POETRY: Omo Yooba

Seun Ajijala

Photo credit: Itan Project

Star of the West

Look how you dazzle

Son of Oduduwa, Moremi’s daughter

Your name is a beautiful song

Like the laughter of little children

Omo ile-ife

Your heritage is the gold

Which you wear upon your neck

Like precious stones

In a distant land

Omo kaaro-o-jiire

Your tongue, to you

Is home

The tool with which you pay homage

To the sacred staff of the elders

Omoluabi, upright one

You honor tradition

Do not forget the instructions of the obi

Nor the morals of the agba

In a changing world