigilance expose
In unwavering tenor, all the shameless decadence of officials
And every treacherous plot threatening the viability of the
Nation’s livelihood, until a crescendo peaks unabated, to revive
Uncontaminated justice, to rise as a refuge for the common people.
Dated this 24th day of January, 2016.
© Dr. Yemisi Solanke Koya, Esq.
Golden Poet
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Hello Life
So I sit and wonder why
Then I stand and contemplate how.
I take a walk, and consider what next
And, I wonder and wonder when
All things will align perfectly in my dream.
Yet, fail to take the steps forward to claim
That which is in the realm of all possibility…
Or even dare consider opportunities within the
Scope that appears daunting because of the unknown.
Then awakening becomes reality for alas ’tis I, myself,
In earnest, that must welcome my life anew and with
Warm embrace not as an occasional guest, but
As the very essence of my existence, with unyielding
Determination, to explore and surge forward indeed,
And to labour in hope towards that ever present dream.
For it is but true, that I must cultivate me, wholeheartedly.
YemilBenjoy ©
Filed under Life, Uncategorized
Reflect Nigeria – Tribute To The First Lady SAN
A Resplendently Resonating Refrain
For Our Mother, Grandmother
And Great-grandmother
Chief ‘Folake Solanke, SAN
The Quintessential First Female
Senior Advocate of Nigeria
As the anniversary of the fourth decade of the stellar accomplishment, one of an assemblage in an astral panoply of accolades steadily amassed by you, specifically the status of the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria dawns, in revered acclamation, we in joyful commemoration and with humble and everlasting obeisance to God, earnestly cognizant of the solemnity and immensity of the moment, in unreserved commendation, proclaim:
Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! All ye in good fellowship drawn nigh and bear witness to the transcription of history:
Emblazoned with the unwavering and incisive brand of determined decisiveness, further attended to with the perseverance of transcendental import is the spectacularly stellar life of our mother, Chief Folake Solanke, SAN. Most assuredly, a charmed life, surpassing in incredible degree the ardent supplications and sanguine aspirations of her parents, Chief Jacob Sogboyega Odulate, alias “The Blessed Jacob”, the proprietor of the “Alabukun” brand and Madam Sekumade Odulate, for their infant born in the historic land holding exclusive boast to the majestically imposing “Olumo” rock, that she would be bequeathed with a healthy, blessed and successful life. Little did they envisage that their daughter would ascend the outstanding rungs of the exemplary into an extraordinary realm of reverberating success, unparalleled in many dimensions. Neither did they foretell that their offspring had been apportioned a destiny of fame and unbeknownst to them, such was the alignment of stars, in perfect order forecasting her legendary stature.
The explication of the enormous import of her unique life’s trajectory requires juxtaposing in unvarnished appraisal the achievements in her life with the prospects of a baby of the female gender born in Abeokuta in 1932. At this point, permit me to pray for absolution from my Ladies and Lords temporal of my beloved “Egba” land and my kin should it be construed that by those expressions I seek not to extol the noble and distinguished heritage of our forebears. To the contrary, long live the magnificence and heritage of “Egba” land. To illuminate further, the considered intent of the representations is to extinguish the vacuous notions that the breadth of one’s destiny is conclusively circumscribed by the geographic coordinates of one’s birth, or the full prospect of the female child is abjectly confined by the inheritance of her gender, and furthermore, that existence in Africa is so patently manacled by unabating constrictions that any triumph in life is completely and haplessly emasculated for aye. Such fallacies have been utterly annihilated by the luminous trajectory of our mother’s trailblazing. An unconquerable pioneer who not only dared to reach for celestial territories, but irrefutably assumed the stunning essence of stardom through her inexorable and superlative pursuit of exceptional enterprise.
From the environs surrounding her illustrious father’s towering home in Abeokuta to the astounding sequences of her indelibly etched successes, a recital of the congregation of her celebrated laurels, pointedly highlight the noteworthy dividend resulting from her scrupulous incarnation of grit and grace. Every task, irrespective of scope, accorded the same intensity of purpose and precision to assure the uncompromising success of the outcome. And, in extraordinary personification of an archetypal singular focus on the diligent prosecution of her abilities, towards conquering the pinnacle, an avalanche of achievements dutifully ensued. Such emblematic persistence of competence combined with intrepid prowess systematically eroded any misconceptions of diminutive prospects being conjoined to her simply by virtue of her gender, race or continent. Rather, our mother soared, in defiance of stereotypical confinements, with meteoric ascent into, and asserted full and permanent residence with, the galaxy of stars. In characteristic fashion, accentuating that landscape of innumerable accomplishments and illustrative of the preeminent array of recurring commendations attending her existence, and further, as irrefutable evidence, is the distinction as the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Yet, such astronomical achievement four decades ago, is symbolic of our mother’s outstanding expedition, for she meticulously pursued her talents according to the tenets of the holy scriptures in Saint Matthew in the parable addressing the mandate attached to talents. And therefrom, such faithful industry yielded a steady deluge of accolades, which in roaring and recurring pattern became her designated trademark. A phenomenon of galactic proportions indeed.
