Awake:O Ye Great Nation. - by Abisola Oladimeji

A thought-provoking poem about the current realities in Africa—its beauty, struggles, potential, and the need for introspection and change: From a grieving soul. “Africa, Wake” Africa, mother of sun and sand,Cradle of man, of earth, of land.You rise in dawns both fierce and slow,Yet burdened still with scars below. You wear your colors bright and proud—Green hills, red clay, the thundercloud.Diamonds glisten beneath your feet,But hunger walks in every street. Your rivers run with history's tears,Your soil still rich with ancient years.Yet children cry for crusts of bread,While rulers feast and nations bled. Your forests fall with each new deal,Signed with the promise to “appeal.”The trees once whispered tales of grace—Now whispers die without a trace. From Lagos heat to Cairo's glare,In Kinshasa’s beat, in Kigali’s prayer,A heartbeat pulses, faint but clear:A hope that change is drawing near. The mines, the oil, the endless gold—You’ve seen them plundered, bought and sold.Your wealth—a curse in greedy hands,While schools collapse on sinking sands. We wear your name like royal thread,But what of truth in what is said?How can we sing of freedom’s light,While selling futures in the night? Oh Africa, your youth arise,Yet meet with silence in the skies.They speak of tech, of dreams anew,But vote-buy lies still dim the view. The roads are built, but not the soul.The towers rise, yet leave a hole.What good is progress on a chart,If all it does is break your heart? And still—the drums, the dance, the song—The love of land, forever strong.The women weaving morning sun,The boys whose laughter weighs a ton. Oh Africa, you're not just pain.You're not just war or bloody stain.You’re poets, prophets, builders too,With futures vast and skies so blue. But who will fight for honest rain,To wash corruption’s heavy chain?Who dares to rise and say enough—That silence now is not enough? Let this be more than just a cry,Let this not fade beneath the sky.Let leaders shake with truth’s own call,Let tyrants quake, let empires fall. For Africa is not asleep—She’s stirring now in anger deep.She dreams not just to dream and fade,But rise in light the free have made. So listen now—this call is clear:Awake from your slumber,Rebuild with love, not greed or fear,For Africa, your time is near.The dawn breaks loud. The dawn breaks here.

Other insights from Abisola Oladimeji