CRY,OUR BELOVED COUNTRY!

I am bound to this land by blood
That's why my vision is blurred...
I smell the sweat of its men...
I have seen pain engraved on the foreheads of many
I have heard their agony
I have cried so often with broken men...
I have heard the wailings of a million
I have stood on the crowd where men
Mixed their sweat and wiped blood
From their brows cursing silently...
I bear the mark of the mases on my brow...
If I lend a tiny voice to
The rustles of this crowd
Its because I am bound to this land...
I am tethered to their moan they are my own
I belong with they who have no voice

-Olu Oguibe
A Gathering Fear
Till this moment,I am yet to come across any other lines of poetry that aptly captures the hopeless pains of the Nigerian masses and the frustration of a patriot,like in the quoted poetry text of Oguibe.The strong emotional bond and commitement between the Poet and those he represents is runs very deep. The significance of this poem manifests itself against the backdrop of our present socio-political realites in which political power holders have callously emansculated themselves from the yearnings and visions of those they lead.Our political leaders are far removed from the very same people they swore on oath to carter for. That Nigeria is lacking in all things,most ridiculously,the basics, that ought to have made life worth living was never God's design. Corrupt wickedness and greed have been elevated to a national past time.Most painful is the fact that no one up there seems bothered.This insensitivity is driving me mad...So we are still going to allow our children and our children's children thread this painful path again!