Monday, September 28, 2009

I NEED A FRIEND

I need a friend
I need a free end
An end I can be free
A close where I’m free
A cul-de-sac I can strip naked
Not a junction where the bus passes
A cocoon I can lick my wounds
A place to caper in the rain
A haven.My heaven.
In heaven I hear they hold hands and sing hallelujah!
This is hell where nobody really has a brother.
I know you heard Brutus betrayed Julius Ceasar
But you really need a sofa
To cushion your crash
To help you relax
Do you know how mother earth survives?
The clouds cry and pour out their burden till they are dehydrated
The ground shares their burden
Collects every single drop of their tears
And sends them vapour to end their thirst.
It’s the water cycle.
I am stagnant water
I long to flow into you freely
I long you pour into me easily
I long we are bound by this cycle
This cycle of concern
I long we are bound.
A bondage of freedom.
I want to be the place for you
I want to be there for you
I want a friend
I want a free end
You don’t have to have a red carpet and chandeliers
I would still cherish you bring my mat and lantern
And stay so you are not lonely.
Just don’t think like Mark Zuckerberg
He says I have a thousand friends
Don’t mind him.
It’s not me.
It’s just a page with my face.
You have to go beyond that phase
To be my friend.
Can you search my soul with google?
Can you know my status with twitter?
Saul seeks to kill David
David needs Jonathan
America is after Scofield
Sucre where are you?
Jacob is on a distressing journey
He needs a place to lay his head
How else would he see the angels if he doesn’t sleep?

adesubomi plumptre your book NO BULLSHIT inspired this poem.thankyou.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

GANI'S LAST WORDS


A world renowned preacher and firebrand evangelist was about to die,his doctor asked what he wanted to do with his last moments.He replied with childlike glee “another opportunity to win souls for Christ!”.I wasn’t with sage Gani(I believe he deserves this title) at his last moments so I really have no idea what his last words were. Probably he was professing his love for his wife(we need to appreciate this resourceful woman too.You have no idea what it is to give your husband to Nigeria) but this one thing I know,Gani looking down at Nigeria(I believe he is in heaven)would be startled by the flood of condolences and comments and current of “grief” sweeping across the nation at his death.Forget whatever is portrayed by the media of Gani being strong in death.His death was agonizing!Infact he wept on national TV when he first returned from London after he was diagnosed with cancer.His death was avertable.If only the Nigerian medical system was sound!That was his bane.His pain.
It was in prophylactic of these dastard waste of Nigerian lives,potentials and resources that Gani founded a party-National Conscience Party(NCP) and contested for president in the last presidential elections.Did you vote for him?Who did you vote for?Did,did you even vote at all?Most ran to the polling booth the moment they heard someone was sharing #500.Na wa o.These I believe are exactly Gani’s thoughts. “Where did all these verbose condolences come from?Who are all these strangers?Why are they all pretending to be missing me?When I needed them most they weren’t there for me.When you could have changed a whole lot by voting for me,voting rightly,you did nothing!” I doubt if he had 10000 votes from a nation of 150million.Nigerians we talk too much.Too much and do nothing!All talk no action!As I type this piece I provoke with eruptive anger with every successive word.Also lets stop accusing and blaming “our leaders”(I wonder who coined this phrase).Lets resolve in our heart to do the right thing.No more corruption in any form.Expo.Bribery.Breaking traffic rules et al.Paramount is a national renaissance in our nation and government.The men follow football intensely(even dieing at times) and beer.The women,aristocrazy,fashion,their bodies,fashion(o I already said that) et al and we leave the fate of our country in the hands of greedy tyrannous vampires who have been Nebuchadnezzar for too long!All that is left for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.I doubt if any primary school student can recite the national anthem correctly!We are all just going about our lives selfishly and giving no impacting concern to Nigeria.Think not what your country would do for you but what you would your country. Thank Allah,Gani didn’t die for Nigerians(His whole labour would have been wasted).He died for the truth!
No man can live forever.A man’s life lies not on how long but how well.Spartans knew this simple truth.They never sort long life per se but glory and till today we talk about them.Today we are talking about Gani.Thank God churches are now teaching their members to be patriotic and so many individuals are fanning the flame of Nigerian consciousness.The future of Nigeria can be decided by this generation.So what is it going to be?

