A NATION AT GUN POINT.

Election has come and gone
Our nation still coexist
With our numerous issues
With all side appointee
Yet the nation lacks direction.

Becoming a nation at gun point
Even though we elect leaders
But the leaders we elect
Never have a heart for others its citizens
Making our nation that is held at gun point.

Holding all almost all the nation
With a gun in their hand
Pointed right on the head of the citizens
Squandering the nation resources.

And those in the government
Do not want to cut down
On the cost of running of governance
Void of producing nothing just spending
A nation held at gun point.

Is a clear even clearer eye open fact
That the people that runs for office
Are doing this on the ground
f nothing but selfishness
A nation held at gun point.

LET THE POOR BREATHE

He came out with the slogan
Allow the poor breathe
Yet the land is starving of hunger
High cost of living yet your senators
Went head long demanding for two million and SUV.
 
The pain is so too much
The street is filling the heat
The people are dying of pain
The pain killer cannot take away their pain anymore
Don’t suffocate us.
 
The cost of fuel is on high rising
Allow the poor to breathe
Righteousness exalt the nation but sin is a reproach
If the senator are sensitive
They won’t be asking for SUV’s car and collection two million.
 
The street are empty
Company are laying people off
The presidency is shouting pregnancy pain
But do you know there are woman
Who die from the pain of child labour.
 
Is it when you kill the people
Of pregnancy pain
When will they be alive to enjoy
The babies that are being born
President Tinubu you have good intention for this country.
 
But allow us to breathe
Hunger, starvation and all manner of sorts
Are present in the land allow us to breathe
Let the poor breathe don’t suffocate them
Let’s do things righteously, just two million naira
 
In token these people (senators and all)
Do not have the masses at heart at all
The pain is so much in the land
Day in day out our nation is collapsing
Let the poor breathe.

I HOPE SAY YOU DEY SEE.

Watin dey happen
How they forcefully
Carry watin nor bi somebody
Own give ‘em all in the name of say na my turn
I hope say you dey see.

How everything dey show face now
How dey kountry don turn to
As katakata don burst and every where
Don full ground to bream
Everything dey fall apart.

Go tell mama say
Center no fit hold again
Center don turn to basket
Wey no fit hold common water
Wey be common commodity.

Hope say papa dey look down on us
As the land wey we call our papa land
Don turn to poverty land
Everywhere full of complain
Pepper no rest again.

As pocket dry
Kero no bi poor man tin again
Even fuel everybody dey suffer for ‘em
I hope say you dey see
As e dey because e dey hot like this

People don dey loose ‘em
A lot dey happen and still dey happen like this
If rich man dey cry watin be the hope of poor man
Kountry hard like the school of hardknock
I hope say you dey see.

DIFFERENT PEOPLE, ONE NATION.

Surround by a great landmass
From the South to the North
Then races at a crescendo to East and West
Different colors on our skin
But never a different nation

Even though we are different people
In all walks of life
Spread out in different states of our nation
One indivisible nation crafted by under one name
A nation that’s what we are.

As different people we are
There is one force that binds us together
Our nation under which we strive and make progress
As unity is best sustained when we come together
Different people one nation

Different tribes and tongue
Yet we are one nation
Different ethnic believes
Yet we speak one language
A loud voice resounding in the deep.

Reminding us of who we are
And where our roots are coming from
To never forget home as we travel the length
And breathe of this great nation of ours even though
We are so different people but one nation binds us together.

DEMOCRACY FOR ALL.

Will take today To mark yet another Democracy day 

Will solemnly stand in this hallowed spot 

Upon the soil of our land 

Which this nation strives to exist hallowed. 

From the fiber of its existence 

To the root the drive of the lifespan 

Of this great nation of ours 

To witness yet another democracy day 

With one petition. 

Democracy for all 

From the man out there on the street 

Whose cost of living has made him 

To take on the bus terminal station 

As is abode just because 

He can not afford the cost of rent an accommodation. 

For the one whose matter 

Can not be brought to the court 

Just because she can not afford 

The legal fees of a lawyer 

To stand in the gap to plead her course. 

