This was a poem and prayer for a New Nigeria by Late Reverend Edward Koye-Ladele (Simi’s father who was a Nationalist and believed in a New Nigeria).
God give us a new Nigeria
Where we truly love ourselves
With no religious rancour
Where Muslims and Christians and other faiths live
In love and warm embrace devoid of competition
A new Nigeria
Where there are no tribal sentiments
Where Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba
Embrace themselves without
bigotry, hues and cries, fears and suspicion
A new Nigeria
Where there is sincerity
faithfulness and honesty
A place devoid of corruption,
Greed, and the reign of selfishness
A new Nigeria
Where we all come together
In unity and love, faith and oneness
Where there is no complain
Of marginalization
A new Nigeria
Where politics is played
For rendering services and for the masses
And not for perpetuation of elite interest
Together with subjugation
A new Nigeria
Where we have no fear
Of kidnapping or armed robbery
Rape, violence and terrorism
Or armed robbery and other vices
A new Nigeria
Where there is a place for all
Where there is always opportunity
For everyone to water their visions
And achieve goals without barriers
A new Nigeria
Where everyone promotes
The continued greatness of their nation
And do not constitute a barrier
To national progress and greatness
A new Nigeria
Where we do not read wrong meaning
To genuine intensions
Where foul is not fair
And fair is not foul
A new Nigeria
That flows with Milk and honey
And where the future is secured
For even the generations unborn
O GOD, THIS IS OUR PRAYER
