17th December, 2022
By Nehru Odeh
(For Deborah Samuel)
For she was a lone voice in a muffled world
Seeking space to grow her dreams
More space to grow her dreams
In a dreamless world.
For she was a lone voice in a muffled world
Seeking space to sow her seeds
More space to sow her seeds
In a barren world
Her dreams were her fuel
In a world bereft of fuel and gas
Her dreams were the fuel
she needed to water her grass
Her dreams were the light
She needed to find her way
In a world darkness envelopes light
In a world the girl-child lacks a voice
For she was a lone voice in a muffled world
Seeking space to grow her dreams
More space to grow her dreams
In a dreamless world.
And the day she was killed
While the whole world watched
was the day we were all silenced
Because of ‘God’.
Yet her high-pitched voice blasted through the barriers
Escaping the strictures she was born into
For her voice was her only weapon
Her voice her only power
Her high-pitched voice broke free from her being
Escaping the strictures she was born into
For she was a lone voice in a muffled world
Seeking space to grow her dreams
More space to grow her dreams
In a dreamless world.
But what can her voice do where everyone is voiceless?
What can her voice do when everyone cowers under faith?
What can her voice do where everywhere is bloody?
What can the voiceless do when they have no voice?
When blood-thirsty murderers muffle voices
When blood-thirsty murderers snuff out voices
Deborah was not voiceless, her voice rang true
Deborah was not faithless, her faith was haram
In a society everything is haram
In a society Boko Haram holds way
In a society ISWAP swaps everyone in harm’s way
Deborah was not feckless her gender was helpless
In a society, women cowers under faith
But how dare she speak where everyone is dumb?
What can her voice do where the dumb is king?
For she was a lone voice in a muffled world
Seeking space to grow her dreams
More space to grow her dreams
In a dreamless world.
And the day she was killed
While the whole world watched
was the day we were all silenced
Because of ‘God’.
Yet her high-pitched voice blasted through the barriers
Escaping the strictures she was born into
And there was no escape for everywhere is in chains
For in the country of the chained everyone is chained
For in the country of the chained there is no escape
How dare you speak says the mob?
How dare you blaspheme the prophet says the mob?
Let’s kill her for blaspheming the prophet says the mob
And the day she was killed
While the whole world watched
was the day we were all silenced
Because of ‘God’.
Yet her high-pitched voice blasted through the barriers
Escaping the strictures she was born into.
They searched the hostels for her voice
They combed the classrooms for her voice
They searched everywhere for her voice
But could not see it, they saw only Deborah
The lone voice in a muffled world
Who went too far where everything is constrained.
How dare she speak where everyone is dumb?
How dare she raise her voice where everywhere is voiceless?
How dare she raise her voice where everyone is blood-thirsty, Deborah?
How dare she speak when the female lacks a voice, Deborah?
Questions, questions everywhere
but not a soul to answer
Deborah was a lone voice in a muffled world
Yet her high-pitched voice blasted through the barriers
Escaping the strictures she was born into.
For she was a lone voice in a muffled world
Seeking space to grow her dreams
More space to grow her dreams
In a dreamless world
And the day she was killed
While the whole world watched
was the day we were all silenced
Because of ‘God’.
*Deborah Samuel a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto was murdered over alleged blasphemy her colleagues at the premises of the institution on on Thursday 12 May. Her killers are yet to be brought to justice.
– Nehru Odeh, journalist and writer is the author of The Patience of an Embattled Storyteller and writes for TheNEWS/PMNEWS