Nigeria: Your Broken Promises

Nigeria: Your

Broken Promises!

On Saturday, October 1st 1960:

Nigeria! Nigeria! Nigeria!

Where are the promises?

Promises! Promises! Promises!

you made before heavens,

vow before angels and

celestial hosts,

social contract you 

proclaimed.

Saturday October 1, 1960-

hope-you placed before millions

dreams-you made many dreamed 

vision you made uncountable 

envisioned.

On that sunny day,

Race Course-you rocked 

thunderous ovation rocked

four corners of the land;

thunder-Sango-the-god

of lightning emitted, 

sworn oath from you 

made Atlantic Ocean quiet.

Covenant before Nigerians 

for a better tomorrow

made Lagos Lagoon

disappeared,

promises upon promises

before fifty-six millions-

set a new beginning 

for the new nation.

Babies awaiting arrival,

generations still on coded 

DNA,

north, south, west, and east-

heard the pledge you made-

I shall lead you into the 

 “Promised Land.”

Fifty-seven years after,

Passengers’ train still at the station,

commercial flight still in tarmac

cruise ship on anchor,

passengers’ bus still waiting at

terminus,

commercial vehicle still 

loading at motor park,

okada, camel, and horse

riders are yet to take off;

waiting for traffic control

officer’s clearance.

Fifty-seven years ago,

you bonded-

Nigerians-

I shall give you quality 

education,

your schools shall be 

home and haven,

oasis of peace,

to raise, nurse, care, and 

nurture generations.

Six decades after,

ghost education 

you give-

education without character,

education lacking quality, 

education that can’t stand 

test of time,

education without 

tomorrow in view.

Today’s Realities:

Schools have become 

breeding centers for 

vices,

training grounds for

depravity,

Sodom upon which sin cities 

are built in larger societies.

Fifty-seven years ago,

Nigeria-you pledged-

delicacies belonging to 

kings,

your children shall eat,

wines and liquors serve to  

queens and nobles

they will drink with menu.

Water-yes-clean water

shall run in homes,

desert will turn wet land,

wet land will enjoy nature

year round,

never will be flood on our 

coast line,

forest shall never lack 

greenery scene,

wooded land shall remain 

so.

Fifty-seven years after,

nature-you abandoned-

land-you turned enemy,

water-you ignored.

Hunger and deprivations

inheritance-

you have bequeathed

to your children,

in poverty-they wallow,

hardship and penury,

clothes you place upon them.

Fifty-seven years ago, 

assurance-you gave-

generation after generation 

shall have access to

quality and free health care;

elderly, physically, and mentally 

challenged,

people of limited means

homeless, and vulnerable,

shall find succor in 

caring heart of combined

medical personnel and

facilities within length and 

breath of a new nation.

To these days,

several generations have not 

known,

what quality health care is,

rather dilapidated structures,

obsolete equipment,

scarcity of drugs, and 

dearth qualified health

personnel,

their share in the land

flowing with milk and honey.

Which Way Nigeria: 

Cured or abolished diseases

elsewhere-rule as king over 

your children,

epidemic curtailed elsewhere,

decimate your children without

pity,

advanced medical care enjoyed

elsewhere,

turns mirage in Nigeria;

common diseases forgotten

elsewhere,

ferociously unleash anger 

upon your children.

Decades ago,

Nigeria-you vowed-

every soul shall have 

roof over his head,

no sun shall scorch you,

no sweltering heat shall

overcome you.

No rain shall beat you,

no cold or winter shall

made you uncomfortable.

Nigeria-you vowed-

your pathways-

I shall make highways, 

footpaths to freeways,

trails and traces to

superhighway;

narrow pathways to 

multi-lanes carriage way,

bridges to arch, beam, 

cable-stayed, suspension, 

truss, and cantilever.

Several budgets and 

seven developmental plans-

uncountable relief and 

social programs you 

launched: the three “Rs”

Operation Feed the Nation,

Green Revolution,

MAMSER, Better Life for 

Rural Women, 

Petroleum Trust Funds, 

OMPADEC.

