Players,
Upon people’s weaknesses they play.
Tramplers,
Upon people’s happiness they trample upon.
They preach,
Oh they preach,
Preachers of men,
Preaching their manifestos.
Their mass oppressions,
A whipstroke of slavery,
Keeping freedom away,
Allowing unspoken speeches.
Mr. Government!
Your planting of truth,
Yet acting lies,
Like Lucifer upon earth.
Our lost lands,
The cornering of leaders.
Our cherished freedom,
The bounds of greedy mortals.
Their moral compass,
A dumpling for gutters.
The words of restructuring,
A lie they tell to sleep at night.
The revolting of souls,
A bribery round the corner.
The dawn of a new day,
A shutting down of a never casted dye.
The Bantu they throw at us,
An education of their disloyalty.
Equality they preach,
Yet enjoying the fruits of our labour.
Our heroes past,
A burden dropped,
To be forgotten,
Yet remembered for belly sake.
Me, My belly and I,
A stomach infrastructure,
Catering only to the rich,
Yet diminishing the poor.
The controllers of affairs,
Dictating one’s future
Offering obedient slaves,
A slaughtering for their ****** souls.
Their theatre signatory,
A passing for comedy.
Our leaders,
A legacy of betrayal.
The citations of a bad fruit,
Their forever plantings,
Bringing over odour,
Of sadness and slavery.
An act of niceness,
Yet taking my bones at every given chance.
Giving us no choice,
Yet claiming we have no bounds.
Stirring us along
Giving us hope
Talking of a bright light,
Yet sinking in your treacherous torture.
Stealing of freedom from our lips
Pushing us into the dark quarters
Digging our early graves,
Yet cometh like a Redeemer.
Telling us of your democracy,
Yet ripping off our fundamental rights.
Your dictatorship,
Creating our unfree society.
Coming out,
Telling us of our victorious times,
A bribery to generations,
Yet helping to dig out graves.
Giving heart-warming patriotic speeches
Telling us not to be afraid,
Portraying tunnels of hope,
A bribery we didn’t reject.
Your illusion of a god-complex
Crushing everything in your path
Giving false hope
A mockery we carry on our foreheads
Our daily tyrants,
Walking freely,
Taking slaves,
Yet leaving no man to rise.
We envisaged a better tomorrow
Leaving the past behind
Creating new dreams
A dream you cut short
Our pens as placards
Establishing dictatorship
Safeguarding a revolution
Writing hopes of tomorrow
Your speeches
Bringing apathetic graves
Letting out your brutality
Showing life’s forces
You stand on the hill
Shouting your command
We all gather in fear
Singing silently “dictatorship free us now”
Written by Tosan Oluwakemi Thompson
This is me telling the story through poetry how leaders in Nigeria behave.