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About Zainab Bello's work:

Poem Title:

A STORY

Poem Theme:

The Betrayal of Nigeria’s Independence and the Unfulfilled Dreams of Its Forefathers.

Poem Inspiration:

The poem was inspired by the pain of seeing Nigeria still struggle with kidnapping, bloodshed, injustice and hardship, years after independence. I thought about our ancestors who fought for a better future and wondered whether their sacrifices had truly given us the freedom they dreamed of. That pain and my hope for a better Nigeria moved me to write.

How long have they been writing poems:

Almost 6 years

How they discovered their passion for poetry and word art:

2013 I was only about eight or nine, but I loved speaking in public. I loved debates, expressing myself and standing before people. I never knew that one day I would struggle to do the very thing that once made me happy.

In 2021, I was an Arts student and the only one in my class. Finding a Literature teacher was not easy. I moved from one place to another until I finally found someone who introduced me to poetry. He explained what poetry meant and simply told me to go and write. He didn't give me a topic. I went away and came back with a poem titled Time. He was surprised when I told him I had written it myself. He saw something in me, perhaps something I had not yet seen in myself.

With his encouragement, I kept writing. I wrote about fifteen to twenty poems, and we began putting them together in an anthology. He helped me edit my work, and I was so proud of what I was creating. But he eventually left the school. I lost my copy of the anthology, and he had the other one. I no longer had his contact. It hurt because those pages held a part of me I could never get back.

I later attended an open mic after seeing a flyer. I stood up and recited my poem, but people laughed. I went there with courage, but their laughter made me question myself. Thankfully, a woman who owned a restaurant encouraged me. She reminded me that nobody is perfect. Her words stayed with me and inspired my poem Free Bird.

In 2022, I came second runner-up at a poetry slam during SOBAFest in Sokoto. I was happy, but that became my last performance on stage.

Since then, opportunities have come, but I have struggled to take them. Not because I have stopped loving poetry, but because I don't really want my face to be known. I want people to read my words, hear my thoughts and recognise my knowledge. I want my work to be seen, even if I remain unseen.

Four years have passed. Sometimes I wonder what happened to that little girl who could stand before people without fear. I still have so much to say, so many things inside me that words alone seem to understand. I just wish I could find my way back without having to give up the privacy I have always wanted.

I am still writing. I am still hoping. And perhaps this is my way of returning.

I don't need the world to know my face. I only hope that one day, somewhere, someone will read my words and feel understood.

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