Poetry: How to answer a child who asked about Nigeria

By Majekodunmi Oseriemen Ebhohon

A child asked me,
“What is Nigeria?”

I said,
Nigeria is a classroom
where the teacher stepped out
to receive a phone call.

At first,
every hand stayed on its desk.

Then one boy borrowed a ruler.
Another borrowed a chair.
A girl borrowed the chalk.
Someone borrowed the blackboard.

By break time,
a goat was eating homework
from the teacher’s desk.
The class captain was selling permission slips.
Three pupils were playing football
with the attendance register.
A boy stood at the door
collecting tolls
from anyone who wanted to leave.

A girl raised her hand
to report the noise.
Everybody clapped for her courage.
Nobody stopped shouting.

The child thought about this
for a long time.
Then he asked,
“When is the teacher coming back?”

I looked through the window:

a hundred teachers were arguing
over whose turn it was
to hold a staff.