Lekki Toll Gate Massacre Poem by Kingsley Egbukole

Beautiful seedlings sprouted in odds
Over the expanse foliage rain forest
Presently deprived of water and nutrients
By giant Iroko trees sparsely dispersed
Whose roots grow big and deep down
Far beyond the reach of fresh seedlings

In hunger and deprivation the seedlings toil
Longing for water and nutrients their right
Even a little sun to make their food
Where the thick Iroko foliage shield above

Who will speak for them but none
Hungered and angered in deprivation
They took their destiny in their hands to speak
Pulled together by the magnetic force of the downtrodden

They soro soke-d in one accord unprecedented
Assembled like soldier ants with a purpose
Waving the colour of the forest with pride
Chanting the rhythm of the forest with honour
Hoping to be heard
Praying to be attended to
Never expecting to be crushed

The giant Iroko trees feigned concern but raged
At the effrontery of the rookie seedlings
To soro soke their long pains
Connived to release boulder branch
That crushed unarmed seedlings to death
Still waving the colour of the forest with pride
Chanting the rhythm of the forest with honour

Dead but not forgotten, their spirit lives
Their wailing voices can be heard in the forest deep
Vibrating the foundation of the forest proclaiming
'We died for our mother land'
'To right the wrongs of oppression'
And the vibrations of the cries create cracks
That continually widens at the sound of their cries
And the forest likely to beget forests
According to the genus of species.

(Monday,26/10/2020,10.47am)