Ọ́mọ̀ Ọ́kada, Ọ́mọ̀ Eko

- May 06, 2013

Photo Credit: from Andrew Dosunmu's film "Restless City".

Ọ́mọ Ọ́kada, Ọ́mọ Eko
Sebi mori-ọ̀ ni ọ̀jọ̀ọ̀-si
Ni ọ̀jọ̀ọ̀-si ni Isale Eko.
Mori ọ̀ ti ojoko si ori Ọ́kada
Ori Ọ́kada Gambari
Gambari, Ọ́mọ ìyá, the funky mallam
The funky mallam of Ọ́balende
Ọ́balende the hub of the Hausas in Lagos
Lagos the cornucopia of Nigeria
Nigeria the paranoid giant of Africa.

Ọ́mọ Ọ́kada wakes up to the echo of the adhān أَذَان‎
To the echoing voice of the muezzin
Echoing from the minaret
Then after the iqama, Ọ́mọ Ọ́kada mounts his motorbike
And hits the road before the morning rush hour
Ọ́mọ Eko is already waiting at the CMS roundabout
She is not waiting for Ọ́kọ Ashẹ̀wo the taxicab
She is not waiting for any staff bus
She is not waiting for the BRT bus
She is not waiting for any free ride from any randy guy in fancy car
She is waiting for her Ọ́mọ Ọ́kada.

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

About the Author:
Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, aka "Orikinla Osinachi", is a prize winning Nigerian writer, most prolific African blogger and author of Children of Heaven, Sleepless Night, Scarlet Tears of London, Bye, Bye Mugabe, In the House of Dogs, Diary of the Memory Keeper, The Prophet Lied, co-author of Naked Beauty and editor of The Language of True Love. He has written many articles, commentaries and news reports published by Technorati, Blogcritics, Huliq, Yahoo Voices, Shvoong, Gather, Huffington Post, Face2Face Africa, Black Film Maker, Nigeria Films and Modern Ghana. Michael Chima is also the Founder/Festival Director of the annual Eko International Film Festival and Founder/CEO of Screen Outdoor Open Air Cinema, member of the Projection Foundation promoting the Screen Naija One Village, One Cinema project in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and home of Nollywood, Africa's largest film industry of which he is a major stakeholder in movies and cinemas.

© Orikinla Osinachi. 2013. No reproduction in any format of media without the authorization and permission of the copyright owner and publisher.