CULTURAL NEWS
Friday, March 16, 2007
Kwegyir Aggrey’s Pharaonic Eagle
By: ATUKWEI OKAI
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An ode to the Republic of Ghana, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of her
independence, dedicated to the masses of the United States of Africa
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The writer reciting one of his poems at a forum - PROF. 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 that 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 glorious 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 tempts 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 Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Abetsebi Lamptey and Joseph Boakye Danquah,
ARE YOU THERE?
William Edward Burghardt Dubois
Of our beleaguered and vigilant Diaspora,
Prophetic Kyegyir Aggrey of the cradle of Achimota,
WHERE ARE YOU?
Nii Kwabena Bonne,
Ako Adjei and Edward Akuffo 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 GaDangme
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 files.
VII
Take to the skies
Return to your ancestral skies.
Recolonise the realm where Aggrey’s Phoroanic 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 stoolroom 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-Tanzanian bosom of the African 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.
You soul carries a unique blessing.
Your shoulders bear a historic burden.
IX
I speak to you from the stoolroom of the African soul –
I do not come from Ghana – I was only born there.
I do not come from 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 geometricized 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 with 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 the singly spot.
When I landed and woke up the people around me.
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 stoolroom, reread the will and Scrutinize the blueprint.
Go retrieve the ancestral compass – it must be somewhere.
I speak from the stoolroom of the African Soul.
Seek ye now the Kingdom of a common Africa 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, Atukwei Okai
(5th arch, 2007)
(atukwei.okai@gmail.com)
Notes:
Aggrey’s Eagle: In an effort to conscientize 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-upliftment as Africans, Dr. Kwegyir 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 Hensley (1824 – 1905).
Professor Okai gave the first world performance of this ode
at the State Banquet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Ghana’s Independence on March 6, at the Banquet Hall,
State House, Accra.
*Source:
The Ghanaian Times - Friday, March 16, 2007 Page: 15 |