Swooping down like intrepid eagles, gushing proactive plans and promises for
An overdue overhaul, bending the peoples’ will with sophistry, the assumed
Assembly of truth finally inhabited our golden palaces, in readiness to calm the
Tidal waves of blinding decades of darkness drowning our beloved Federation.
But over twelve seasons later, we’re still the same – captives in corruption’s cage,
Endlessly entertained by unfolding sordid plays hinged on anguish and astonishment.
While we are losing our means of living to the monsters prowling the island of downsizing,
Our masters in position are rabidly securing juicy jobs for family and friends.
Sizzling throughout our land are diverse hues of strikes, as our people down tools
Over unmet pecuniary desires, crying copiously to ignominious States who are
Nothing but monthly beggars – each one crawling, cap-in-hand, to grovel at Abuja.
And then there are those nihilistic herdsmen who venerate animals than humankind.
The call for secession remarkably remains audible, as we continue to groan under the
Weighty devastations parceled intermittently by a varying mix of so-called freedom-fighters.
Remarkably, many are rightly worried by the pellucid lopsided appointments, which appear to
Paint a most disturbing picture of an insidious plan for ethnic and religious domination.
Virtually every sector is still lying stiff in the grave; our ghost economic policies in free fall.
Lamentably, we’re still solidly shackled to the dark – the powerless giant of Africa.
We applauded a seeming end to our fuel woes in the absence of concrete safety nets.
Interestingly, what began as an innocuous prosecution of corruption seems to have morphed
Into selective witch hunting; the chief characters playing out a well-written vendetta script.
On one end of the spectrum, we have leaders, unabashedly, trading vituperation;
On the other end are their ‘sit tight’ counterparts facing corruption charges with impenitence.
Sadly, after the roll call, we still stand significantly as sheep with clueless shepherds.
Ikenna Igwe is an award-winning writer of fiction and nonfiction books. A Quantity Surveyor by training, he also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Education.
His written works include: In The Arms Of Midnight, The Judas Web, The Delicate Choice, and Educational Series (Quantitative Reasoning with Vocational Studies for Primary Schools, Books 1-6, and Verbal Reasoning with General Knowledge for Primary Schools, Books 1-6).
Furthermore, his poems have been featured on literary websites, such as Kalahari Review, Poetry Potion, Words, Rhymes and Rhythms, and Okadabooks, and have also been published, in various anthologies, by Forward Poetry.
He lives in Lagos, where he is currently working on a new book.