Today, your children are

no better than years ago,

death traps-roads you give them

to walk on,

sinking and erosion damaged 

roads-they travel daily,

collapsed bridges-gifts-

on roads-they travel.

Nigeria-you swore before 

my grand parents,

your sons shall have 

quality and well-paying jobs,

congenial business 

environment for entrepreneurs-

local and foreign,

decades after-no industrial blue

prints;

years after-no specific pathway-

for development,

all you know is crude oil,

your concern is apportionment of

oil wells.

If Niger-Deltans 

die of environmental 

degradation,

Bayelsans have no portable

water to drink, 

River State has no motor able

ways,

Cross-River and Akwa-Ibom 

live in shanties,

Delta, Edo, and Imo washed

away by erosion,

Ilaje-Ese-Odo/Okitipupa 

in Ondo State are cut off

from Nigeria.

As long as oil flows from the

rigs and platforms,

Nigerian landlords and their 

foreign collaborators smile 

to Euro-American banks,

So be it.

Jobs you have failed to 

provide for youth,

few available are already

gone,

industrial spirit 

spearheaded by 
private-ownership-you 

continue to muffle;

burden-you have become to

your citizens,

children have remained stunted

never wean from parents,

still their breasts-they suck.

Safety net for your 

children’s future you pledged,

happy future you promised,

unfortunately, many had gone 

to graves with pains and cry, 

squalor-most live now,

in poverty majority live,

gratuity and pension-

years after service,

many never receive. 

Security of life and property,

you assured our uncles, aunts,

fathers, mothers, grandparents,

their children would have

years ago;

today, paid “foreign herdsmen”

kidnappers, and thugs

have made death preferable

to life in neighborhood.

Nigeria: World is Watching.

With gargantuan security 

vote every year,

with daily recruitment of

security personnel,

with local and foreign

trainings provided 

security agencies-have

become insecure agencies-

partners of killer gangs and

mafia-

year-round pain to tax payers.

Collective ownership of

national institutions-

you proclaimed; 

Nigeria for NIGERIANS.

Nigeria shall be owned 

managed, and controlled  

by ALL Nigerians-

from west, east, south, and 

north,

no discrimination.

Promise-you made at 

Race Course years ago,

today-sectional or tribal 

ownership of patrimony

we see, 

religious favoritism-

in place of secularity 

you practice and promote.

Federal Character-

a balancing policy-of 

all-inclusive-Nigerians

in the scheme of things,

you have jettisoned,

use only when it favors you;

instead of four-cardinal 

geographical spread of

appointments and

developmental programs,

regional control-you prefer
and promote 

Freedom, liberty, and 

justice,

my ancestors never 

knew under colonial rule,

you vowed to give,

today, justice is delayed,

justice for the highest bidder,

freedom-you turned dee-form,

liberty-you turned-

cash and carry,

fairness-you define by

politics, personality, and policy.

Promises! Promises! Promises!

Where thou be?

Gone with winds at 

Race Course? 

Our heroes' deeds-

are they not in vain?

Our freedom fighters-

of what use their sacrifices?

Summer is Here Again

Summer is Here Again

Oh! Summer is here again,

no threat from rain cloud,

no harassment from thunder,

no fear of lightning;

the sky is clear and friendly,

the sky is warm and welcoming.

Bikinis are here again,

on the streets are boxers

sending corporate wares on

vacation;

beaches had already sent

invitations to guests,

amusement parks already

contacted would be visitors.

On the roads are

holidaymakers,

in the air are international

travelers,

hotels and comfort inns

temporarily have become

homes to millions,

friendship beyond national

borders holidaymakers now

make,

international brotherhood

without conditions summer

makes possible.

In the woods are sweet

smelling roses,

in open field are

butterflies performing

nature assigned duties;

and trees of every

shape and make spread out

their branches and leaves

to sun to complete

man-plant-symbiotic-

relationship-

photosynthesis.

