Tell them we are working hard
They will soon afford to buy rice
Show them our graphic evidence
Of rice pyramids. We are self-sufficient.
When they complain of hardship
Give them rice!
When there is rising unemployment
Add some more rice, I say
There's plenty of cassava too to eat.
If they plan to protest
And the workers want to strike
Pacify them with mudus of rice, right away
I know my people, they will shelve it.
All subsidies are gone forever
Taxes all around have come to stay
And when those rabble begin to grumble
Let the Custom open their stores
Of foreign rice to them. It tastes good!
My people are understanding
I have instructed them to tighten their belts
But if they questioned my extravagance
Give them state-sponsored rice
Sold at a subsidized rate.
Let them know we are truly empathic.
Not our fault about climate change
God knows why! We inherited banditry
Herders-farmers' clash, from our predecessors
But be assured when disaster strikes
Our response shall be swift
To distribute rice in camps of the IDPs!
Please help me in my confusion
Come to my rescue
Do not leave me sitting all alone
On this lonely beach of abandonment
Help me my brothers
Help me my compatriots
Help me you all men of good will
To make a modicum of sense
From all disconcerting confusion around me
My country has become an enigma
Difficult to fathom and rescue
From self inflicted contradictions
We were in the abyss of despondency
We were in dire need
To wriggle out from Economic strangulation
Kidnapping and banditry
General insecurity and insurgency
Glaring leadership failure
And like furious flash flood
We trooped out with hope in our hearts
With one goal in mind
To cast our votes and make a change
Particularly the youth eager
To put their trust once more
In a system bereft of any trust
And like a Gale of disappointment
Our hope came cascading down
To the abyss of disillusionment
And cacophony of claims and denials
And waiting for the unseen hands of destiny
To steer her from annihilation
To the habitual and perpetual state of inertia
The political storm is gathering
Election fever is at its highest pitch
As Nigerians head to the polls
To exercise their franchise
In the mother of all elections
The most crucial ever
Since the birthing of uninterrupted
Democracy in our dear father land
This would be an election like no other
Coming at a time Nigerians
Have their backs to the walls
Victims of unmitigated misery
Kidnapping, banditry and general insecurity
Victims of multi-dimensional poverty
In the midst of affluence
Proverbially living near the river
But washing their hands daily with spittle
The time of reckoning is here
Chickens have finally come home to roost
A Daniel has come to judgment
This is the time for Nigerians
To speak with one voice
That would echo and re-echo
For a long time to come
Nigerians are on the run
Refugees in search of Asylum
No more sweetness in their fatherland
Their dreams have crumbled
The giant of Africa is in shambles
With hope of her youth buried under the rubbles of
Man made insurgency
Banditry and insane killings
Evil holds sway everywhere
While goodness scamper to safety
Succor for the needy
Has been looted by the greedy
Kidnapping has been legalized
As perpetrators haggle ransom
With constituted authorities
Like in the open market
While security forces stand aloof
Awaiting their share of the pie
Armaggeddon is surely here
Nigeria my Country
Assailed,buffeted and violated
By evils of unimaginable proportions
Lies prostrate at the crossroads
Insurgency an anathema in our country
Has torn to shreds Our territorial integrity
Banditry and kidnapping like cancer
Are gnawing at our very existence
Human lives are more devalued
Than our cursed currency
Nothing looks strange any more
Nothing is certain any more
The Shepherd has lost control
And the flock scattered
In all directions
Don’t cry my beloved country
Cause help is on the way
Beyond these challenges
Nigeria looks beautiful
But woe betide every Partaker
In this national calamity!
The scene is of a damaged car, stained with blood
attracting people who gather to form a long cord
help is urgently needed but the hearts of men are bored
acting like the victim has been banned by God
the only response is a rush of snapshots on the Ford.
Skimpy and on high heels, so obvious is this beauty
who passes through a gang with minds so dirty
whistles and smacking- young boys in full blown banditry
she resists, but on her body, they begin a party
her hard-fought escape finally comes through, but void of pity.
A letter is dropped in front of 542 on a beautiful day
from 543 comes this grandma who reads it in foul play
she peeps through her intruding window- oh no way!
Tears the entire envelope and in the nearest bin the pieces lay
she hurries back to 543 after condemning her neighbour's pay.
A city without compassion, people acting as drones
humanity is hurt, the heart is replaced with bones
robbing peter to kill Paul, extending same to Jones
connectivity only existing between gadgets and phones
humans don't live here, it is a town full of stones.
Say ‘Yes’ to infantry
Not to Banditry:
To a nation-shepherding troop,
Not to a wealth-chasing group
From shattered homes
Or discontented domes.
A mass approach to violent robbery
By haters of stories that targets were slippery,
Enacting scenes unspeakably horrible
Just to make annoying failure impossible.
Treasure-Crazy killers
At times, televised in thrillers
But scarcely a heralded team
And at whom smiles don’t beam.
Alass! A much unchecked bloodletting
In every vista, every setting
Lives wasting that never will be bought
And screams unlocking from the ruthlessly shot.
It’s an unceasing hunger
To often sound vulgar
Between “Son-of-a-”
To whom they’re resolved to ditch
And “I’ll ing shoot you”
To whom they didn’t care to find out ‘who’?
But-Thanks-quarrel they would over spoils,
Gangsters highly rating their individual toils
Though sometimes from memories lost to rum,
Now ordering them to burst one another’s bum!
Impoverish the head
impoverish the body
impoverish the soul
of those who say
are citizens of nation
then nation is gone-
principles of banditry
in pre-literate, pre-modern
society of slumber
at work with no check
Your eyes arrive on me
like the whips of passion's urgency
wide with white smite encasing eons inflamed in irises,
I feel the tight temperature of they're heated hue, my lust crises rises,
brown autumn burning into ravenous red, seduction's takeover fast overhead,
you've got an angel in one eye, a devil in the other, teammates, temptation led
trouble in your stare and glory in your glare, there's a gamble on your lips
I get an adrenaline hit, I see the misfit, magic in those lids
beauty and banditry bound to fantasy,
hips and slits favoring me,
brash brows and lapping lashes
portals pivoting on our cunning chances,
flawless in flirt, a merciless miracle of attraction,
there's somethin lawless in you woman
got me comin for your lovin -
J.A.B.
We
SHOUTED
and
we
got
busted
We
WHISPERED
and
we
were
tortured
We
casted
our
voice
on
paper
but
it
had
no
reader,
it
was
nullified...
Question
it
and
you'll
get
charged
either
for
banditry,terrorism
or
treason
so
that
you
rot
in
jail
and
will
never
cast
a
wrong
choice
again
That's
it ,
we
kept
our
choices
all
to
ourselves
and
by
so
doing
made
one
sure
choice;
we
would
see
our
children
grow