One may kill the poet, but never the idea.
One may silence the artist, but their words will live on.
Once spoken, words can never be retracted from the minds of the hearers.
Once an idea is birthed and shared,
It develops a life of its own and goes where it will...
Thank you Abami Eda for the ideas you espoused.
Thank you for being one of the few of your age that really cared about the people.
Thank you for caring despite the many arrests,
Thank you for caring even when they killed your dear mother.
Thank you for refusing to be silent even in the face of terrible tyranny.
Thank you for recording your ideas in song, so they remained to inspire me and countless others.
Thank you for refusing to conform,
Because in refusing, you could see and expose the mental chains that still held us bound.
Abami Eda, you exposed the hypocrisy of the west,
Of our government, of our elite and academia,
Of our religious institutions, of ourselves. ..
You saw that for any form of government to work in a society,
It MUST grow organically from said society,
Driven and adapted from our own norms and culture.
You said, and I concur totally, "Our democracy is a demonstration of craze".
Because we've FAILED to adapt it to our situation,
Or even come up with a totally new concept.
A new concept of government that would work for us,
Because we are a unique people, and one size does NOT fit all.
It NEVER did, and I thank you Abami Eda for seeing and pointing this out to us.
We did not all fully understand you then.
Some of your messages got lost in translation.
Lost to those who refused to see beyond your unique persona to the sound ideas you had.
Lost to some of us who were then too young to fully appreciate all your messages.
But we do now... And I know I speak for myself and many others,
When I say thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring and sharing.
The task is not yet done, we have not yet reached Uhuru.
We cry today where is Fela, we ask where is Gani Fawehimi???
We miss your strident voices in the morass that is Nigeria of today.
We wish you were here to speak on our behalf,
But you have done your part,
You have both finished your tasks here on earth,
And finish well indeed you did...
You deserve your well earned rest my brother, my brothers...
Because I know my father in heaven saw into your hearts.
We miss you because there has been nobody to carry on the torch.
Nobody to be the conscience of the nation.
Nobody to be the voice for the voiceless.
Nobody who burns with as much passion against injustice as you did.
Nobody who has the spirit or stamina to stand tall against all odds,
Just because they believe in the cause they are fighting for.
Well we await that person, that voice that will not be quiet.
Not a messiah, just simply someone who will speak for the people.
Someone who will articulate the needs of even the most lowly.
Someone who will speak for the voiceless as both you and Gani did.
The flame still burns, the torch you lit will be passed on,
Rest well my brothers, as we continue the struggle,
Aluta continua, Victoria acerta!!!
By Christie Nonye Akumabor 29/10/12
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Abami Eda, the man himself....
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