We Did Not Inherit Her

We did not inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrowed it for our children ­–  Ijaw Proverb

We did not inherit her,
only her contents
to till, for sustenance
to water, weed and
smile aplenty afterwards.
We borrowed her,
to build on and multiply,
to defend, and grow territories,
to sink roots, teach our culture for posterity.

No, we did not inherit this land
for she will one day become home,
when the keepers of the house
shut to open no more.

We borrowed her for our children
that they too may honour her
and be richly fed.
That they too may have room
to build on as they multiply.
That they too may extend
the boundaries of our territory.
That they toomay perpetuate our heritage
and borrow it to their children and
their children’s children after them.

We did not inherit the land but her
bounties, which keep on giving;
we sang and praised when
she gave us oil for our soups,
we rejoiced as palms ripened,
enough for consumption and sale
oil for our skins, and even
tinder for our hearths,
immense, the blessings of the giant trees.

Then came strangers with talk
of oil beneath our feet.
The proof was there, though the oil was murky.
The proof was dark; this was no red oil.
We thought they too would borrow her,
mother Earth, pregnant with enough even for strangers.
But these guests acted like they own her
they tilled her mercilessly with no care for rest,
they watered her not…
gradually, her smiles began to vanish.
These strangers shared our land
as our crops steadily withered.
They made the land wail,
she wept into our rivers,
and bled into our fishes.
They bled her, and black gold came pouring,
filling their pockets while we watched,
and remained hungry.

They promised us oil, but took blood.

We borrowed this land for our children
but these strangers slaughter her like a cow,
then desert her for the next-
ask Oloibiri, ask Ogoni
desolate, bare after their plunder.

We did not inherit the land from our ancestors,
we borrowed it for our children!

*Culled from Coming Undone As Stitches Tighten By Iquo DianaAbasi. 2021.
Reproduced with author’s permission