Democracy for all 

Where our nation is really working 

With good healthcare facilities 

And a very lucrative economy 

That strives best for all not just for the rich. 

Where there is peace in the land

And our home is home 

Because our heart is at peace at home 

That is the Democracy for all 

A nation for all where everyone is equal. 

Equal access to healthcare 

Equal access to the judicial system 

Equal access to good roads and light 

Equal access to the nation's treasury 

Equal access to security and jobs. 

Until this is all sorted out 

Then we can have a democracy for all 

No matter the status and position 

No one is meant to be treated like a commoner 

Because Nigeria is for all and we have it. 

NOW THAT THE DUST IS SETTLED.

Where do will go from here

And yet we still bleed
With the cuts of unfair justice
Served to us at the point
Of making such a patriotic decision.

For the land that we love
Right there in our eyes
Where intimidated and victimized
Of what ought to be a peaceful
Exercise alas turns into bloodshed

To them that seek the will
Of the power by taking it by force
Come what may if blood is shed
It leaves no human feelings on them
Yet we move on as if nothing happens.

But in the face of all these
Ill-human treatment
The wave of wace of displeasure
It is seen across the land
No one is talking about the events.

As the whole land
Was thrown into a state of mourning
To the lives that were lost
To those ones who sustain injuries
That we travel down memory lane.

Of our country
As we cannot forget that faithful day
In which the will of the masses
Was sabotaged to just a will
Of one set of fractions of people.

Now the dust is settled
You expect us all to forget
And act and move on as if nothing happen
While been in the euphoria of the said winning
Now that the dust is settled.

HELLO MR. GOVERNOR.

I wonder how you stand
That day to give your
Inaugural speech when its time
We you stand boldly
And say the election.

That brought you into the office
Are on a clean slate
Where no lives was lost
And it wasn't infuse with intimidation
Talkless of victimisation.

Mr. Governor
Will you say the thugs
Who came out with cane
And weapons of massiveness
To inflict injury upon people.

An armless citizens
Who came out to exercise
Their civic duties
Just because you see your opponent
As a threat you then went head long to unleash pain to the masses

How we you face these ones
Come May 29th upon
Your take the oath of office
And been sworn in
How we you look in their faces.

Remember a good leader
Don't take power by force
But power is given by the people
Not with victimisation, intimidation and thuggery.
Hello Mr. Governor think and rethink twice.

SHAPE THE DIALOGUE SET THE AGENDA

Because the nation is sick

Because the land is unrest
Because the people are not happy
Because the rivers never flow in milk and honey again
We need to have a talk that will shape the agenda

Of our nation
To rise up from her remains
So it shall never be in vain
Every hand must be on deck
To shape the dialogue and set the agenda

In shaping the dialogue
We must seek to see
Reason where everyone
Comes to the table to discuss
As brothers and sisters we are

Not anyone coming to the table
With hate in the heart
To talk down about this person or that person
Nor trying to exonerate this person above that person
Shape the dialogue set the agenda

And this time
We aren’t going to just talk
For so long on the conference table
But we are talking about immediate prompt action
As decisions won’t be taken only on the lips of the mouth

But affecting each spoken words
As each sentence is birthed into laws
That will govern the existence of our living in our nation
This is the time to shape that agenda and it starts with dialogue
Shape the dialogue set the agenda

Our nation is on the verge of losing it all
All that our founding fathers have labored for
Our motherland is so starved of emancipation
From the long old ways and methods 

of those who have been leading us
Shape the dialogue and set the agenda 

For a better nation we must arise.

A COUNTRY IS ON SALE

The highest bidder gets its biding
As one fracture of a set of individuals
Are those involved in the sale of this country
They are a set of greedy self-centered folks
Who is not interested in the state of the nation.

A Country is on Sale
It is on the auction table
Where great bidders
Of the corrupt shady set of being
Whose got no heart for the citizens.

The people in the transaction process

Are those who are set up 

To make sure they conduct

The process of electing

The leaders of this country.

They are reaching out

Every now and then

In crazy advert to bring and point

Bidders to the auction event

A country is on sale.