During the daytime,

flowers give their beauty

with glowing colors,

at night they go into sleep;

in summer  the salutary

warm air-ultraviolet B-UVB

nourishes human body with

vitamin D.

In the wild big and small

animals come out of

hibernation,

put on display their abilities

to make the heart of mankind

rejoice.

Summer-your memories-

will linger on,

as you create worthwhile

excitements to remember;

summer thanks for your visit,

summer thanks for your

verve and ebullience,

life added value.

Summer thanks for your

vivacity,

though, you will soon go,

humankind eagerly await

your next visit.

Summer! Summer! Summer!

Delay not too long,

come as scheduled,

your memories are

too much to be forgotten.

All pictures are copyrighted materials.

A Loyal Friend

A Loyal Friend.

Loyal friend is a true

companion,

he stands by you

in trouble times,

at your side in

tribulation,

beside you-when alone

in your courtyard-

holding hand-when both

cry together-

on your divan bed,

giving support during trial.

Never a traitor,

not a betrayer,

not a gossiper or quidnunc,

not a whisper of evil,

a defender-who carries-

your fight beyond

known frontiers.

Never complain about

your faults

but put up with your

shortcomings,

gentle nudge on your back

from him to a right path,

carefully refining you

to become a gold of

inestimable value.

Never turn you back or

give up on you,

rather turn up-

when others desert you;

laughter-he puts on your

face-

smiles-he seeks for you-

pains-he relieves

through support,

failure he down play

by assurance.

He believes you,

he trusts you,

he hopes in you, and

 confidence in you

never in doubt.

Loves you for who-

you are-

peace-he wishes you,

your blood-he treasures-

sweat from you-he cherishes,

words from your mouth-

he listens with attention,

your mind-he reads with

correctness,

music from you heart,

he engraves in his mind.

Your inheritance-

he protects,

what belongs to you,

his watchful eyes never

abandon.

Even in death-

he keeps-covenant of

loyalty to you

in your absence-

oath of fidelity-

he never break.

A loyal friend,

hard to find,

still few over there.

Are you one of them?

Will you be?

Can you be?

May you be.

 

                                                                                                                         

A Wife!

A Wife!

A Home Front Warrior:

She holds the forth for her 

husband when absent,

she defends and upholds his 

principles at all times,

extra miles she goes every time 

for the sake of her household.

Her support knows no bounds,

her loyalty is without question,

like bulwark she acts in times of 

trouble;

from background 

she launches survival missiles and,

from behind-the-scene 

she carries her good cause 

to public square to defend

what she cherishes most-

her household.

A True and Loyal

Companion:

A good mind reader

who knows every household’s 

thought,

with simple eye contact

she interprets messages with

correctness,

very gentle and comforting her

advice,

like soothing balm on wobble knees 

they are;

gossipers-she shuts down quickly,

her three-in-one-role-

daughter, wife, and mother,

she performs with distinction.

Her assurance of support 

is like constant northern star,

her loyalty like moon and stars

for their regularity;

her trust she gives without terms,

household’s battle she takes upon

herself.

Like a multi-single room home-

so is her-heart, 

which accommodates every 

desire and concern of her

own;

when one-of-her own weeps,

she cries,

when one-of-her own smiles,

she laughs,

when one-of-her own rejoices,

she basks in a great joy.

A blanket and fur during 

the winter,

a linen in the summer,

a fragrance over a repulsive 

odor,

a stepping stone in place

of a stumbling block.

A rare wine-literal

and symbolic-

that does not intoxicate,

instead it makes heart rejoice.

Wife! Yes, every time, 

she Works Intensely Free 

from Error,

more than a partner,

but a complement that 

makes part a whole.

A complement who

fills the vacuum,

a sojourn that turns temporary

stay to a permanent-live-in,

with whom a life long journey

has no end.

