Seat 540 is vacant Dora, where are you?

Everyone is seated at the confab but seat 540 is vacant,

Perhaps you went to the ‘ladies’ or you took a stroll?,

Oh I get it, you are probably

caught up in traffic-jam?

What? Who just said she won’t be back?…

too expensive a joke, please stop!

Oh dear, it’s not a ‘joke’, it’s not a rumour, it’s

for real!

She’s gone! Gone far away to the land of no

 return,

A place that transcends beyond the ordinary,

A place befitting for conquerors and champions.

“I am convinced that Nigeria should remain

as one nation, after 100 years despite her

challenges because, our common values

overwhelm our differences”,

Those were some of your words said

during your speech at the confab,

You believed so much in this country that

you couldn’t help but hope for the best.

What a poignant reminder of the brevity

of time,

And to think you spent your last energy,

your fading breathe, serving this country,

Relentlessly strategising on how to make

Nigeria a healthy pride of Africa and the world,

Inconveniencing yourself to make others

happy, archetypal paradigm of an

altruistic woman.

There can never be another Dora-true but,

your legacies will live on,

You have done so much for your

motherland, that even if the citizenry forgot

to take notes,

The result of your labour will always stand

as reminders of an ideal democratic nation.

We cannot appeal your case of abrupt

absence at the highest court,

Because the greatest Judge says it’s time

to come ‘home’.

We cannot counteract His ruling or

question His authority,

Because He takes and gives as He wills,

He is God and God all by Himself!

Farewell my trail blazing Amazon,

Farewell to a woman worthy of commendation,

Farewell to an illustrious daughter of a

great nation with a great people,

Farewell to a true patriot and an inexorable

emperor of mankind,

Until we meet again at HIS feet to part no more,

Farewell Dora Nkem Akunyili…Farewell!

POEM BY KEMI AJUMOBI