There is an earnest call

To one and all to those

Who are far and near

To come to the auction table

With so much money to place in this said country.

Which on sale

As money is the best weapon

At such a time like this buying the country 

Which is on sale the nation is shaking 

At the verge of liquidating all its resources.

TAKING BACK OUR COUNTRY

We have burned the bridge behind us
We have taken our bags and badges
We have taken enough from all these menace
With no turning back and no retreat
Never are we going to back down

This is time to take back our country
From the parasite that has loot us this long
Like a canker worm they came in the midst
Lived like a parasite of years
Administration comes go yet nothing move nothing changes

So long we serve our father’s land
But it seems our service are be in vain
In the quest of looking and seeking for answers
For some questionable characters of those in office
From the bottom to the top to the leaders of the land

We all have one task
Every one of us must lend a hand
To take back our country
And rescue it because it must not die
Taking back our country

Demands matter of urgency
The remains of this country
Is really at a dying stage
And needs urgent attention of physicians
And you and I are the physicians

From the remains
Of the looters of politicians who has loot
Her treasure for so long all these years
Enrich themselves with the nation resources
Taking back our country come 2023 is a date that must be keep.

OUR NATION IS NO LONGER HOME

We lost it long ago
Waking up each day
To the sad news flying around
No sounds of good news on the airways
We're no longer at home in our home

Every day at all times
Our heart is gripped with fear
Fear of the known and unknown
Hit at us as a hit-and-run car
Everyone is on the fast lane.

Untold hardship in the land
The government has lost it
As all tactics have failed them
Now the heart of the same 

Government failed them
As they have run out of ideas

Sending SOS calls out
And life continues to flow some high
Now in a suffering and smiling mode
As many clings to being religious
Praying for Almighty intervention

THE NIGERIA WILL SEE

Beautiful communities
With good amenities
Great land with so many opportunities
Peaceful coexistence security assured
Nigeria will see

Equal access to all
With a good working judicial system
On the ground of a fair hearing
Both for the common man out there
On the street as well as for the high place

A home where there is much
Happiness to go round the table
Here the act of service is what
Everyone looks out for
For mankind and for country

Good health services
For all no matter the size
Of the cash of the pocket
Reducing mortality rate drastically
The Nigeria will see.

Is Nigeria
That works for all
Where investors return to invest
As well as foreign investors too
Where the economy is buoyant not Sicky

The Nigeria will see
Where holding and running
For political office is never
A do or die affair but a peaceful
Then a free and fair exercise.

The Nigeria will see
Were small-scale business
Never strive but succeed so easily
As there is room for growth and expansion
That is the Nigeria we want to see.

REGARDLESS

Life dey hard
Dollar dey rise everyday
Five k no dey buy much again
But regardless

Make sure you hold body
Make sure say no body pressure you
Make sure say you dey in charge always
Make sure you stay strong fit like fit farm
Regardless

Of how today bi
Get liver with strong heart
Be always up don't let
The issues of life weigh you down
Regardless

Even inflation dey pursue
You up and down
Money wey dey your hand
No fit buy something wey tangible
Regardless

If tomorrow no sure
Get belief say go make sense
One day if you no give up
Because na only who reach finishline dey win
Regardless

No take your life
Because life go sweet again
And you go smile again e sure die
Abeg no cry no think 'em
Regardless sometin wey hot go cold again.

SO, IF AM THE PRESIDENT

I we Make each promises count
Upon running for the seat
Of the number one person in the land
Delivering the mandate of my manifesto
So, if am the president

I will make sure
That the land is fit for all to live in
That all necessary facilities
Are being served and enjoyed by all
Irrespective of your attainment and level in society

There won’t be channeling
The nation’s resources
To one set of people in the society
To bring the government to the doorstep
Of everyone who’s out there

So, if am the president
I will make sure that the epileptic power supply
It will be a thing of the past
And making every heart to be at home
Void of fear of insecurity in the land

Awarding of contract
Won’t be on sentiment
But fitting the right man who can do the job
And delivery to the utmost of his or her ability
In each sector we get a shared allocation in each year's budget

Striking of workers in all federations of the state
This will cease to happen as each one is paid
As at when due is wages as the workforce
Are those who drive the survival of any nation
So, if am the president

Making sure we consume our locally made goods
To boost the immune system of our currency
And make certain investors fly in to invest
In the richness of our natural resources
Not chasing away investors

Making sure small and large scale business
Strive in the midst of the economy of this nation
By providing credit facilities and recovery loan
At a subsidy rate to these set of business
So, if am the president.