Epic is her stalwart commitment to the absolute fulfillment of the maximum potential of her astounding aptitude, that despite the persistence of the whirlwinds of a sustained turbulence and the malignant vituperation seeking to unsuccessfully enervate, as an avowed survivor, our mother elevated herself above the inauspicious frothing bile, by charmingly impeaching the venomous rendition of a malevolent tempest. Instead of retracting as vanquished by life’s tribulations, she adroitly opted for steeled fortitude and embraced the rewarding challenge of rigorous enterprise and the triumphant allure of victory, to ascend into dimensions now rendered into chronicles and irrefutable manifestos of incandescent inspiration. Thus, the consummate life blueprint of our mother’s celebrated pilgrimage serves as irrevocable navigational compass for us and hosts to emulate.
Undoubtedly, when the microscope of history dissects the inscription of the sedulous mettle bequeathed to her, and passionately employed, to excellently contend with the maze of life, incontrovertibly, it will unbiased verily render account, as an unassailable attestation that the female child of “Ake” born into the “Alabukun” Dynasty almost ninety years ago and who became motherless at the age of two, in enthralling manner:
All of which were embarked upon with that vintage quantum of grace and legendary onslaught of her formidable intellect that are the hallmark of her remarkable being. Transcending all, remaining a steadfast disciple of God’s faithfulness and an absolutely devoted mother without equivocation. Although, her mother was lost to her at a tender age, yet her older sister and our big mother, Chief S. O Odesanya, the matriarch of the “Alabukun” Dynasty has been present since that fateful night as a loving anchor to that heritage. And in the decades that would ensue, our father, Professor Emeritus Toriola F. Solanke, so aptly described by our mother, as constant as the Northern Star and an Officer and a Gentleman, became her steadfast companion through his life, encouraging her decades ago to establish her Alabukun Law Chambers, indeed as a beacon of spousal devotion and certainly magnitudes more.
And thus, was it the imposing nature of “Olumo” rock that she beheld as a child and speaks of with fond nostalgia or the illustriousness of her influential father, or the wonder of her father’s orchards or the tragedies of her life including the early and traumatic loss of their beloved older brother Dr. Olukoya Odulate or her inherent penchant to “Reach For The Stars” or the amalgamation of life, that galvanized her to pursue eminent heights, and catapulted her in perpetuity into a restricted but internationally famed orbit of profiles of excellence. As that debate continues, as it assuredly will, the indisputable fact is that our mother through the vestment of courage and application of her incredible acumen achieved astronomical dimensions, notwithstanding the insidious machinations of circumstance, and thereby established an enduring paradigm for victorious success worthy of sonnets resonating through time.
BALLAD: A Legacy of Indelible Fame – A Uniquely Recurring Phenomenon
The gravitas and magnitude of the elevation four decades ago to Learned Silk
And the significance of the prevailing longevity of the marvelous milestone,
Still reverberate with thunderous acclaim through the storied narratives
Of the Inner Bar, legal profession and a nation profoundly captivated by the
Dazzling persona of Chief ‘Folake Solanke, SAN, who affectionately heralded
As “Lady SAN” in a professional realm populated by gentlemen, resides compelling.
The momentous feat underscores not only the incontrovertible fact, that rare intellect, is
Not the exclusive province of one gender, as the expansiveness of her perspicacity, and
Expertise of her courtesies categorically projected her to an elevated status therein.
In similitude to her iconic father, whose innovative creation continues to span
A century and beyond, to the benefit of legions and thus cementing his permanence
In the global firmament, the First Lady SAN, likewise, through adeptly acquiring
An awesome constellation of laudable accomplishments was transfigured
Into an astoundingly immovable fixture in the landscape of humanity, as an
Inspirational lodestar of exemplary sagacity and dignified comportment, and also
Despite the tenacity of any tribulation, still soaring, and motivating generations to excel.
And thus, with the vestment of daring enterprise, she rendered full and humble homage
Consistent with the “Alabukun” legacy perpetuating that noble quest for preeminence.
With resolute approbation and eternal adulation,
We remain, devotedly and forever,
Your loving descendants “First in Time”
Dr. Yemisi Solanke Koya, Esq. Golden Poet © All rights received.
MBBS, LLB, BL, MPH, JD
This 4th day of March 2021, the eve of four decades as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
For and on behalf of:
Babatunde Solanke Dapo Odesanya & family
Olubusola Solanke Yetunde Cardoso & family
Dr. Ibikunle Koya Bimbola Wright & family
Oyinade Koya Yomi Adebo & family
Feyisope Koya Binuyo Adeyinka Binuyo
Moyosore Koya Ariyo Yemisi Binuyo
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