Look!
Our warrior?
Yes, he is a conqueror
Riding as a victor to war
His glory will never fade like the memories of the dinosaur
His strength, I adore
His love, I wish for
His pride, I ignore
For pride leads to a fall
Look!
My father?
Yes, he is my provider
The roof I live under
Working tirelessly, day and night
Sweat fall like raindrops from his body
Brought me upright, showed me the light
Carried me around like a little girl plays with her kite
His love for us is an endless journey
Although questioned by his love for vanity
Look!
His friend?
Yes, the world can’t comprehend
So we don’t want to see them unite
Entertained when they fight
Secretly laugh at their foolishness
Stealing from their greatness
Exposing their wickedness
Hoping they waste away
No love, No knowledge
See!
Him?
Yes, he will bring change
Hope he takes us on the path to our destiny
Will he give us a new identity?
Show us the true meaning of freedom and equality?
Let’s wait and see

Early morning, sounds of a nightingale
The sparkling rays of the sun hits my face
All smiles, beautiful fairy tale
Another day, another maze
Life (sigh)……..a never-ending race
I’m wealthy man ready to battle the challenges of today

Done with a gentle shower,
Skin smooth like an Italian leather
Suddenly, a voice sauntered into the room like a flying feather
Roaming, looking for a soul to acquire
Sounds of sorrow, songs of pain
Years lost, no gain
The wordings begins to drive me insane

Where is this voice coming from?
Sweet to the ear but bitter to the heart
Singing about how her life was torn apart
(sigh) There she was, by the stream
Feeling it with her tears
While washing the garments of her mistress

I listened to her as she sang about her life
How she was hated by her former boss’s wife
Kidnapped and raped,
Knows no love cos she is a slave
Abandoned like a grave

Moved by her experience
knowing i could make a change
I yelled ‘Drop what you are doing, your day has come and you will never be a slave again’

Balogun Ogundiran, the great,

The fearless warrior of Osogbo,

A man with a stone- heart, tall, strong with a fist that played with fire,

His name was known from the depth of the sea to the heart of the desert,

Brave as a lion, never backing down from a challenge,

 

We had seen him grow from a little boy who was only a spearman under the old empire,

Walking his way up the ranks, he challenged the Army warlord from  Oyo empire,

 A step no soldier at the time was brave enough to take,

In front of the whole village including the Oba, Balogun defeated the warlord,

Slicing his head off with a machete,

 

The crowd cheered with a cry of Freedom,

All the foreign soldiers were slaughtered,

Balogun’s victory gave us hope,

He established a new army,

Given the permission by the Oba to go ahead and fight for our independent,

 

News got back to the village that Balogun and his men were victorious,

For with a gladden heart, we rejoiced at his return,

He was given a hero’s welcome-back parade,

Awarded the title of the ‘The Land’s Watchman’ whose role was to protect the village from invasion,

The Land’s watchman needed to stay at the outskirt of the village to perform his role,

 

But Balogun was unhappy with this role, angered by the treatment of the Oba,

Balogun overthrew the Oba and his ministers

He banished them from the village, never to return

With the support of the people, he was declared Oba, having absolute power over everything

Seven years down the line, Balogun had become a beast of a man

Enslaving his own people for his quest for more power and glory

Proclaimed by his admirers as god

Marrying thirst-six women, some were forcfully taken from their husbands

 

Our village couldn’t contain him, he fought unnecessary battles

Never speaking of peace and love but of war and violence

Any man standing on his path to battle was crushed

A protest was led by seven  Orunmila women

Unfortunately, they were all hung to death

 

In despair, we sought the merciful face of the gods

We prayed day and night, begging for a saviour

A saviour who would redeem us from the Balogun’s tight grip

His army  stopped us from giving any sacrifice to the gods

Every sacrifice and offering was to go to Balogun

 

On a faithful evening, at the eve of what was supposed to be the Parade of virgins

On my way home from a day’s fishing at the river,

I heard the cries of a little girl

I followed the sound of the cry,

She appeared to be a young lady,

 

As beautiful as the lily at the river banks

Protected with eyes that will strike a man’s heart with lust

Her hair was banded in red ribbon, wet and curly

Gently touched her smooth and refined body

She couldn’t speak my lauguage

On our way to my house, her beauty caught the eyes of every human being

 

Knowing she was from a foreign land, a soldier took her from me

A slave befitting for the eyes of Balogun himself

She was taken from me not knowing what was to become of her

 

During the main Parade, Balogun was nowhere to be found, this was his favourite festival

Rumours surfaced that he was sick and couldn’t attend

Later that day, news got out that Balogun the great warrior………… was dead

He was stabbed seven times in his chest overnight

 

That rang a bell, overnight?

Who could have done such a wicked thing?

Who was brave enough to have killed Balogun?

The whole village was amused but nobody knew who Balogun’s killer was

The priest, the army, the royal family, nobody knew what happened that night

 

On getting to the river the next day, I saw a young lady descending into the underworld

She sang her way down into the river,

Bewildered by fear, I stood quietly behind the fig tree

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, this is Yemoja, I said to myself

 

I ran back to my mother and my wife to tell them

But they didn’t believe me

The foreign girl cannot be Yemoja, they said

We argued till dawn,

For great men die on the laps of a beautiful woman

Years later, It was confirmed that Balogun was infact killed by an unknown  woman

But I was the only one who knew who the woman was

 

THE END

Africa, my Africa

Mother of all nations, the sleeping Lion

Her throne was set firmly on Zion

Where is her greatness?

Where are all her loved ones?

Scattered in foreign lands

Africa, wake up!

wake up and look at your kingdom

Your land is being run by thieves

Your leaders are now slaves

The air is full of smoke

You have become a joke

Watch them take away your precious stones

You slept too long

now your roar isn’t strong

Run away and take your crown with you

Look for your true soldiers

For one day, you shall return to where you belong

ONE WORLD (NEW WORLD ORDER)

                 And the nations of the world shall become one

                 Ruled by a great leader

                 On his hands, the world shall be upon

                 From whose mouth cometh fire

                Cos of the great depression, we fell at his feet

                He healed our wound and spoke of peace

                But prepared them for war

                As wise as a serpent and as mighty as a dragon

                This is the beginning of the end.

                Good against evil.

                A war to end all wars

                Man against man and God against gods

                Everything will end with nothing.