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 </div><p></p>stop! —i said stop<br>
cajoling our thirsty oesophagus,<br>
with cold water of economy ‘recession’.<br>
for how long shall we wait<br>
at the temple of sea-sore?<br>
when our palm is deprived<br>
from picking the sparkling coweries of nature…<br>
.<br>
for how long,<br>
will our once adored naira<br>
enjoy the hot lashes of ‘koboko’<br>
from the hand of dollar and euro?<br>
for how long,<br>
will the blood of innocent souls<br>
spring and flow like ‘misisipi’?<br>
eroding the bank of river niger,<br>
sending benue to exile!<br>
.<br>
for how long,<br>
shall we continue to recite the pledges<br>
of serving our father’s land,<br>
with all our strength and might?<br>
can a hungry man serve<br>
with a hungry belly<br>
hunger has flattered<br>
like a tattered slippery slippers?<br>
.<br>
for how long<br>
shall we keep our eyes,<br>
on the north and south of our doors?<br>
awaiting the arrival of our chibok princess,<br>
whose fate had crowned<br>
the queen of sambissa;<br>
or should we await the day<br>
they will return with twins and triplet?<br>
offspring born in anguish and pain,<br>
without the solace of bride-price and marriage.<br>
.<br>
for how long,<br>
shall we allow our feet to dance<br>
to the tune of bomb-blast?<br>
when we know our lives<br>
will be the ransom<br>
to pay for this melody of gboooooah!<br>
for how long,<br>
will peace keep bowing down to war?<br>
when insurgency choose to wear the royal crown<br>
and terrorism forces appraises from masses’ mouth.<br>
.<br>
for how long,<br>
will the indigene of niger-area<br>
keep chanting—we want biafra!<br>
when their fore-fathers<br>
were the bricklayers<br>
that mounted the brick of nigeria?<br>
for how long,<br>
shall we keep preaching<br>
tribal mark of religion?<br>
when only one God<br>
birthed the triplet religion<br>
on the maternity bed of nigeria.<br>
.<br>
for how long,<br>
will parent keep digging<br>
the grave of their murdered children<br>
with agony of gnashing teeth<br>
and shovel of their salty tears?<br>
.<br>
for how long,<br>
shall we keep folding our arms,<br>
expecting the falling of manna<br>
when our isrealite<br>
is not more in the republic of wilderness?<br>
for how long<br>
will our crippled economy,<br>
move around with wheel chair<br>
on the orbit of africa?<br>
for how long nigeria!<br>
.<br>
for how long will it be!<br>
for how long!<br>
how long!<br>
long!<br>
will it be?
<p><figure id="attachment_22134" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22134" style="width: 999px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://poetry.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/FOR-HOW-LONG-by-Oki-Kehinde-Julius.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-22134" src="http://poetry.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/FOR-HOW-LONG-by-Oki-Kehinde-Julius.jpg" alt="FOR HOW LONG? by Oki Kehinde Julius" width="999" height="562" loading="lazy"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-22134" class="wp-caption-text">FOR HOW LONG? by Oki Kehinde Julius</figcaption></figure></p>
 
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 Oki Kehinde Julius </a>
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