WE HAIL O!

 

I was thinking this morning... It started as far back as 1987. I had just resumed as a fresh Warri boy at the university. Strolling around the hostel each evening was an opportunity to run into old friends and make new ones.

It was on one of those casual strolling that I ran into an old classmate from Hussey College, Warri. Unaware that he had also gained admission into Uniben and having not seen him in a while, it wasn't just a pleasant reunion. It was an epic one. My correct Warri friend made a show that had stuck with me for 37 years. On sighting me, he froze for a bit and shouted, 'Wemo.' Before I could call his name and shake or hug him, he started running and at the same time shouting 'Wemooooo.' As everyone turned, wondering what was going on, he r,eversed at a distance and started running back, this time pointing at me and shouting 'abeg, abeg make una help me hail this my guy ooo.' Such was the hailing of waffarians back then.

Many may have heard the word 'hail' but haven't taken the time to check out its definition. According to the Oxford English dictionary,  to 'Hail' means to acclaim enthusiastically as being a specified thing. It is not hailing, if the acclamation is not effusive. Observe typical waffarians greet and you will appreciate what hailing is.

This thought was what prompted my confusion when PBAT signed the bill to revert back to the old national anthem 'Nigeria, We Hail Thee.' I am so used to hailing in high spirits. I wanted to sing 'Nigeria, we hail thee', when I remembered we are a nation blessed with abundance of human and mineral resources but seems to struggle under the curse of bad leadership. My spirit dropped. Oh, Nigeria, how can I hail thee in low spirit.

I shrugged off the low spirit, determined to embark on my high energy hailing like I was used to in Warri. But then I saw a morally bankrupt society where politicians that stole billions pass a law that petty thieves be killed. Oh my dear Nigeria, how can I hail thee like a waffarian?

Like in Psalms 137:4, I was thinking 'How can I sing the Lord's song in a strange land?' But thank God for the next verse that says, 'I will never forget my nation.' Truly, Nigeria, I hail thee. In other words, hailings in waffi style.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey