After twenty-four long years of independence,
Our people were without economic credence.
Free flying, your words mesmerized the nation.
You'd die for our country to bring our redemption.
You can try to Christianize me, if you may;
But don't try to Europeanize me in May.
Resolutely, you intervened to save the day.
Thundering over the city, for you, we prayed.
From the lonely cockpit of a roaring jetfighter,
To your voice booming over the airwaves,
You helped the nation to grow better.
You removed the depraved and misbehaved.
Who gets to choose what battle for statehood?
Our warrior lays in-state with colors of knighthood.
You were larger than life, but death is not in the mood.
Very strong and tall for the nation; you proudly stood.
You fought to break our apocalypse.
You jet on wingtips to remove grips of hardships;
You pistol-whip judgeships, lordships, and colonelships.
You called for cadre memberships and chairmanship.
You, who demanded personal accountability,
You, who ordered chieftains with truth-telling,
You, whose command is straight-shooting;
Your heroism remains in the headlines captioning.
My hero rose and redirected the nation.
Ordinary men and women talked about a revolution.
You broke the stranglehold of corruption.
I offer my hero a precious piece of my appreciation.
A white shroud for the mighty soldier fallen,
Give me pure cotton for my hero's recallin'.
As you always were, in dialogue booming.
We are a lost nation that is always presuming.
We knew our warrior wouldn't live forever.
But, it seemed as if you could.
Death strikes out the warrior's endeavors.
It leaves our nation submerged like driftwood.
The country was yours and mine by birthright:
For afterlife, there's no dialogue, to boom but light,
There are no embargoes to wield.
Time reminds us of when we did not yield.
Oceans now mourn you, but friends bemoan.
You, who stood alone in your courage as a first-born,
You, who never hesitated to go airborne,
Our native-born has left with our hearts thorn.
Your voice we can no longer hear to boom.
A martyr in death, now, he lays with villains.
Time will heal, but time has sealed your tomb.
Like when we were drowning with the breadlines.
In June or December, the state was left bleeding.
The homeland's dissidents took over the leading.
Forty years ago, you denounced rampant corruption.
In our hearts is where we will keep you till the resurrection.
We will not grieve for long, for your soul is at rest.
We know you have passed the test.
You are a thousand winds and our best.
You are following the path God laid for the blessed.
You could not stay another day;
to fight, to love, to work, and to play.
Things left undone must stay that way.
You have found that peace at the end of the day.
JJ, we will not dwell upon your death.
But we will celebrate your life.
There is, for us, no other native birthed.
There is none to compare within a nation in strife.
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