Our story lives on

It lives on the tongues of our story-tellers

Great men and women nurturing the renaissance of the African self-belief

Scattered across God’s earth and yet with words so near

 

What is wrong with the African?

Ashamed of his ancestors’ garb

He devours his neighbour’s harvest

She cares for only her children

The unAfrican African, no more a savage?

 

Is Ubuntu savagery?

Am I lawless if broken laws disrespect my customs?

What laws? Those I made or those made for me

Did the African live by whim before his enslavement?

Do savages have norms and institutions?

The unAfrican African, self-loathing and lost

 

Our literary giants remind us who we once were

Who we should be, Africans! Proud of our culture and heritage

Wise enough to know that which is wrong with us

For a people can never be perfect

An African civilisation not to the credit of the real savages

But one borne out of an African self-criticism

 

What do we start with if our stories are not told?

What civilisation without the written word?

African literary giants, I salute you!