BORROWED YEARS

Life has been unfair
Throwing bricks on my path
I could not hide from the storm
And unable to journey very far

I tried to find shelter in the storm
With every breath within me
I fight to move on
Despite my vision is unclear

Days turned into months
Life got the best of me
Determined never to be weary
Yet keep fighting for what I believe in

All Rights Reserved © Akan Udofia 2019

Buhari says he's committed to reducing poverty, hunger in Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari says reducing extreme poverty and hunger is one of the cardinal's objectives of his administration. The president stated this in a keynote address at the Nigeria high-level side event on ‘SDG Integration – Bridging the Policy Planning – Budgeting Gap for the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.’  

President Buhari at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA74) on Tuesday in New York. Stated that the rate of poverty in Nigeria is the root cause of insecurity in the country. But forgot to address corruption among politicians, cabinent members and government officials which have resulted in inadequate economy planning and poor governance. There is a lot of abandon projects all over the country, not to mention the billions of dollars injected into the power generation project annually, yet there is barely electricity supply to last the citizenry for 24 hours.

Education is crippled and deteriorating by the day yet no one seems to notice anything wrong with it. Healthcare system is outdated, which has resulted indeed constant growth of human mortality rate. Is it that our leader is cursed by their covetousness for wealth that has made them indifferent to the well-being of the masses who voted them in? Or maybe I am the one hallucinating and probably out of my mind.

Life in Nigeria for an average is as a basis of survival of the fittest. Having three Square meals has now become a luxury many households cannot afford to achieve. Yet we pay bills, upon bills and constant hype in taxes which government heightens anytime they try to find a new standard to embellish their pockets. We are made to believe that the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSF) component is feeding almost 10 million school pupils daily and empowering over 90, 000 local catering staff across the country. I strongly doubt where these statistics data is derived from.

Nigerians need to wake up to reality, that our so-called leaders do not have our best interest in heart, how come the labor demand for the new minimum wages for worker have yet to see the light of the day, despite deliberation on meetings with government over the months. Isn't this obvious that it is a case of every man for himself. 

No wonder there has been raising casualties to suicide, kidnapping, ritualism, arms bandit, boko haram killings recorded lately.  Someone needs to take the blame for this injustice. But will the dilemma ever be curbed and the country's economy work clockwise? 

All Rights Reserved © Akan Udofia 2019

REBATE

It is never unduly late
To make a choice that is right
The moon may be up
While the sun may be down

It does not mean life can not put up a smile
The stars and moon carves a beautiful life
Just as much the sun brings warmth
To the world after the winter is gone

The man pulling a chart across the street
Might not be affluent as someone
In a multi-million dollars office
It does not imply he can not sustain his family

The trees do not plead to the earth for water
Yet she grows tall and reaches the sky
And the birds seek shelter in her bosom
The earth restored by the little seeds that fall off her heels

Life sometimes teaches us hard lessons
Like we have to till the ground to harvest
A man does not need to fight for freedom
The heart got all the resources she needs

Watch around you oh beloved brother
Does death have the mandate?
Knocking at a helpless woman's door
Stop the hate, life will be restored with happiness

All Rights Reserved © Akan Udofia 2017

A STRAY BIRD

Like a strayed bird
I wandered helplessly without a home
Every tree I found, could not shelter me
I could not find a world without disloyalty

I thought life eventually be better
But my precious thought sink into the water
Right between my eyes, it melted away
No one could lend a hand

The sunburns pierce my eyes
It pierces my heart and also my soul
I carry a wound that could not be healed
I am no longer afraid of being miserable

Would I ever find a person
Who can see through this shattered shell
The loneliness concealed in this wretched heart
Rescue and bring her back to the nest

All rights reserved © Akan Udofia 2019

THE RITE OF XENOPHOBIA

Once we were under alien rule
Being forced by fear of the teeth of the gun
To do what could not be done yet silent like the night
Then we thought that humans were demons 
Their color we thought was a mistake from creation 
When men and women were in chains starving like paupers 
Taken from their homes to a land of the dead alive
When dreams became battlefields fighting for survival for freedom 
When a man could look at his son and recognize him not
When children became sheep lost in the fields confused yet innocent 