2023 RACE

As we race off towards 2023
As individuals and as a nation
This is one of the greatest strides
In our dear nation a solemn time
Because that one event

Will determine how the next
Phase of our nation will go
And this event will cut across
And touch down one every sectors
2023 race

Each one of them
Are really working tirelessly
From dusk to dawn leaving no stone untorch
A period intellectuals will be working for mediocre
All in the chase of what the stomach will feed on

Stomach infrastructure
And the nations flows on
In waiting for that solemn day
To see the one who will seat on the seat of power
To govern and run the affairs of this nation

My fellow countrymen and women0---
If will miss it by sending the wrong person
To that seat of power and that person cripple
The whole activities I bet with you all it will be funny
2023 race

Will must see
That will send in
The right person for the job
The right person who will take our nation
From the cross of burden suffering

To that point of salvation
Where will all will start living
Like the real owner of the land’
Never a stranger at home again
2023 race is a must task for everyone to run

THE YELLOW BUSES WENT OFFLINE TODAY

Woke up one Monday morning
No sign of yellow buses
It is quite unusual everyone kept wondering
What would have happened?
And led to such an act
 
People walked, trekked and got stranded
As some go on to lament
On the state of the nation
Getting worse by the day
The yellow buses went offline
 
All in protest against
Unlawful extortion by various
Task Force Agency
Calling it enough is enough action
It is time to speak up against injustice
 
In their own words
They are so sick and tired
They need a road map
Of where they will go from here
As things won't continue to go this way
 
No one is ready to come to their rescue
The government isn’t helping the matter at all
As they see it as a normal thing
So is better they continue to live with it
The yellow buses went offline
 
They need to be heard
Their views on this bad act
Of extorting them without pity and consideration
All in the name of nothing to account for such an act
The yellow buses went offline all because of injustice meant to them.

BEING THE PRESIDENT

The presidency
Doesn’t change who you are
It reveals who you are
The same thing is true of a presidential campaign
So if a candidate is erratic and threatening

If a candidate traffics in prejudice
Fears, and lies on the trail
If a candidate has no clear plans
To implement their goals
if they disrespect their fellow citizens

Including folks who make extraordinary sacrifices
For our country let me tell you
That is who they are
That is the kind of president they will be
Trust me.

A candidate is not gonna suddenly change
Once they get into office
Just the opposite, in fact,
Because the minute that individual
Takes that oath.

They are under the hottest harshest light there is
And there is no way to hide who they really are.
And at that point it's too late
They're the leader of the world's largest economy
The commander-in-chief of the most powerful military force on Earth.

With every words they utter
They can start wars…crash the market
Change the course of this planet.
So when it comes to the qualifications
We should demand in a president

To start with,
We need someone who is going to take this job seriously
Someone who will study and prepare
So that they understand the issues better
Than anyone on their team.

And we need someone
Not with good judgment
But with superb judgment in their own rights
As that one is needful in becoming the president
That is being the president


We also need someone
Who is steady and measured
Because when you're making
Life-or-death, war-or-peace decisions
A president can't just pop off.

Being president
Is not anything like reality TV
It is not about sending insulting tweets
Or making fiery speeches
It is about whether or not the candidate
Can handle the awesome responsibility 

Of leading this country.

