I am seated grandly on my throne,
Taking my rightful place beside other royals.
I am a slave to no man; a master of me.
My color is my identity; I apologize to none!
I’m like I am; the Creator formed me so.
I am tall and proud to be divinely black;
The spirits of my ancestors inhabit me.
I am not just a number; I am me;
Not just developing; but firmly at the fore.
I am rich and filled with diverse colorful cultures;
A collection of assorted, enchanting traditions.
Really – there is none like me; not now, not ever!
I am far blessed beyond words; high above my fellows.
After all, they all come seeking my treasures.
Many of my adept children run their nations;
As such, when I rumble, it resounds in their power seats.
They need me more than I do them; they know.
I am not blind to my faults; I daily learn from them;
Strengthening my previous and now for a greater ahead.
And when the rest of the globe ceases to exist,
I will remain, flourishing – the key to a new civilization.
Then they will all kneel, in veneration, to me,
Reverently chanting: Africa! Africa! Our Africa!
Ikenna C. Igwe is a poet, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and children’s author. He also writes non-fiction books. Ikenna read Quantity Surveying at the Yaba College of Technology. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma In Education. He is the author of The Judas Web, Nights and Colors, Kenechi The Honest Boy, and Chinedu and The New Yam Festival; and co-author of Quantitative Reasoning with Vocational Studies for Primary Schools, Books 1-6, and Verbal Reasoning with General Knowledge for Primary Schools, Books 1-6. Some of his poems have been published, in various anthologies, by Forward Poetry, UK.