is this Independence
or shackled pretence?
is there really freedom
in this Niger Kingdom?
are we not yet slaves
dying, falling into graves
dug by the hands of those
who fart into Nigeria’s nose
as green browns
in villages and towns
and our white turns red
Jona bakes election bread
…
are we free from hate
is there food in the plate
is Musa a free man in Aba
is Johnson smiling in Bama
who is free?
do your eyes see
beyond his mosque
her church, ethnic husk?
is this Independence
or shackled pretence?
is there really freedom
in this Niger Kingdom?
A deep question here:
is Musa a free man in Aba
is Johnson smiling in Bama
A real deep food for thought
Musa is free in Aba and moves freely beyond her vicinity. I cannot say for sure if Johnson can walk the streets of Bama. While Musa’s mosque is safe in Aba, Johnson’s church was long razed down in Bama and environs. While Musa was built a mosque in Umuahia by the government of Chief Uzor Kalu (former Governor of Abia State), this cannot be contemplated up Bama and its likes.
A nice poem. If allowed to built upon, I will flesh up with preceding inputs. While genuine Nigerians talk one Nigeria and mean it, foreigners from all over claim to be Nigerians. Holding sensitive positions in government, they determine the faith of others. Now, truth hangs in the balance at the detriment of the citizenry.