THIS IS LAGOS - By John Chizoba Vincent


This is Lagos-
a welcoming address to all dignities
an old sermon preached by three wisemen
no praises or pleasantries at the entrance gate
Come and face your death or life warrant
in a no man's land but everyone's home
The walls of the streets are filled to its brim
the good, the bad, the ugly, and the wild
Yoga girls parading in a lost emotions
Skimpy skirt Lucifer, ruining many men
Yahoo boys fan smiling coals into money
Spinners spin the spindle of the morning
Spreading on their wings are skyscrapers,
Oceans greeting in a pleasant radiation...
In her bosom are cruel hustlers borrowing the
Earful clamour of the day.
"No sweat, no sweet" every toddler sings
Traffic holds down to ransom the hurrying legs of
yellow and black buses whose courage is like shield
This is Lagos-
the flag of Nigeria
Where floating slums swallow innocent eyes 
Carbonated air blares out the lungs to rot
the streets are strict and tough-
A ghetto filled environment taking away the
innocence of girls and boys of tomorrow
clapping hands of generators trumpeting all over-
Agberos wagging their lips in every corner...
"Owo mi da! Ori e ti daru! Funmi lowo joor!"
This is Lagos-
A mad woman feeding many selfish children;
children of malnutrition
Patients of hunger and wants
Hospitals have no remedy to them all
The future of children unborn charged with the fierce
urgency of thunder of agony...
Million voices of shouting churches and mosques
yet, evil harvests more souls daily
Lagos is killing us, yet, we remain cushioned with hopes and dreams
We are drenched and smashed by suffering,
Bodies tasted own blood and sweat
Eyes tasted own tears and sorrow
but they are not too far from dawning
Lagos is killing me! Lagos is killing me!
but the retribution never break our wings
Is there a flesh of new and old meaning 
to this gloomy joyful Lagos story?
We have never been more to her than hustling,
bustling and breaking her soul into pieces
When the old cold night arrives-
Birds sleep no more, men hunt and haunt more,
Cars horns rumpled on cracking voices
She keeps vigil all night against her wish because
she has to keep her children from their needs.
This is Lagos-
a no man's land, everyone's land-
Come make your bread or make your death
Roses are not grown here...
You who has seen not Lagos, follow my swinging ink 
who refuses to hide and speak; for Lagos lives
in your bravity tabled at
the coasting ocean in the west.


©John Chizoba Vincent
From_A_Pen_Refusing_Frustration


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OJA ALE (Night Market) -BY BADA YUSUFF AMOO

At Oja Ale The stars, the dew, the moon Transfix into the world of darkness To give life to those that sleep at night. Their ghostly voices, calling customers of silence To purchase from them, their aged dreams The sharpness of the falling dews Interrupting the dialogues of lone traders, wiggling  Their solo hymns, without a musical instrument At Oja Ale The market of misty walls and pavements They place their dreams on their feet and hawk With their hands on the earth, their heads at the centre Some are animal likes, with perpetual tails like satyr That form coniferous lines at the centre of the crowd Strangers experience the multiple metamorphoses That makes the heads float in the waiting cloud They are not evils; they are the other side of life Bewaji, My betrothed woman, daughter of the Gods Will you accompany me to Oja Ale? To explore the pleasures of dark miseries To visit these great traders the Gods mentioned in their verse To
Read more

A REVIEW OF DENJA ABDULLAH’S PLAY DEATH AND THE KING’S GREY HAIR - By Olaniyi Abdulwaheed

Image
In every society, there must be a leader. A leader who is ready to refurbish the land, lead by example and abides by the laws of the society. A leader who is respected by his subjects is the one that serves the nation relentlessly and bends for the rule of law. The law of every society defines its power, culture and tradition. The uniqueness of a tradition in a particular nation is reserved in the constitution and how the people of the state respect the rule of law. When the power of a nation is given to a particular person to maintain orderliness, peace and harmony reigns if the ruler or king obeys political culture. Leaders must lead by example lest things fall apart. The play Death and the King’s Grey Hair centres around the ancestral culture of the people of Shakaga village. According to their unwritten constitution , a king rules for a short period of time, it is a taboo for him to live with signs of ageing,.The village only witnesses young kings and short reigns. The law
Read more

PREGNANCY AIDE MY SUCCESS, BEST GRADUATING STUDENT SAID

Image
Aishat Farooq became pregnant in her second year while in University of Ilorin to study Zoology, then she was 18. Due to the unwanted pregnancy, she dropped out of school to nurse her baby.   Today, at 25, she has a great story to tell when she become the best graduating student with Cumulative Grade 4.93 in Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State.     “I hope my story will inspire at least one person to change his or her circumstance. I was pregnant at 18 and by 19 I was already a mother. I had disappointed my father who believed so much in me. He had such big dreams for me and feared the dreams would become unfulfilled,” she said Everyone can succeed in life in case one put more effort to one's action.
Read more