TALKING NIGERIA

            When you have people thinking as companions and not as participants, when we have institutional progress and not individual progress, when councils, parties and associations members advance from been ordinary members to been advocates of ideas, then the necessary development needed in this nation of ours will come through.

            The missing block in the fence of this country is the estranged mindset of individuals and public officials to consider personal gains before community benefits. Most developed countries of the world have less individuals boasting of estates or incredible large amount of money, yet they are indisputably economically okay. Nigerian politicians take pride in properties today while they care less for the problems of the nation as a whole. Analyzing the problem, the panacea is not far fetched. If the gap between the classes must be narrowed, then all hands must be on deck. It is a thing of surprise that no new government can trust the officials of the previous government, rather it comes with its own cabinet and ministries etc, this should the undue cohesion and localization of governance. Just think of it, it will be irrational of me as a new minister not to surrender to the whims and caprices of my leader even when he is digressing from the right path.

            For so many years, it has been pumped into the mind of schoolchildren that unity lies in diversity, but do we ever practice what we preach? To be precise we have to eradicate the modern ethnic unrest and new age tribalism on ground. Nigerians should think Nigeria, not Ibibio, Fulani, Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo, but Nigeria. There are more things unifying us than dividing us. These have to be considered if any substantial change is to be made.

            Moreover, the totalitarian system secretly present in our democracy today must be done with, democracy should be practiced in its default and unabridged concept. Let the people select there leader, right from the grassroots, power should be decentralized and well checked. Leaders should shed their egocentricity and embrace a more community approach. If these and other meaningful solutions are put in place, then Nigeria shall indeed cross one more hurdle towards achieving its long thought 20: 2020.

ANTI LOVE

A beautiful bitch is she

Taunting men with her witchery

And when men her trick canst harm

God save them from her slandering arm

A fathom fool I would call her

For her face betrays her plotting heart

Possess she the best of manners

This makes a pig's goodly than hers

Day by day

Her ways grow with age

Time's winged chariot naught can do

For her parents everyday do moon

A beautiful bitch is she!

Thinking every lady is as mean as she

Her brain is faulty to the core

Her ethics like a dinner sore

In which every interest is lost

And the gains betray the cost

Her breasts like a rotten plantain

Which the wasps feed on up the mountain

Her eyes the most beautiful I've ever seen

A dog's own it looks to me

Indeed fools rush in where

Angels fear to tread

Oh! What a beautiful bitch is she!

MIDNIGHT WONDERs

When rocking grannies toy with knitting threads

And loving couples bask in dreamland wonders

And faithful guards delight in the warmth of pipes

And sleepy owls joyful in the onset of a new life

And scholars light the historic candles                                 

And the world was at peace

Gently swaying trees to the tunes of the night

The sky dozing after a delightful day

Then images of you float in my mind

Of a mortal goddess; an enchanting angel                                   

Softly carved with the beauty of a generation

I will pronounce your name! My love

I will worship you! Milady

And two golden eyes shall be my shrine

Eyes of emerald alloyed with ruby                                          

Stolen from the eternal diamond wells

Eyes glistening, every glance a wave of love

To see thee forever are my only wishes

Oh! My love is beauty personified

Seraphic face capturing the gaze of thousands               

Sensuous lips appealing to the senses

Lips fresh as droplets of rain in spring

Blossoming full like the opening of a rose

Never have I seen a terrain so perfect

With dark eyelashes fluttering with joy                                  

Ah! Venus a sister must have lost

I will honor you! My queen

Every graceful step a sign of grandeur

Skin as velvet; most royal satin

Of sapphire thou must have been made                             

Perfectly carved with no touch of blemish

No stain, no marks, no excesses

Blessed be the womb of your ancestors

And blessed be the month the fifth

If only a better lady exist                                                                       

Of your reflection she must be

For even the famed Da Vinci shall give up

Trying to conjure images of you

And when words of your mouth flow

As the harmonious beat of a million guitar                         

Softly in vacuum like an heavenly revelation

I will pronounce your name! My Princess-

On my knees, your hands to Kiss

To love till eternity, I cross my Heart

To concur my angel, is the only Antidote                             

Your reply I seek for I am love Drunk

And forever we shall live in a place Idyllic

An earthly Eden like a treeless Jungle

A place of royals in romance Adventures

Till the cows come home we shall Tarry-                              

And every twenty first we shall jolly

With dainty eyed fairies and floating angels

High above in the great city of the rock.

