CULTURAL NEWS
Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Kwegyir Aggrey’s Pharaonic Eagle

-         an Ode to the Republic of Ghana, on the occasion of the 50^thAnniversary of her Independence –

-         dedicated to the masses of the United States of Africa. –

By:   ATUKWEI OKAI

“Thy Kingdom come, O God,
Thy rule, O Christ, begin;
Break with Thine iron rod
The tyrannies of sin”.

 
I

In the beginning was the beginning –
One scaled the electrified intimidating fence –
It is in the gift to man to live his dream in the present tense

II

My God, I plant my feet firmly on a soil that is yours,
My heart is filled with thanks and praise
And overflowing, and running on all fours, it pours
Out the nectar of gratitude and awe
Upon the altar of the law that
Allows the dove to float and not fall.

In this jubilee, let us jubilate and meditate – Pioneers to break free from shackles.
When, in silence, the leap year’s moon, is sitting in state
And God proceeds to scribble upon the providential slate
I’ keen my ears to catch what the elements dictate.

III

The sermon still is very much upon the mount
The commandments still do not number more than ten.
The Almighty’s hand is scribbling upon the face of the waters –
I am struggling to read and to understand
That he who manufactures the air controls the soul’s silent borders
And it is He who showers water and sunlight across the land.
I weave you soothsayer spider websites meant
For sleepwalkers in the dream-zones of despair.

To our ancient glories you are the rightful destiny – Designated heir.
Step forth and drink in your fill of your warrior – manufactured victorious air.

IV

I subpoena onto the parapets of our African space
The proud and patient presence of the founding fathers,
All the warriors, unlisted and unsung.
May the xylophones of Sundiata climb the stone temples of Monomotapa.
May the fontomfroms of Mansa Kankam Musa
Ascend the Kilimanjaro of our hearts.

V

 Tin kon kon kon, tin kon kon !
Tin kon kon kon, tin kon kon !

 
Anthony William Amoo
Of our ancient, uprooted, but equalizing
Diaspora,

Casely Hayford,
WHERE ARE YOU ?
Emperor Hailie Selassie of Ethiopia,
WHERE ARE YOU ?

Obetsebi Lamptey and Joseph Boakye Danquah,
ARE YOU THERE ?

 William Edward Burghardt Dubois
Of our beleaguered and vigilant
Diaspora,

Prophetic Kwegyir Aggrey of the cradle of Achimota,
WHERE ARE YOU ?

Nii Kwabena Bonne,
Ako Adjei and Edward Akufo Addo,
ARE YOU THERE ?

Marcus Garvey
 Of our awakened and desperate Diaspora,
Toussaint L’Ouverture of heroic Haiti,
Chaka the Zulu,
WHERE ARE YOU ?

Ga Mantse Tackie Kome II of the heroic Ga Dangme
And William Ofori Atta,
ARE YOU THERE ?

George “Paa” Grant, grant me an extension of
The tenure of your blessings !

 VI

 My people, it was from the doldrums
I lifted you up;
It was into the skies I whipped your wings.
 It was into the millennium I planted
your seeds.
My dreams for you never appeared in disguise.
You were meant to rise as far as the eagle flies.

VII

Take to the skies,
Return to your ancestral skies.
Recolonise the realm where
Aggrey’s Pharaonic eagle majestically flies,
Where the sea, eternally in season, never dries,
Where the spirit of the warrior, unsung,
Desperately cries
Out to you to come away from the crumb that lowly lies
Around the octopus feet of him who your humanity denies.
Let them know that the land only belies
The quality of gold hidden in your psyche of the wise.

VIII

 The motherland still dreams of sons and daughters,
Faithful and steadfast, upright and Bold.
The fatherland still yearns for sons and daughters
To regain and nurture the glory of old.

IX

 I speak to you from the stool-room of the African soul.
Take off your hats and sandals,
 Where you are standing is sacred ground.

X

The umbilical chord of the first man on planet earth
Is grounded in the Kenyan-Tansanian
Bosom of the Africa soil.
The centre of the world, like the
Circumcised navel of the universe,
Planted like a royal seedling of yam
Before time was born,
Still patiently squats in the blood vessel.
Of the heartbeat of Accra..

Your soul carries a unique blessing.
Your shoulders bear a historic burden.

XI

I speak to you from the stool-room of the African soul –
I do not come from Ghana –
I was only born there,
I do not come form Nigeria, neither do I come from Zimbabwe.
My soul was only conceived there !
I do not come from South Africa,
I do not come from Egypt, My spirit was only programmed there !
 

I do not come from Madagascar, neither do I come from Libya.
My hair was only textured there,
I do not come from Rwanda,
Or the expansive Sahara, my structure was only geometricised there.
I do not come from the Congo
I do not come from Ethiopia, My colour was only mixed there.
 

With all these abundant riches and resources of
Each of all these separate states of Africa,
If I come from any particular one of these countries,
Then I will be very poor indeed,
But I refuse to be poor.

 
No, I am aware enough to wish to claim
My full Heritage.
I am fabulously rich like a citizen
of China and India.
I am supremely powerful
And enviably wealthy just like a citizen
Of the United States of America.

 
I hail from the over fifty states on the continent.
I come from Africa.

 
AFRICA IS MY COUNTRY.
 

I was physically born in one single spot.
When I landed and woke up, the people around me
Told me that the area was identified as Ghana.
But should it mean that I should be imprisoned there,
Barricaded away from
All my inheritance and heritage spread across the continent ?
No, Africa is like a house with many rooms
Chinua Achebe says
The cock belongs to one house, but when it crows
It is heard in the whole village.
 

AFRICA IS MY COUNTRY.

 XII

 Retreat into the stool-room, reread the will and
Scrutinise the blueprint,
Go retrieve the ancestral compass –
It must be somewhere.
 

I speak from the stool-room of the African Soul.

Seek ye now the Kingdom of a common African home
And all shall be well with you.
 

Tell them I told you so, again,
Should they ask to know my name,,
Tell them:

Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah.

 
Copyright©2007 by Atukwei Okai
(5^th March, 2007)
(atukwei.okai@gmail.com)

  NOTES:

 -           Aggrey’s Eagle:          In an effort to conscientise his students at the Achimota School, in particular,                                                         and Africans all over the world in general and inspire them into a state of self-                                                        confidence for self- uplift as Africans, Dr. Kwegyie Aggrey often narrated the                                                          story of a naturalist who saw an eagle feeding among chickens.

The naturalist admonished the eagle that it was not a chicken but an eagle and, therefore, should fly away into the sky, which was its proper realm.  After several trials and false starts, the eagle finally succeeded in abandoning the ground for the sky.

In conclusion, Aggrey stated: “My people of Africa, we were created in the image of God, but men have made us think that we are chickens, and we still think we are, but we are eagles.  Stretch forth your wings and fly !  Don’t be content with the food of chickens”.

 
“Thy Kingdom come …..” Lines from MHB 811, by
Lewis Hansley (1824 – 1905).

-           Atukwei Okai gave the first world performance of this Ode at the State Banquet to celebrate the 50^th             Anniversary of Ghana’s Independence on 6^th March, 2007, at the Banquet Hall, State House, Accra.

*Source

 Daily Graphic -            Wednesday, March 14, 2007   Page 15,16, and 33