That is when their trademarks were like the art of a tree full of branches on their backs 
That decorated their human body the temple of God
Yes I know like a disease they felt pain no more 
Having undergone the time of change in body and soul 
They chose the noble decision of wise men 
Never to rise against those who made them see the goodness of endurance 
A slave learns the tongue of his master and so they did
They knew their dream will never die they knew time will surely pass
They have a root planted deep in the veins awaiting rainfall 
That a stream has a mother and to it, they flow freely

To one who put to breastfeeding the child learns her name the beginning of wisdom 
Africans have gone through hell and back 
Their vouchers are the long printed scares behind and deep in their hearts 
Then they passed out of training. came home with zeal and purpose to mother Africa 
They once toiled in these streets, crying and carrying loads
For the masters comfort while my brothers fall hard and never wake
Now they have a responsibility 
To wash the land of the innocent blood of the fathers of sorrow
The oceans of sweat visible at a glance 
And rebuild and repaint the walls of our fathers

But now their own offspring, the heirs to the throne of the land of South Africa
Have become the reincarnated nightmare of old 
Only this time in our own color and to our own brothers and sisters 
To accomplish the task of long ago when our fathers suffered under an alien invasion 
And now I wonder and my bones tremble 
If they are back from the dead, 
Where else can mankind go?
What a pathetic end ours will be O Africa 
Save us O our fathers from our brothers in this xenophobic era

(c) Amoak Derrick 2017

PROMISE ME

Promise me you will never leave
We are going to be together forever
Life without you is not the same
The world I have come to know will fall apart

I see you in my mind and in my dream
You make my life a perfect reality
I do not know if without you I can breathe 
Without you is like living on life support

With a ninety percentage odds of surviving
Whatever you are feeling right now
Even if reaching out to your love is so far 
I will do anything to hold your hand's forever

If only you would completely give me your heart 
The stars will never depart from the sky
I will love you excessively as it is inferred to be
Share my world with you until the end of time 

I will love you beyond this world
Give you delightful love 
That will make the night scream
I will tender your heart like a flower
Cherish you for the best of my existence 

All Rights Reserved© Akan Udofia 2019

DEAR BROTHER

I took you in for a brother
Carried you on my shoulder
It does mean a lot to me
To see you fulfill your dream

But what happened to your dream?
You seem lost deep within
Taking out your frustration on me
But why do you hurt me?

Throughout your struggle for liberty
I stood by you until you are independent
Because it matters to me a lot
You are my brother, your wellbeing I cared

But instead, stab me in the back
How could you be so heartless and ignorant?
Betrayed our many years of trust
For your selfishness, hate, and greed

I can never despise you 
I will still love you
Even if you do hate me for it
You are my brother, we share the same blood

I hope the self-hate is incidental
My love for you has no negative empathy 
Do not let your mind be controlled by hatred
Guide your thoughts, so it would not be lost

Do remember the sun will go to sleep
In the darkest hour of the night
You can get lost on the street
If you are not careful indeed

There will be no one to take the hit
You broke my heart a great deal and my trust
By allowing prejudice to defile the state of your mind
And shut the door behind

Thought you have learned from the past dear brother
We all need someone to look beyond our shoulder
To help us confront our vaguest day
And be back on our feet again today


All Rights Reserved © Akan Udofia

Dedicated to the victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa

NEVER GIVE UP

The will to fight on is living in you
I have always known you to be tough
Though the world may scorn you
And try to push you to the wall

Do not be too hard on yourself
Discouraged the way you are treated by society
They are envious of you
And craving to kill your dream

All it takes is one person to believe in you
That person lives inside of you
Prove them wrong today
Even if nobody else believes in you

The sun does not go down forever
When there is a heavy downpour of rain
The beauty of a smile can change any given day
Just like a flower you should do the same

Bring your own sunshine to the world
And restore the heart from falling apart
Everything you need to be happy
Can be found in your precious memory

All Rights Reserved ©Akan Udofia 2019

POOR STANDARD OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA

My heart was broken when I saw this image which reflects how deteriorated the state of Government-owned Primary and Secondary Schools are in Nigeria.

An average child is neglected from having standard education and exposed to an unhealthy and endangered environment, prone to deadly diseases. Yet our politician's children are enrolled into the best schools abroad.

St. Linnus Primary School
Okwa 1 Community
Boki Local Government Area of Cross River state. Nigeria