Cries of the Oppressed

Our universities today train students to become slaves, yes men, and not capable of fitting into today’s society. Imagine a scenario where a university lecturer threatens a student with carry over and failure just because the student his fighting for his right. This is unbecoming and unacceptable. A lecturer telling someone “I’ll report you are sick for the whole session.” ??? for a student who has been very hardworking and tired. Such lecturers are die hard sadists and should not be allowed in our campuses. A situation where one is made to rethink if one isn’t really in an advanced secondary school. What are they training us to be? To graduate from school and not make any impact on our immediate nation? To graduate and lack leadership and management skills? This must be curtailed. There is a vivid difference between disobeying and expressing one’s opinion. We complain that young minds are misused, that students engage in violent unionism, cultism, showdowns and examination malpractice. Yet we do not provide for the young one a platform to voice his pains: his gains: his innermost feelings, not only that, we treat him like garbage, shouting on him at every available opportunity. We consider him not to own a mind of his own. We treat him as if we are gods and goddesses. We fail to remember that the young ones of today are the leaders of tomorrow, if that mind is not properly nurtured; we shall face the consequences later in life. Students are not clamoring for undue freedom, all we want is truth and justice. There is a common saying that ‘create interest in whatsoever you are doing, if not do something else’. Lecturers make students loose interest in the course of there choice. They fail to welcome ideas, sticking to the old ways, they place priorities on attendances rather than on understanding of the subjects. A place, culture, person or institution that remains static, do not progress, rather it depletes and is wiped off totally. Students are not allowed to make researches on their own, they are not given the chance to build on lecturers’ notes and handouts, they are literally forced to swallow and pour down during examinations. Yet our country complain of lack of development; whereas education, which is the bedrock of the nation, is not allowed to grow. Governments should no more be blamed, as lecturers are not laying down examples of the change they want. We do not want this to continue, we do not want to be staunch followers of archaic ideas, the old has gone to the beyond, we need a change of attitude; lecturers should be more flexible with students. The art of diplomacy and proper understanding of students’ minds should be embraced and promoted on our Nigerian campuses. The future starts today and the time for change is NOW….

We have come home

Weakness shall make him stronger

 hunger shall make him happier

 persecution shall lift him higher 

and anger he shall conquer

 power he shall acquire

 justice he shall deliver

 Cynosure of all eyes

 never shall he tell a lie

 as drops of fluid on a myrh

 no blot, no stain. Only more shine 

every blessing, life shall magnify 

and when nature's trifle problems walk by 

divine solution in its footsteps shall follow

 on untramped paths in travail solo

 never does breeze withers inmates of a meadow

 but spreading God's wings on every phase narrow

 making gold holes of life burrows

 say i, too full of ego! 

But Marner's coins never were lost

 only transformed to a wandering lot

 raising the hope of the dying dawn

  How come the run rises in the slum?

 Recounting joys of days long gone

 We have come home, oh Lord!

 Our treasured bags have crawled in empty

 warriors of old sickly in groups clumsy

 the holy maid has been smitten

 the erring virgin strapped with weaklings

 our beds are fouled with owls' droppings

  in the river banks our feet baking

 Alas! The risen sun has been eclipsed

 laughter bitter echoing in our ears

 heads bowed down in gaily sadness 

and then it passed away

 it is over! Cried the young plants

 it is over! Cried the old sun

 happy days surely are here

 they that laughed happily weep

 for the hatchet's grave been washed away

 smiling flowers and growing faces

 he has returned in all his splendor

 spoils once lost trails his trains

 merriment, say you?