WIFE: she that 

works intensely 

free from error,

a rorre or world-with midas 

torch making insufficient 

sufficient,

sophont-identified by intelligence-

Terra is your home.

Forever, forever, and forever,

you remain a treasure,

for eternity-the pleasure

in you shall never dwindle,

for generations-you remain 

assurance of goodness 

that will continue to happen.

Education and Social Commentary: OPEN LETTER TO ALHAJI BOLA AHMED TINUBU.My Dear A...

Education and Social Commentary: OPEN LETTER TO ALHAJI BOLA AHMED TINUBU.
My Dear A...: OPEN LETTER TO ALHAJI BOLA AHMED TINUBU. My Dear Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Greetings; I write this letter to you not as a politician,...

Mandela: "The Long Walk To Freedom"

Mandela:

“The Long Walk to Freedom.”

Life Threatening Long Journey Begins:

For eighteen years,

his home was Robben Island-

today’s concentration camp;

for another nine years,

Pollsmore and Victor Verster 

Prisons, 

which physical walls-

are a sad reminders of 

Berlin Wall-

he lived, schooled,

fought his jailers.

Between prisons and

liberation struggles,

two marriages crashed and 

destroyed;

in-and-out-of-prisons,

he fathered Zindziswa and

Zenani.

For seventy years,

he undertook a long walk

to free his people from 

oppression,

seven decades of walk

that ended centuries of-

pains, cries, anguish, 

misery, and dolor.

Walk that dismantled 

apartheid,

worst racial segregation and 

discrimination in history,

risky walk that set black 

majority in South Africa free;

life threatened walk that

recreated South Africa,

unpopular walk now a model

in lands where men and women 

are still in chain.

The Message of Hope and of  Change:

For years his messages 

to his taskmasters and 

bankrollers were: 

no to racial segregation,

yes to equal treatment and

egalitarian society for all,

no to a privileged few,

yes to a prosperous 

South Africa,

for all South Africans-

black, white, and colored.

 

No to Police brutality of 

black and colored,

yes to a decent, civil, and 

humane treatment of 

everyone under 

the law.

No to international support

for apartheid regime,

yes to a worldwide 

condemnation

of right wing political system

premised on social 

stratification and inequalities.

No to continued 

incarceration of

black majority in 

South Africa,

yes to their unconditional 

release and freedom.

No to killings, 

disappearance, and

harm to black population in 

Soweto,

yes to all political activists and

freedom fighters returning home 

from exile without arrest and 

molestation;

no to White minority rule,

yes to all-inclusive-multi-

racial,

national government in 

South Africa.

In Captivity-Powerful, Set

Agenda for International

Deliberation and Release.

In detention and 

solitary confinement,

his towering influence 

continued to soar globally,

behind bars, 

his voice remained distinct

just like cymbal,

his messages remained clear

as crystal and 

forceful as cascading waters.

Year after year,

Mandela became more

popular,

an icon and symbol of

liberty on international 

platform.

Out-of-sight,

his image represented

freedom,

symbolism that haunted

his subjugator’s conscience.

Ideology he professed

-equality and justice-

for all South Africans

soon turned a global
concept,

notion that 

metamorphosed 

to: Free Mandela and 

Freedom to South Africa.

Triumphant End to the Long Walk:

Free Mandela, 

Freedom to South Africa, 

became a deafening slogan 

with irresistible moral force 

championed by world

political heavyweights and 

international organizations.

Slogan that turned a 

powerful force on 

international arena,

a tidal wave no one

could pushback,

political hurricane 

with no repel or 

rollback strategy.

Tidal wave apartheid regime 

could not withstand,

force that shook apartheid

to its foundation,

push that dislocated 

apartheid supporters and 

bankrollers,

thwack that ripped 

National Party and 

Broederbond apart.

Force that pulled down

prison gates and walls,

tide that tossed-out Mandela 

from life imprisonment and

set South Africans free.

Propulsion that turns

South Africa a 

Rainbow Nation.