By Captain Femi Amusa
Oh gather now, ye seafarers bold,
With tales of salt and courage told –
Let memory’s anchor hold us tight,
As we recall a nation’s flight.
In fifty-nine, before the cheer
Of freedom’s dawn rang loud and clear,
A fleet was born on sovereign tide,
To sail where dreams and hopes abide.
MV Oranyan, proud and grand,
First bore our pride to distant land.
Then Oduduwa, Ethiope’s might,
Joined by Niger, Ogun, Benue and Hadejia in the light.
From Europe’s chill to Asia’s heat,
We brought Naija to every fleet.
But more than ships with metal frame,
We built bold men who earned their name.
From deck to bridge, below the hold,
We bore the green-white-green with gold.
Cadets with stars in brightened eyes,
Chiefs who knew both sea and skies,
Cooks whose pots told stories sweet,
And greasers strong beneath their feet.
The ports we built, the trade we grew,
The dignity our labour knew.
We shaped the coast, we fed the land,
We bore the nation’s weight by hand.
Yet storms would rise, not from the sea,
But from the halls of policy.
With careless pens and empty pride,
They let our nation’s glory slide.
In ninety-five, the anchor dropped –
The beating heart of Niger stopped.
No wind, no sail, no more to roam –
Our mighty fleet was not called home.
But though the ships no longer gleam,
We still hold fast the sovereign dream.
Our mates now lead in oil and trade,
In classrooms, courts, the charts they’ve made.
Professors, captains, minds so vast,
Still sailing though the years have passed.
We wear no chains of rust or fear –
Our legacy remains sincere.
Let every child and ward be told,
Of Nigerline, both brave and bold.
Let records speak, let lies be chased,
Let truth and honour be embraced.
NNSL did not collapse –
It was betrayed, in shadowed lapse.
But dreams, like oceans, run too deep –
They swell again, they do not sleep.
So raise a toast, ye mariners,
To oilers, stewards, engineers.
To those who danced with storm and foam,
And carried Nigeria far from home.
We sailed for pride, not just for pay –
We live to see a brighter day.
And when the youth ask who we be,
Say this: We brought the sea to thee.
In salt, in strength, in silent gleam –
We are the sails of sovereign dream.
Forever Nigerliners.
