Blessed be thy name
Akwa Abasi Ibom
Oil flows in crude and palms
We drank to augment the joy
Of a new south-south state
Our ancestors were noted
For farming and fishing
Women wore waists beads
And fed their children
With breast milk
And remains of past sacrifices
The children knew well
How to keep the vultures away
From eating the meat at the altar
Till the sacrifice was accepted
By Itina Iman

Our distant friends
Can share from the oil proceeds
But cannot be priests to our deity
It would be sacrilegious
For they know not how
To keep thieves and vultures away
Iman, born and weaned at the shrine
Would not let the vultures
Take away the meat
And knew what the sacrifice meant
To the people and the land
If and only if
The sacrifice is accepted by Itina
Then our worries would be banished

Our shrines do not discriminate
On basis of where you come
Region, tribe or zone
Strangers are welcome
And can partake in the feast
They can also share with us
The blessing of our sacrifice
But some distant children
Brought dogs and vultures
From east, north and west
To take away what was meant for god
The hard measured meat at the altar
And from the shrine of Itina
We wept
Our plea now
Is for an accepted sacrifice