I SAW YOU ..., IN MY DREAMS

I woke up in the morning
Something must have aroused me
Not the timer, or is it alarm they call it these days
I was very sure it was something else
A feeling ..., a sensing of something good
Not my wife's kitchen artistry
Because I could have awoken only when it is ready
Doing so earlier is just torture of longing


With the bed sheets crawling all over me as I stirred
I looked around the room
Behold, a shaft of light came directly at me
Reflexively, I jumped out of bed
Slowly crept towards the source of the light
What I saw was, in the simplest words, GLORIOUS!


Every Nigerian, irrespective of creed, religion or tribe
Dressed in resplendent white, going
Towards that ray of light coming from somewhere ahead
Singing the old national anthem: "Nigeria, we hail thee!"
A thunderous, clangorous, united throng!
In that instant too, I became transformed 
At once, seeing myself floating out of the window
And in the very midst of these desirable Nigeria


I could recognise faces around me; family,
Friends, colleagues, neighbours, mates, fellow sufferers
I saw all the landmark structures of our nation
Pristine clean, glowing in multiple innovative lighting design
The roads, well paved, swept clean
Sewers covered; street lights functioning,
Security operatives standing, by the road, without arms
Waving olive branches, the national flag
Their faces bloated with smiles


I asked my neighbour, a friend who used to be jobless
He told me he is now a top executive in his own firm
The other said she is working now
After ten years of fruitless search and sexual harassment
Yet another shouted at the top of his voice:
"We have achieved the Nigeria of our dreams! Thank God!"


Everywhere I looked, joy and happiness floated like banners
Peace and prosperity swayed like gargantuan ocean waves
Unity and security paraded themselves like a massive army
Brightness and cleanliness cluttered every space like colourful butterflies
Humanity, for the first time, sparkled like a thousand diamonds


And then, a voice came from no where: "Fellow Nigerians!"


Like a celluloid film in fast rewind, the whole picture
Dissipated inexplicably and an opaque essence speedily
Descended like hailstorm and enveloped everywhere.
I looked around, and then the voice came again:
"Our country has once again been attacked by ..."


The cloak of sleep disappeared and I was jolted to real
Painful wakefulness! 


It was the president on the radio!


I hissed loudly!
Then I realised, it was all a dream
And that there is one group of people I didn't see there:
Politicians!