FOR HOW LONG by Oki Kehinde Julius

FOR HOW LONG?
.
stop! —i said stop
cajoling our thirsty oesophagus,
with cold water of economy ‘recession’.
for how long shall we wait
at the temple of sea-sore?
when our palm is deprived
from picking the sparkling coweries of nature…

.
for how long
will our once adored naira,
enjoy the hot lashes of ‘koboko’
from the hand of dollar and euro?
for how long
will the blood of innocent souls,
spring and flow like ‘misisipi’?
eroding the bank of river niger,
sending benue to exile!
.
for how long,
shall we continue to recite the pledges
of serving our father’s land,
with all our strength and might?
can a hungry man serve,
with a hungry belly
hunger has flattened
like a tattered slippery slippers?
.
for how long
shall we keep our eyes,
on the north and south of our doors?
awaiting the arrival of our chibok princess,
whose fate had crowned
the queen of sambissa;
or should we await the day
they will return with twins and triplet?
offspring born in anguish and pain,
without the solace of bride-price and marriage.
.
for how long,
shall we allow our feet to dance
to the tune of bomb-blast?
when we know our lives,
will be the ransom
to pay for this melody of ‘gboooooah’!
for how long,
will peace keep bowing down to war?
when insurgency choose to wear the royal crown
and terrorism forces appraises from masses’ mouth.
.
for how long,
will the indigene of niger-area
keep chanting—we want biafra!
when their fore-fathers,
were the bricklayers
that mounted the brick of nigeria?
for how long
shall we keep preaching,
tribal mark of religion?
when only one God
birthed the triplet religion
on the maternity bed of nigeria.
.
for how long,
will parent keep digging
the grave of their murdered children
with agony of gnashing teeth
and shovel of their salty tears?
.
for how long
shall we keep folding our arms,
expecting the falling of manna
when our isrealite
is not more in the republic of wilderness?
for how long
will our crippled economy,
moves around with wheel chair
on the orbit of africa?
.
for how long will it be nigeria!
for how long will it be!
for how long!
how long!
long!
will it be?
.
©Oki Kehinde Julius.