THINGS FALL APART (Poetry) – by Okegbemiro Oluwaseun
A simulation of a life drawn on the gates of Aso Rock
Classic case of perception versus reality
Wealthy individuals, starving nation
Corrupt leaders, vitiated people
Separated by the differing amount of zeros in our bank accounts
With men swinging their agbada saying, “one thousand, five hundred”
We need to account for the days when we would go to the bank, exchange one Naira for one Dollar
The days when new graduates would get a job days after graduation
New civil servants riding around in their Volkswagen Beetles
United by the greed we all share in our eyes
A nation where things fall apart
From the soldiers in the Biafra war to the coup d’état that eliminated Aguiyi Ironsi and Fajuyi in 1966
The letter bomb,boom shalakaboobkaboom boom pow pow,that spread the body of Dele Giwa in his living room on October 19 1986
As significant as the war shells that was left to fall apart in Ikeja cantonment
Not deciphered by the great mind of our past military leaders, leading to boom shalakaboobkaboom boom pow pow, this time louder, as more bodies fall apart
Yet the president responds with, “We are a nation of millions of people. We thank God it is just a couple thousands, it could have been more”
Gone are the days when the Eagles were super
When Okocha would dribble through a defense like a snake in a maze
When Oliseh would drive a shot that tore the net like a knife in the hand of a hunter
Oh, how do I forget “SAP”
The devaluation of the Naira that sapped us of our strength as a nation
Religious enmity, clowned under the disguise of zonal leadership
Hausa today, Yoruba tomorrow and Igbo never
Clever, but we are smarter than that
By ‘we’, I mean the youth that are now willing to stand up
The ones who scream #ENOUGHISENOUGH on the streets of Abuja
The ones who demonstrated peaceful protest during #OCCUPYNIGERIA
All we ask is to #LIGHTUPNIGERIA
Yahooze has become the order of the day
On this day, I ask to have it in another way
Cultural Hegemony edges money in the mouth of my culture
People shutting their lips in reward for a meal for their family
They have become an ally to the destruction of self,refusing to get emancipated from mental slavery
Shutting their eyes from the evil jungle justice they see
Triggered fingers fingering the guitar of the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Where are the men who would revive Kalakuta Republic?
Where are the men who would change the coil in the lantern when the oil runs out?
Yes, the oil will not last forever
Remember the strife of the Ogoni people
The public unquestioned hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa
I do not expect us to fall anymore to this kind abasha
Abacha might have drained our resources
Luckily, in many of us, the source is gained
The government has for long put us in a portmanteau of conundrum
They have played us hide and seek as all things fall apart
Deceiving us with words like “I had no shoes”
Today they fly in the sky
Making us sell our shoes to maintain our families
They express their ability to word play as they play with words
Just that in reality, they are playing with our oblivion
Okegbemiro Oluwaseun
www.dazedfaze.blogspot.com
@MCMrLucas on twitter
