The Little Kid

A handsome but tattered looking boy Light complexioned kid Innocently looking harmless “My belle dey cry Hungry dey kill me o Make una settle me now Wuse, one chance, one chance Driver, wait make dem Dash me money for food” Echoed his voice to my ear I was a morning passenger In a rush to see a friend Other passengers laughed it off The kid is very funny Morning comic relief they thought. The little kid, One out of many A Non-Nigerian, Chadian origin Oh! Oh! I see, they all said But what about Nigerians Don’t we beg too? Poverty has only one name Colour, age, sex, origin Counts not here, When it calls, We answer the register in unison. For many little kids And many old ones out there Time to stop begging beckons.