Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu Poem by Ejiofor Alisigwe

The mysterious trumpets blasts and gongs are seventy-eight yet
Regimented, vetted, forged complex laudatory epaulettes plight
Joyous clasps of cymbals drums the inimitable might in you
Shining gold and polished silvers gloriously bedeck you
Marshalled turgid on thrusted chest and broad shoulders
Ochiagha Ndi Igbo as in life and death for commanders

Pomp the procession dirge to converge at the head stone
And we bow, and jubilation with thrusts of clenched fists as due
Power, power, power we hail, strut and dance to cue
Your regal steps are three score and ten to a century
And beyond to interpret your irreducible complexity
Emphasised the pinnacle of the Igbo revolution autarky

To contend their foes belligerent refractive disquietude
Downing jingoistic borrowed jets over your birthday cake
And to keep stereoscopic vision focused till ravaged dawn
As we chorused many happy returns and also born
Amidst the hues of marauding gang-up and down

Hell-bent genocide committed by Araba shouters of the age
Yet you are a colossus and lead among giants galore
A steeled Gulliver wading through henious Lilliputians gore
Intrepid through the Niger and Benue as if you flown
To prepare a better place for us and mankind dawn

You piggybacked our lot through wild tides overrun
Troubled waters stretched your length to a drawbridge
Ingeniously firm across angry rapids so very wide
The rivers of blood seeking the the face of God and man
A drawbridge to flee the urgency of our yesterday frown
To seek the dignity of man our conviction of egalitarian tomorrow dawn

Bright with its rising sun and resurgent hope adorn
From Eastern horizons in our Defence and Self-determination
To hover gloriously with healing rays over Eastern Sky
In you and God we firmly stand chanting the Aburi creed by and by

There is your birthday Ochiagha Ndi Igbo naa gboo
A decree to your birthday wish Agu n'eche Igbo na-agha n'udo
It is your wish, it is your birthday wish so swish
Ahiara Declaration served our dignity in a proud dish

A command the day you were gloriously born
To lead, although a servant to a life sworn
To shield the Igbo prime existence and raise the blackman
To equate his pride of humanity before God and man

You came, you saw, you fought, you conquered
As the bell tolls for your foes, it heralds you abound
A reverberating hero across the mountains and valleys don
Banished the fear of death in the rage of determined pogrom
And you lead through dark void to welcome the rising sun storm

To our backs you religiously watched and guard
And your face stood firm amid roaming concerns
That challenged your able staff and polished epaulettes
But it is your birthday and the day we were also born
As we wish you like our irrefutable nation many healthy returns
The land of the rising sun our Biafra Kingdom reborn

Ogbaji Egbe piont us towards your conscript drawbridge
Eze Igbo Gburugburu direct us across our bridge
Like the saints we will march across the ridge
With bellowing green, black, red flag and half of yellow sun rise
Into the land of Biafra by God to us as promised to tender
Happy birthday Odum n'egbu Agu our indomitable leader

Your birthday cake is endless like no other Commander
As we eat it today and for generations no one put asunder
To imbue with wisdom of truth and equipped for action
To keep our blessed Biafraland free without distraction
Even before the age of consent in our promised land
The land of glory, a Biafra Kingdom were freedom abound

It is your hope and glory Nna anyi Dim Dikedioranma Ojukwu
It is your birthday wish as we celebrate you and Chukwu
Happy birthday to you Eze Igbo Gburugburu
Happy many returns General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu