Welcome To The Niger Delta
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
2025, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Welcome to the Niger Delta -where our heritage is greater than beta.
The land flowing with milk and honey – we love so dearly.
Under our ground a blessing full of black gold.
Tide with beautiful cultures and ancestral blood.
We had the most fertile soil and majestic rainforest that ran deep,
One where our soul found peace and harmony dripped.
A place we could roam free, plucking udara and ukwa with delightful breeze, and our native
apple that brought us to our knees.
Truly our indigenous self rooted to the veins of the earth.
Then civilization came, without knocking on our door.
We welcomed civi forgetting our home and more,
Running to the enchanting science that seemed like magic.
In the end just to cut down our purifiers and build logic.
With skyscrapers as tall as the African pyramids, we dug out our Texas tea,
just to watch our net worth fly with ease,
We had all sorts of tech driven stuff –
But none gave delight as our roads were tarred and feet far from loamy soil.
The aura had changed as the 21st century was already almost halfway through.
But we didn’t lose all we had.
We didn’t lose people of great minds who valued the sustained,
We didn’t lose people who decided to combine urbanization and naturalization.
Because the human heart can never evade the genes of being sons and daughters of the earth,
born of the soil in the ground, truly interconnected.
So have you ever heard of urban Forest?
Welcome to the Niger delta where our heritage is greater than beta!
Here in the Niger Delta, Port Harcourt’s garden city shines,
Bayelsa’s mangroves make our heart scream in delight so divine,
Delta’s serene landscapes yet civilization thrives,
The tropical rainforest of Akwa Ibom, nature’s gift to behold !
Wait! The royal Benin city built by ancient trees, a majestic haven.
Cross Rivers lush canopies and Ondo’s Coastal areas- a delicate balance to call home.
Welcome to the Niger Delta, It’s not perfect yet but it’s greater than beta,
So in perfect Harmony, gives us something ,
With green technology and infrastructure and sustainable design,
We’ll turn this place we call home,
Educating the younger generation for our dream is more than what we have now
but one where urbanization and naturalization thrives.
Reflection
Welcome To The Niger Delta is a beautiful literary piece that explores the great heritage and lifestyle of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria before civilization. As an indigenous riverine girl from the Niger Delta, I was inspired to write this piece to showcase our resilience despite environmental degradation. I highlight our efforts to build sustainable urban cities amidst existing environmental challenges. Through this poem, I've learned that communities are interconnected with nature, and everything in our daily lives reflects this connection. My message to viewers is: "Our indigenous roots are tied to the earth; let us learn to form a stronger bond with nature and preserve the roots of the earth."