Kunle Shonowo (Kunle Sonowo In Memory) Poem by GK Talabi

18th of April 1992
Twenty three years!
And I still remember it
Like it happened a few hours ago
The whole nightmarish drama
The bloodshed, the carnage
I remember it all.

Lagos State University
The so called LASU
In your welcoming arms you embraced us
From the rich, to the poor
The young and the old
The good and the bad
You took us all in.

Ha! Was I not excited?
Did I not jump through hoops to pass W.A.EC
Did I not walk through fire to pass J.A.M.B
Did I not fight hammer and tongs to gain admission
On the threshold of my dreams I now stood

Two hundred level and
The stage was set
Lecturers and professors flaunted titles
Their titles in our faces
Dr. Dipe, Dr. Ariri, Dr. Onwanliki, Dr Johnson
Dr. Fasheke, Dr. Asaju, Dr Duko, etc.
Very inspiring I do declare.

But the downfall was swift
In came the Student Union
The hydra headed Union of Students
Bold, brash, rackety and louche
Making demands, senseless demands
Screaming, chanting disconnected nonsense
Pandemonium, confusion, confusion worse confounded
Was it really worth it?

Lectures ground to a halt
Seminars followed suit
Defiantly car tyres were burnt in protest
The flames rising hellishly
Into a frenzy we were whipped
Dancing, we danced,
Singing, we sang
Aluta continua, Aluta continua
Solidarity forever
Victoria Ascerta

We heard gun shots
Bullets zipped and zoomed past us,
The Pavlovian response of the police.
The untouchable Nigerian Police
Shoot first and no questions are asked
We ran, back and forth we ran
Dodging stray bullets
And singing Aluta defiantly

In the stampede Kunle you fell
In my peripheral vision I saw you fall
Time stood still, frozen,
Suspended animation
Then blood gushed, gushed from your face
We screamed, blood curdling screams
Mass weeping, wailing and hysteria.
Someone shouted your name over and over
'Kunle Shonowo! , Kunle Shonowo! , Kunle Shonowo! !

Valiantly students carried you
As you thrashed, thrashed in the throes of death
Your head tossing violently from side to side
Your blood splattered and splashed everywhere.
Kunle Shonowo I was there,
I saw it all.
Horror! Nightmarish horror!
Did any student sleep well that night?

Kunle Shonowo it was a tragedy
A tragedy worse than a Greek tragedy
What a shame, I say shame!
Shame on LASU
Shame on the Student Union
Shame on the Student Cult
Shame on the Nigerian Police
Shame on the Nigerian Government
Shame, shame, shame!

Kunle Shonowo!
This is to your memory
Great Lasuite!
Great Lasuite! !
Great Lasuite! ! !
Kunle Shonowo
REST IN PEACE

R.I.P

This poem is dedicated to Kunle Shonowo (Kunle Sonowo)