Monday, September 7, 2009

ALL ABOUT YARDY

This is such a feeble attempt at a come back! Alot has been happening in this our beloved country 9ja(shhhh.... reuben abati said we should stop spelling nigeria like this)
Recently his excellency president Umaru Musa Yar’adua and the Nigerian government have been at the receiving end of such myriad of literal assault in the Nigerian dailies,physical and virtual Nigerian space that I pitied the poor man and asked myself(in defence of the innocent looking Yar’adua) is it that bad?Then my barking generator,empty pocket,fraustrated undergraduate of UNILAG and a sorrowful countenanced mother of a boko haram casualty reminded me that yes,it is that bad!Nevertheless the devil’s advocate in me evokes a picture of Yar’adua on a cross like Jesus suffering for the sins of many.Lets not forget the Yoruba proverb which says when you point an accusing finger at someone,your remaining four fingers point back at you.This is my point,we Nigerians are so quick to castigate “our leaders” while we also are corrupt in one form or the other.The average Nigerian is on default to blame “our leaders”(I wonder who cooked this phrase up) or the government when something goes wrong when he also contributes to the corruption plague.What I am advocating is a national reawakening,a shift from criticizing to patriotism and practical solutions.Legendary Michael Jackson said if you want to change the world start from the man in the mirror.
The Nigerian police has not had sweet sleep since the death of the Boko haram leader in its custody.The international community is asking questions.Nigerians are tongue lashing(as usual).But the truth is that this barbarism and disrespect for humanity is deeply etched in our psyche.It is the norm in Lagos and by extension the whole country for a mob to put the law into their hands and incinerate a captured armed robber(even in broad daylight!).If nigerians were asked to donate tires to move Nigeria forward nobody would but if it is time to set a thief ablaze you’d be surprised at the rate tires,petrol and matches would be produced!Every human is human,has life in him and deserves rights.Every human!That is what it means to be civil.I don’t know about the older Nigerian generation but this present generation of Nigerian youths grew up in nursery and primary schools where teachers ordered them to sing humiliating songs like “olodo rabata” to students that performed poorly in class.This were obviously psychological blows to those less brilliant students who at times cried and peed on their pants as they wallowed in ignominy while the mockers laughed.In secondary schools this inhumanity escalates to physical abuse.If a student steals and is caught,he/she is not taken directly to the necessary authority but first beaten blue black even by his/her friends.Students relish these moments.Its fun but unconsciously a part of them which is human with the capacity to fill pity dies slowly…
As I type this piece,Wande cole speaks on my laptop”Se na like this we go dey dey?”
“I no fit wait o make things for change o,make we join hands make am beta” The change should start from us.Stop taking one way.Stop buying expo for your children.Pay your tax.Stop selling your votes…….Arise o compatriots!


and here is a poem about my beloved 9ja

ADA

Many men have fooled Ada
Many men have used her
Once her lover was a particular soldier
Who returned decades later
A regimented civilian in agbada.
He flagrantly raped her
She birthed a son, Yaradua
Little wonder
(He is as weak as a sicker)

A victim of serial 419ers
Ada has lost over 300billion dollars
The OPC mallam grabbed a dagger
And charged at her con misters
But a con minister
And an inspector general
Launched a theatrical counter
And Waziri became the owner
Of the mallam’s kiosk and dagger

In all the drama
Ada couldn’t even lift a finger
To help the mallam-her helper
Because she was down with AIDS and cancer.

So sickly son examines unhealthy mother
And wanted to make her healthier
So he purchased bleaching cream and powder
Cosmetic products from Estee Laudier
He even hired
A pharmacist to be Ada’s clothier
Who got her Sergio hipsters
That made her as sexy as hip stars.

So sickly son thinks Ada is finer
Meanwhile
The terminal virus in Ada’s blood lingers
The terminal in her blood is suicidal
The virus in her blood lingers……