WHERE ELSE IS HOME?

Yomi Ojo

Where Else is Home?

Where else is home
Like the land of our own
Where our olds have grown
And many renowned

Yet with pain they have sown
All the treasures we know
And many fought and drown
Just make us a home

For where else is home
But a land we have known? 

Yomi Okusanya  

'I am tired of all this corruption in high and low places.

Tired of the animosity between the ethnic tribes.

Tired of the kleptomaniac politrickcians.

Tired of the apathetic citizens

Tired ! Tired !! Tired !!' 

Adesoji Adebisi

Woke up with a start like it had been a vision
felt like I just won a part in an audition
but not being an actor made it feel like confusion
guess I ought to get a better confirmation.

So I looked yonder but there is a buzz in my nation
its amazing how it all came to this situation
sure feels a bit 'woozy' like I've had too much carnation
for the unwary, its cream in my tea without the ovation

Oops , I think I am sidetracking the original rendition
now I run the risk of mucking the waters of a dire situation
in its wake I may end up with a trail of complications
that befall a nation that trod the real road to perdition...

Saya-Braide Ebi  

ANOTHER INDEPENDENT DAY CELEBRATION

Same o same o. Power faa,
Water faa, Good roads faa, Education faa, Values faa. Two lane bad roads
with politicians flogging every body to one lane so they could pass. 

Here, to be rich is to be a politician. 

We stand attention to hear your intention, 

but when we pay attention all we see is tension. 

I was born, I was promised that things will change. 

Yes they did, but for the worse. 

Where are the good roads they promised?

Yes, you gave me road; Lokoja-Abuja road. 

Where is the constant power? Ok, I now have constant darkness, and noise pollution.

Where are the railways, and the 10 lane roads, and free hospitals, and the free education? 

Where are the J>O>BS? 

You said I will be secured, only for them to kill my mama, kill my papa. 

Dem burn my papa house in ODI; rape my sister. 

You created MEND to shoot my brothers, brought Boko Haram to bomb my uncle. 

My aunty was kidnapped, yet you don;t care. 

You promised there will be no corruption today, but you only made way for your own corruption. 

And you want me to celebrate? I will not listen to you. 

Your children mock me on the street. They said, I didn't go abroad for my education so I'm not their equal. You bought them Escalade, they oppress me with it. 

I will not celebrate. For what? I want action on your promises now. 

No, I will not understand.

Go away with your lies. I will not celebrate. 

Don't talk, just walk. *sob! sob! sob!*

 

NIGERIA WILL YET ARISE!!!!
Happy Birthday NIGERIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yomi Ojo  

A losT GeneratioN?

Where gone "The good ol' days"
A jerky phrase
The elders always say
When they hint on the glorious days
This generation have missed?

Nevertheless, we sing in hope, reason and deeds
That someday a new generation may sing

"Thank God for these days our heroes have made"

Let's reach out with love than our neighbors we hurt

For we know better
The voice of the letter
That we can get better
If we hate each other...lesser.


Walter Chike Nwodo  

CALL NINE ONE ONE. . .

There is fire on our roof top
It is blazingly burning
And we know not where to run
Some one please call nine one one

The hairs on the head of our heads are on fire
Helter-skelter we run to put it out
Pillar to post we run in seach of the seachables
To make our life livable

There is fire on our elective platform
It has consumed the entire dais
The people on it now beyond recognition
We know not where to put our marked papers
So pls call nine one one

Shephereds have taken the sheep out to dry land
Now at crossroads crossing to the green land
And with fire on the dry land
Topsy turvy the sheep search for the greenland;
Please, call nine one one

Our land is at blaze, almost all are lost
Food, shelter, good health, education in flames
And the igniters seat on top of the extinquisher
So pls call nine one one
Less our populace peter out!

Omoragbon Osaze 

Leadership deficit has been Nigeria's albatross since freedom from colonial masters. What do you do when ethnic champions and parochial interests masquerade as leaders of thought and elder statesmen? They drive the wedge between the different ethno-politico-religious fault lines and portray their veiled intentions as the solution while the larger populace looks on with feigned innocence. We willingly enthrone corrupt fellows and expect with luck that things will turn out for good. The destiny of this country is in the hands of the people, and not some leader who is remote from the people. 

They climb on the back of the agitation of their people to limelight and turn their back on them when negotiating the future of their people for pecuniary/immediate gain. Its been 52 years of the same; moving in circles: ethnic crisis, political tension, economic crisis with no end in sight. Trading blame is of no use; they are immuned to blame. 

What do I expect in the next few decades? It more of the same; except we take our destiny in our hands just as the Egyptians and other Arab spring countries did. However there is a glimmer of hope. If our votes counts, like election in Edo State where the vote of the people carried the day. Genuine change will come from a reformed electoral process.

 

Nonso Chukwudebe  

They say she's gone way past the "fool at forty" description....
They sneer behind her back when she attempts to sound serious...
They look on in awe as her inhabitants daily labor to make a mockery of that which should be the norm....
They daily ponder at the divisive trend that is her lot...
They look on as year after year, her leaders go on throwing up policies that are at best self-serving...
They laugh when her so-called masses labor in their own little ways to ensure corruption takes a vantage position...

They marvel at how one so potentially great can look so small...
And chuckle when she woefully tries to drum it into the head of anyone that cares to listen that she's the "giant of Africa".....
They cringe when those who claim to be her "elder statesmen" attempt to outdo each other in a shameful self-serving dance of inducing ethnic and religious divisions....
They are perplexed when those who gun for her high office leave the realm of issues and present themselves from ethnic standpoints....

They are more surprised when her citizens would rather vote in a goat from their ethnic stock than allow a more qualified individual from another area taste high office...
And they shake there heads in utter disbelief at the folly of her ethnic combatants in not understanding that the goat they vote in only has his belly at heart....
They look on as terrorists threaten to put a lie to her security outfits claims to "having everything under control"....
They are sad as bombs continue blowing up in churches notwithstanding..

They watch as she yearly continues to honour those who've spent the better part of their lives raping her with impunity...
And they look on with sadness as her roads progressively turn into death traps....
They are appalled at the sheer waste that permeates the system and wonder how long she can take this beating....
They gasp as her leaders yearly roll out the drums to celebrate her birthday and ponder the essence of such celebrations....
They study her foundations and wonder how its not obvious to her people the need to engage in dialogue....
And they are surprised at how her leaders would rather continue living a lie

Than face the truth staring them in the face....

She is now 52 and as usual, the drums will roll...
Glasses will be clinked....
Newspaper houses will rake in fortunes from congratulatory messages....
But they observe with bated breath...
Hoping against hope that that which they've seen from afar will somehow become a reality....
Yes...
They will be looking past the disappointments of the past to a future where this giant really acts worthy of the name....

They hope that this grown-up man will stop crawling and start walking....
They are mindful that the very fact that she's still existing shows there's hope...
And they hold on tenaciously to this hope....
Praying that she awakens from her slumber to take that position which rightfully belongs to her....
And in their hopeful state, they see a grown-up man fully aware of the responsibilities that come with age....
They see her people fully grasping the lie sold them by leaders whose interests are at best pecuniary...
 

Yes....They see a people with a deep sense of patriotism 

Rising from the ashes of that which was obtainable in times past....
And they rejoice in their hope for the good that is her future....
She is 52 and though she's been battered and raped continuously, she yet rises....
To put to shame those who gave her up as spent...
And as long as good always triumphs over evil, 

NIGERIA WILL YET ARISE!
Happy Birthday NIGERIA!!!