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HomeNewsMy Country In Poetry: A Tribute To Dr. Frederick Isiotan Fasehun

My Country In Poetry: A Tribute To Dr. Frederick Isiotan Fasehun

God of unity, God of faith

God of peace, God of compassionate

Grant me to sing

This truth aloud about

This vast blessed land

The land we love

As the many in one

The land we love

And call our own

The tale they told

On this our land

Abundance bestowed

Land space galore

The land of gold

The gold that flows

From underground

The land is good

It’s a virgin land

The land is fresh

Like when Adam came to be

As the day

Just after creation

To it Thou gave

The beings galore

The land doth flow

with milk and honey

To other land

Thou art unfair

The land is small

The land is hard

The land is dry

And full of grit

The land is hot

And rumbles under

To till the land

Is Adam’s curse

The people scanty

The land is scorched

To till the land

They toil and sweat

But my land

The land of gold

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The gold that flows

With nuclear weapons

The man that came

Was Lord Lugard

A man with brilliant mind

In our tongue uninformed

But watchful of our ways

The gorge to bridge

The South and the North

The North with the South

Must come to one

And one to be

Lugard was bewildered

That the God

May direct aright

A name to suggest

That land could be

The name Nigeria came to be

From Niger area land

The land through which

Had coursed the river

The sea to reach

The river from creations beginning

Assumed discovered

By Mungo Park

By dint of chance

The River Benue left unsung

Lugard’s Shaw arrived

She shook her head

Skull unraveled the mystery

Then declared

“Nigeria, the name shall be!”

The above poetry lines were culled from an autobiography of the legend himself entitled: “FREDERICK FASEHUN: The Son of Oodua” first published in January 2002 by Inspired Communication Limited to pay a deserving tribute to this illustrious son of our land who has just answered the call of his Creator.

I see this as one of the best ways I could pay my last respect to the noble man whose story has immensely demonstrated the philosophy and virtues of hard work and courage. I was greatly influenced by his unique life experiences as captured in the book when I read it shortly after its publication. He encountered enormous challenges from childhood till adulthood, yet remained unwavering on the goals he set for himself and that of his beloved Country.

Chief Frederick Isiotan Fasehun loved his Country and Yoruba race in great deal. He believed an egalitarian and progressive Nigeria was possible and was religiously committed to the cause till death. It was for this reason he suffered many arrests and detentions during the military reigns, particularly, of General Abacha.

Another fact many people did not know of Chief Fasehun was his great love for poems and abundant talent in poetry. In that book alone, Dr. Fasehun penned down two thousand, four hundred and forty-four poetry lines for his Country, Nigeria.

Dr. Isiotan Fasehun was many things in one. He was a medical doctor of high repute, an entrepreneur, an astute politician, a human rights and pro-democracy activist, a loyal Yoruba son and leader, a patriotic Nigerian, an author of many books and journals, and an elder statesman.

My heart goes to the noble family of Fasehun. May our Creator grant you and the Country the fortitude to bear his demise. May his noble ideas and ideals endure after him.

Good night! Our dear leader, Chief (Dr.) Frederick Isiotan Fasehun.

– By Isa Isawade

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