28/02/2026
IRIGWE LAND, MY COMMUNITY!
Oh, Irigwe land, my community, you were once a gentle home where peace walked freely along our dusty roads like a familiar neighbour. You were a land of open hearts and open hands, where hospitality flowed like fresh water from a living stream. In those days, strangers were treated as family, and every visitor found comfort under the wide roof of love.
But for decades now, gunmen have turned our songs into silence.
The sound of laughter has been chased away by the sound of gunshots. Innocent lives have been cut down like tender crops before harvest. Farmlands, once the green pride of our people, have become fields of ashes and fear. Houses that sheltered generations have been swallowed by fire, leaving only broken walls to remember warm memories.
Children now walk the earth with questions instead of parents. Women sit with empty spaces beside them where their husbands once laughed. Men return to quiet homes where their wives no longer answer their names. Oh, Irigwe land, your tears fall silently in the eyes of your people.
Once, you were a bright lamp on the hill, guiding travellers with kindness and safety. Today, heavy darkness hangs over your valleys like a stubborn cloud. Our markets that once danced with voices now tremble with uncertainty. Our roads, which once welcomed footsteps, now fear the footsteps of gunmen.
Yet, Irigwe land has not surrendered its soul.
Like a wounded lion that still guards its pride, my community continues to stand. Our people remain rooted like ancient trees whose branches have been broken but whose roots still drink deeply from hope. Though our bodies carry scars and our hearts carry grief, our spirit still whispers the language of peace.
Oh, my Irigwe land, I cannot wait to see you rise again. I cannot wait to restore your peaceful and hospitable nature. I long to see your farms return to green songs of harvest, your homes rebuilt with laughter, and your children running freely without fear in their small chests.
Let the guns fall silent. Let justice speak louder than violence. Let healing touch every broken family, every burnt house, every abandoned farm. Irigwe land, my community, you are more than decades of insecurity, you are a living promise of peace, hospitality and shared humanity waiting to be reborn.
By: Jonathan Timothy Ziyereh (TJ)
Joz Tech Media
Jonathan Timothy Ziyereh T-Jay