By Oye-Oyewo Olufoyekemi
“The Ones Who Dared the Gods” gives a vivid description of the mindset and values of a fearless people who sought to secure a better life for their coming generation. It speaks resilience, courage, and fierce determination to challenge limits and redefine destiny.
The Ones Who Dared the Gods
It is deap-seated in my bones,
the memories of my ancestors.
It is well woven in my skin,
in every fibre of my being,
the resilience of a thousand names.
The names of a people, many, yet one,
daring to break the rules.
Daring the gods.
They dared to dream
that one day
their descendants would tell their story.
They would tell the story through their mouths,
their eyes, their laughter.
Through the way their hips swayed dangerously
to every beat.
You would hear the story
in the way they called their mother Maami,
carefully dragging each sound.
They would tell you the Ami they speak now
was the rhythm their ancestors danced to.
And that’s the truth.
The ones who defied the gods had no need for Bata or Gangan.
Rhythm was in every word they spoke,
laced with anger and audacity.
To it, they danced.
To it, they cursed.
And through it,
they conquered the world.
Slowly but surely,
they achieved what seemed impossible,
doing so with rigour, strength, and determination.
They paved the way for those to come.
They erased the set lines
that formed the boundaries
of what they could achieve.
They set a precedent,
one that would be told
to a thousand generations,
and a thousand more to come.