This Is Nigeria Poem by Oko Emmanuel Agi

This is Nigeria
Where the sounds of bomb blasts have become the music of the city
And the best music group goes to the group, Boko Haram
But each time there perform, lives are lost.

Welcome to my country
Where bullets are the new birds
And spears run through the air
Searching for lives to clear

This is Nigeria where the life of a cow
Is equivalent to three human lives
A place where unqualified people take the leads
And because the eligible(s)have no connections, bow to their bids.
Despite all this, the outcome should be good, this is what they yelled.

This expectation is more like piercing a knife through a man's chest
And expecting him not to bleed
In our hearts, we have allowed hate to breed

This is Nigeria
Where my poor beautiful sister cannot genuinely say: -
"I have not been sexually harassed by my tutor"

Why tell me we are equal?
When the rich constantly milk the breast of the poor
And the poor dry and dehydrate
For milk not replaced
Why even tell me we are one
When I go for a job interview
They ask me "what are your qualifications
But what is been considered is
'What my religion is'

Dearest,
Is this not the country our heroes died for?
If they were clairvoyant enough
To see this coming,
We would still be under the colonial rule
For no man would want to die for
Such a country.

Agi Nuel Oyi, ©2018 May.