Day after day,
                                                           His sun-dried palms stretch out
towards the tinted windows of
cars worth more than ten years of his school fees.

Some day.
Behind the tinted windows
Could be Alakija or Sanusi,
Dangote or Saraki.
Maybe some    day.

But Today,
Behind the Tinted Window,
Was just another Lagos Big Girl.
Thankfully, a rough N200 note
Created fiction with his palm.

He needs only N300 more
He has been saving up for his WAEC forms.
He is going to get A1s across his report.

Ese gan, ma but E jo, more money? My WAEC-
You’re ungrateful! All you can do is beg!
And she was once again hidden
Behind the Tinted Window.

She turned to her daughter,
How much do you want for the D’banj concert?
Twenty five thousand, Mummy.
Bands of money placed in the hands of a girl
the same age as the beggar.


Once again,
A Lagos Big Habit
Passed onto another generation.

Sand and flour in vessel
Salt and sugar in beaker
Sweet and sour on tongue
Life and death in the body
Dark and light in the night
Dangote and Bua in Nigeria

A Poem: Happy Birthday to a Boss Diva*

A Friend who held my hand
In whose eyes no problems can stand
One who sees God as Supreme
A Friend who shares in my dream


She held to me even when I was in the dark
One with a love current that doesn't spark
It's true, I may not be Dangote
But my dear, I won't treat you like Antonio Conte


I could still see her shadows even in the darkest of the dark
One whose love is without a bark
The life you live is love indeed as said Gandhi


Sacrificed her all no matter how little
To ensure in worry I don't dwindle
You've really touched my heart
I pray God, we'll never be apart


In the dungeon of hopelessness
Your song of hope in my helplessness
Cushioned me, with faith in God and love for you
That rope that drew me out made me anew


She's a friend to everybody
Her neutrality in friendship needs no study
All Prince Charmings please listen
Happy Birthday to this Princess with a plate of fried rice and chicken

As I'll still bless you
You've really made me somehow anew
Happy Birthday to this Cupid Princess
I wish you long life and happiness


One whose kindness reaches the skies
Whose hand of love even the smallest child sees in her eyes
A Friend with a Five star rating
A Sister without underrating


Became an adult before she turned eighteen
Mature in thinking before she got into the world of teen
Her maturity and understanding has given her this feat
I don't deserve this blessing, I'm humble at your feet


It's your Birthday and I'm glad
You never left me lonely to be sad
As a friend who would never quaver
I say, Happy Birthday to a Boss Diva

© Daniels Pen ™ 2020.

Dem say we no go blow
With the line of thought wey we dey tow
Where dem dey when water we dey flow?
Come enter Coconut on the low

Sometimes alarm dey tear
But my brother, make you no fear
If you believe and throway every despair
"Oluwa" go turn your hussle to flair

You fit dey push barrow or do barber today
People go soon gather to celebrate you one day
If it no be like a weekday
But na sure bet say na someday

We fit no look like am today
Dangote start with sweet for him day
Don Jazzy do security for the way
And all of dem don blow today

Kpomkpi, las las we go dey alright
Just make sure say you hussle right
One day you sef go blow enter flight
Come join the billionaires dey alright

But when you don reach your prime
No forget say you too first do the time
Before everything come start to rhyme
Make you show love to your goons for flexitime
Na by like that you go take sustain am for lifetime

Go to school
Get knowledge and skills
Start a job
Get retired, fired or resign

The undecided gets retired
Under-performers get fired
Visionaries gets to resign
And live a live

I am tired across Africa
Bunch of educated employees
Taking the bribe of salary
To forfeit a glorious future

We struggle with MDG's
While others advance sustainability
No thanks to clueless leaders
Who sold our future to uncertainty

Imagine JP Morgan trapped by salary
Rockfeller hustling in a car shop
Dangote in a ministry
Great empires would never be born

Economies are propelled by entrepreneurs
Anchored on good policies
Championed by responsive governments
That we lack in our great continent

Wake up Africa
Wake up Africans
How long will you be limited
For fear of failure

Failure is a recipe
A recipe for success
For those who are tenacious
Desirous to making a mark

Choose to be an employee for life
It's your choice!
Wait for pension that is elusive
Do well to write your will
Just if you transit before it is processed

Did you just get fired?
Congratulations my friend
You are returning with a bang
To buy off that company

Oh ye intellectuals
Stop telling me education equates success
Add some skills to that curriculum
That i may be rounded and grounded
To hit the ground running at graduation

Every balloon can fly my friend
Even without formal education
All it requires is some encouragement
From a good heart that cares

Billionaires unschooled abound
Not all sports stars made college
If you end up a non-entity
It is your fault and yours alone

That Daddy helped Uncle is old gist
It's not a guarantee Uncle will come by
Stop having entitlement mentality
Real success comes from within

Don't tell me about your certificates
Certificates that cannot create wealth
Tell me about the problems you discovered
That you are willing, able and ready to solve

Maybe someday
You will be rewarded with a plague
After thirty five years of service
Service without self actualization
Save you are a career employee

The next time you talk about curriculum
Do well to live in the realities of today
To effect the change truly desired
That generations after us might live
And not survive as we are now

I could go on and on ranting
But the future looks bleak
For those who cannot think
This make me so tired
Tired across Africa

Only in Kano you will find a reader who lacks knowledge. They will read all social networking sites without understanding them. They will read all types of writing, but in an unusual way. They do not understand, and they will never let themselves to. That's Kano, where a villager guides a city person. This is Kano, where ignorance trumps knowledge. In Kano, the darkness leads the light. In Kano, this is where the quiet brouhaha and clamour die down. In Kano, here is where evil triumphs over good. Barau Kallon Shege has never lived anywhere other than Kano. It is regarded as the place where Mai Tatsine created his Tatsine. Kano is where Shegantaka is bathed. Kano people believe that anything impossible will be broken. Only in Kano  you can find Dutsen Dala and Goron Dutse. Only Aminu Dantata lives in Kano. Aliko Dangote was born in Kano. Only in Kano was Abdussamadu Rabiu (BUA) born. Also in Kano, Malam Gabagadi was raised. And only in Kano was Emir Ado Bayero, the father of Kano's Emir Aminu Ado Bayero and the father of Bichi's Emir Nasiru Ado Bayero, born.