thoughts, not actions

We stand
With our hands behind our backs
Mentally tied by traditions
Most of which we don’t believe
But yet we let them cripple us
While we point and laugh at others
“They don’t have culture”
"They lack a sense of religion”
Yet our sanctimonious attitude binds our legs
So we don’t move.


Shame over guilt
More concerned with other people think
As we push our conscience to the side,
Tape its mouth,
And play the loud music of our public identity
Over its muffled screams.

We obsess about affluence,
As we climb our mentally constructed ladders.
We step on others,
Dig our feet into their fingers,
And point and laugh as they fall.

The next day we go to church,
And sing praises to God for blessing us.
He gave us the sturdy feet to stomp on our enemies
The strength to push,
And the will to walk over them if need be.
Oh thank God!


For the others
The need to just be “okay” clings to their identity,
As being better than okay is deemed impossible.
So they lay rest in their mediocre states.
At least we are better than Sudan.


We have so many people surviving,
Never living.
While they stare at the corrupt few
And tell themselves
“my time dey come”
So begins the unending cycle
Everyone waiting for their “time”
With complete disregard for others
Our flawed ideology of this personally exclusive, but universally anticipated concept
Causes some to ask questions
They get antsy
Become impatient
Feel the need to usurp the powers that be
But the real question of why these powers are in existence lays undisturbed
Why do we feel the need to idolize these leaders?
The political,
The spiritual
The cultural.

See,

When we idolize people
We lift up normal humans
Put them on pedestals that we built
Mentally erase their faults
Turn a blind eye to their inconsistences
Yes we are a religious people
But we are constantly being crippled by this trait

If you try to escape
You are condemned to hell

By people that have never even been there,
But have appointed themselves judges
As they step on your ideas,
Make mockery of your beliefs
And ridicule your identity.

In Nigeria,
We are a controlled by few

Somewhat unintelligent
But strikingly devious
They exploit our beliefs
With little respect for humanity
So we fight amongst ourselves
Disregarding the root of our problems


We scowl at nations that dare to speak of our issues
They don’t live in Nigeria
They don’t know us
Who do they think they are?
We are the happiest people in the world
But are we?
Is this consensus, or the opinion of a select few?


We speak of change,
But don’t truly believe
We feel powerless,
Unimportant,
Used,
As we being to see holes in our flawed reality.
We wait for God to come down and change it
So sure He’ll make a quick trip to
Put our leaders in shape
But fail to see the improbability of this occuring

We have become so used to being maltreated

That we expect nothing else
Don’t demand justice
Shy away from confrontation
But yet we cling to faith
There is nothing wrong with believing
But belief without action lackis significance.