The Two forgotten Great Nigerian Rivers: Niger and Benue-

The Two forgotten Great Nigerian Rivers:

Niger and Benue-

By the sides of two rivers:

Niger and Benue,
our founding fathers converged,
on the sides of these great
rivers-a nation called Nigeria
born.

By the side of River Niger-

our first political headquarters-
Lokoja located;
Niger-the river that
breathed life into
modern Nigeria,
through her-Christianity-
entered the hinterland,
by means her of her-
Islam spread down south.

By means of voyages on her-

trade and commerce boomed-
through her water-palm oil,
kernel, timber, cotton,
cocoa, ferried to Atlantic
to begin trans-Atlantic journey.

On the bank of Niger-
the largest sugarcane
plantation established-
On your shoreline-
Nigeria’s largest sugar company-
Bacita Sugar Company formed.

On the bank of River Benue

comes “food basket” for
our land;
by means of never ending water
from Cameroon Highland-corn,
millet, yam, beans, yam, rice-
you continually give to the land. 

Niger-in you are Kainji Dam-

Hydroelectric power source,
in you are adjacent dams-
Jebba and Shirorro-
electric power sources and
irrigation outlets for food
production in the land.

In you are Bussa-

city of Waterloo-
for European explorers-
Mungo Park and fellow;
still Niger and
through  Bussa-other
European explorers
Hugh Clapperton,
Richard Lemon Lander,
Captain Pearce and Dr. Morrison
reached Sokoto up north in 1826.

In you are Mokwa,

Shintaku, and Kotonkefir-
the popular Niger Bridge-
link between north and south,
now a death trap.

In you are Asaba-Onitsha

Niger Bridge-the only
west-east link use by
one million travelers–a day-
now-a dead bridge.

Why are these rivers

wailing and nobody listens?
Why are these gifts of nature
shedding tears, and
no one cares to pacify them?
I ask-why did we fail these
natural phenomena as a people-
with so much-they had given us?

Oh! My people,

When will Niger and Benue
be appeased?
Will these great waters ever
get attention they deserved?
Politicking-water- 
a non-political item-
further drives the wedge,
when will it be over?

Niger dredging, second-

Niger-Bridge,
new Shintaku-Kotonkefir
Bridge have become permanent
campaign topics for decades-
when will politicians find new
campaign topics?   

I ask: when will

Niger-River-Selective-
Development-Initiatives
NIRSEDIN by federal government
be over?

Neither cherry-picking nor

pretermit will help Niger-Benue or
people of Nigeria,
rather-an-all-inclusive
development-
a road-map that cares for all.

Nile, Amazon, Yangtze,
Mississippi, Chang-Jiang, Ob,
Yellow River, Irtysh,

and Congo Rivers are rivers like
Niger and Benue,
but their owners gave them
personalities-they deserved;
today-they have commanding
effect on global geography.

I ask-when will Niger-Benue

join the league of great earthly
rivers?
Until Shintaku-Kotonkefir
bridge constructed,
till Second Niger Bridge
constructed to sustain
east-west link;
till good roads are
constructed,
life and property of Nigerians
are protected,
then the peace of these rivers
shall return.

At this time: every Nigerian will

chorus: “by the sides of Rivers Niger
and Benue” where we converged,
there an extra-ordinary-land-
Nigeria was created.