Efidi! Jennifer!! How far? See how you have gone viral! Your face very iconic and legendary, making headlines. Will bet it that you never saw it coming. You walked into it and perhaps would have paid dearly with your life, but God said no.
You woke up that day , determined to make your vote count. Like any other Nigerian, patriotic and desirous for a better Nigeria you moved, armed with your PVC to make a statement of change.
You would have lost your life! But God said never. Why me? You asked. Why not Emeka? Musa or Bello? That question, only God has answers to.
Your face a brand one . Not just a face, but a face of democracy; standing for nothing but the will of the masses, to right the wrong, for a better country.
Efidi! You represent an era. Not an era of rigging and ballot box snatching. No! Rather that era that wants a change, from illegality to legality, unfairness to fairness, injustice to justice.
That is the era they wanted to silence by disfiguring your face and trying to blind your eyes but God said never!
Why me? Why not Emeka; Bello or Musa? They saw in the face of Efidi the indictment of their shoddy deals. They looked at your eyes , those eyes pierced into their dead conscience and reminded them of the promises made but never unkept. That may be the why!
They thought they would silence you by disfiguring your face and trying to blind your eyes, but God said never.
They pursued you and stabbed you, thinking they could scare and discourage you. They dragged and pulled your clothes, not even their roughness could tear it. The hand that wrapped you was beyond them.
Though your blood spilled, you groaned in pains but your life was spared.
You would have gone and perhaps with an epitaph on your grave ” Here lies a good Nigeria who lost her life seeking for a better Nigeria ” But God said never.
Your blood that dripped and stained your cloth; your blood that caked and trampled underfoot wouldn’t be in vain . Daily it cries for vengeance and justice for the manipulations of the course which you and your generation believe in
The vote you cast in pains, bleeding profusely wouldn’t go in vain. Vengeance is coming and justice is certain.
As they couldn’t stop you from voting, even when they tried, they wouldn’t either stop your vote from counting no matter how they tried to manipulate it.
Like any other Nigerian who believe in this course for a better Nigeria but was shattered and discouraged by this pyrrhic victory i say to you, we shall soon sing our victory song of “See what the Lord has done, what we have been waiting for has come to pass! See what the Lord has done”
Efidi Jennifer! You are the lioness. Your bravery very legendary. Your insistence to vote even when you would have gone home nursing your injury, wriggling in pains, selfless.
Etched on our minds is that face plastered, wearing a blood stained T shirt, resolute to see her vote count.
In our memory will always be your face, Efidi! When the story of 25th February will be told; omitting your name would be like a camel passing through the eye of the niddle.
Already hung on the hall of bravery and courage is that iconic picture of yours. You are the heroine! And God wouldn’t allow those drops of blood let out by the violence and hostility of haters of a better Nigeria go in vain.
There are many Efidi out there, dead or alive . You are all lions and lionesses of this quest for a better Nigeria . We are all winners and our song ” See what the Lord has done! Will soon rent the air.
Jarlath Uche Opara Jarlathuche@gmail.com