DON’T SHORT-CHANGE YOUR FUTURE FOR THIS

Don’t come and sell

Empty promises in place of none
Don’t come and shortchange
Your future is all because of stomach infrastructure
Remember is a long walk to the future

The life you have now
Is the best thing to hope for
A lot is happening right now this minute
So many beckoning at your attention
The incentive is overkilling so alluring

The drums are being rolled out
Every day new tactics are built
While the existing ones keep stronger
Every day someone is working tirelessly
Updating the old tactics in the form of updating

The campaign is in high gear
The reverse is never in sight
As each one is fighting to get your attention
They go far too to any length
To exhume the very possible ways

Make sure you do they do diligent
Carry out well-constructed findings
Check them out well and size them up well
Each one is out there go out and do the needful
This isn’t time for this

Don’t short-change your future for this
A leader who struck his follower
At the point of weakness is never worth
To become a leader because if this happens
Upon assumption of office

He will really explore more vulnerability
Of those he or she will be leading
If such a leader wins the election at the end of the day
You as electorate if you dare sell your future today
And shortchange your future for this
You will cry a million tears four years ahead

ABORTION: OUR NEXT ELECTION

Open your heart, let the effulgence of this light I'm about to share, walk through your arteries and flush out every dark areas filled with inhumane blood flowing in your veins.

Why will another long term of service in a worthy seat of honour become a battlefield for jocularity and idiosyncratic walkthrough?

Africa is a continent with great elites and noteworthy figures who can shake the world with what's in our hands. Nigeria, a nation, whose millions of citizens are recognized all over the world yet her top leadership seat is not sheathing her sword of ill-mannerism and inability to cause a positive change.

Here, our next election, hits us soon with all activities/schedules of voting been made available at every nooks and crannies in state governments, cities and its suburbs. And, we all shout, 'solidarity forever'.

When a husband got pissed off because of lack of funds to manage his wife and four kids. Along the way, she got pregnant again in same poverty. And everyone advised that she abort the child even if the foetus is 7 months old.

I ask myself, "Is that the needed solution to the problem?"

What a painful lifestyle!

In same vein, this kind of scenario is been played out in our elections - whereby we're in dire need of a solution to the mess of the nation and still yet, many advisers come together to abort the already impregnated ideas of the right candidates because of godfathers order, money bags, selfishness and bad agendas.

Leadership position is not a do or die affair neither is it a call to unbridled power against your fellow human. Let your heart judge you!

A stranger I met says, "Election, election, election. What will be, will be; and nothing can change it in this nation, Nigeria." What a shame!

Will our civil right to vote be aborted again? Won't our votes be discarded and trashed? When will the chosen candidate with the highest vote stop deceiving us?

In these questions, are answers that we need to take to heart and be ready to dedicate our lives by coming together as a nation poised to eradicate bad and ineffective leaders whose bellies are their gods and pockets, a bloody mint.

Embrace a free and fair election, tilt your heart towards building a great nation and don't allow your vote to be a waste by selling it off for filthy amount of naira. Don't vote for the sake of selfish reason. It pays to vote for the benefit of all Nigerians and let's join hands together for the unity of ethnicity, religiosity, and a common purpose - peace and love.

Wisdom is spelt out in this micropoetry of Omar Nassar on corruption which explains the reduced honour of our so-called leaders and their leadership styles.

Where life is always uncertain

when corruption is the fountain

of every perceived earthly evil

money can break a mountain

and the corrupt can rarely be evil

because they belong to the devil.

Conclusively, this coming election must not be a norm of abortion that had been around us for donkey years. 

Transformation is not lip say, it's a paradigm shift for new heights beyond the usual to unusual act of undaunted patriotism.

Know that, your civil right is voting right on election day.

Thanks. God bless you.

© HOTONU Olasunkanmi

Lagos, Nigeria

FINALLY IS HERE: THE CAMPAIGN BELL

They are preparing
Marching so hard
Getting the drums ready
About to lunch out to deep
They are not taking chances

Is finally here
The campaign bell
Is ringing at a high crescendo
Each is pitching its tenth
They must do all they can to win people's heart

Will must be on alert
As they come with sweet tongues
Same story... the same plot
Same music...the same dance
Make sure you are not sweet off

Stand firm stay
Stay strong in your conviction
Don't let their bell confuse you
Do your background checkup
And then follow your heart

Because we cannot continue like these
Things have to change and this is the time
To get it right if we must move forward
From the state we find ourselves today
To that place of a better land for all.

Finally is here the campaign bell