By Kwesi Atta Sakyi 13TH March 2013
See oh, Oga See,
I see a sea of poverty,
The land looks parched and dry,
Teemless multitudes of malnourished children cry,
I look left, then look right,
I look south, I look north
To rivers of tears; I am moved,
It does not register right
Years and years after independence,
Tears upon tears of endless woes,
The story is still the same, if not worse,
Africa remains underdeveloped from mismanagement,
The same basket case of starvation and donor handouts,
Hope is entombed in a casket base,
Are we in a wild goose chase?
Africa is clothed in poverty rags,
We are branded and pinned with opprobious tags
Millennium Development Goals, a mirage?
See oh, Oga, See,
Majority Africans break their backs,
From dawn to dusk,
Tending the soil or herding cattle,
Men and Women on the fields toil,
Traders in the scorching sun sell
Few executives wheel and deal in oil scams,
In sleek concrete towers overlooking slums
Yet, many years after independence,
Africa wallows in abject poverty
Despite exploitation of monumental property
She stands naked in mock liberty
While the wheels of progress turn in reverse gear
Where, oh Oga, where
Have our rich resources run to,
Fabulous fertile lands we have,
Myriads of minerals and fresh water replete,
Yet, beside mighty rivers and expensive lakes we thirst,
Beside mighty rivers and lakes we famish
We take our bath with dust and ashes,
Our pot-bellied leaders wear sashes,
We are constantly under unbearable lashes
Oh, why have they betrayed us so,
Oh, why has development eluded us so,
Continuously cornered and duped by conmen,
Millennium Development Goals, a mirage?
Oga, see now,
Poverty is strewn everywhere
In the streets of Soweto in Johannesburg,
Ajegunle in Lagos, Sodom and Gomorrah in Accra,
Kibera in Nairobi…….
Hunger stealthily stalks millions like hungry lion,
Deadly diseases decimate dozens daily,
Hospitals are starved of essential supplies,
NHIS programme, a national symbol of mockery,
Schools are robbed of their teachers,
HIV /AIDS pandemic wrecks havoc with our workers,
Roads nurse wounds of gaping potholes,
Accident victims dismembered and thrown into trenches.
Oh Africa, what heritage has your children,
Where bribery and corruption stunk,
Like fetid festering sores festooned on your forehead,
Corruption stench hanging putrid on thin air
It has permeated the four corridors of the wind;
Billions of export and tax revenue disappear,
Our economies teeter and are badly bedeviled,
Our economies are riddled with bullets of brutal poverty.
Oh, why are we prodigiously poor
In the midst of natural abundance?
Are we cursed from enjoying nature’s bounties?
Millennium Development Goals, a camouflage?
Oga, see oh see,
Independence promised us freedom,
Yet freedom fled and brought us palpable poverty.
What a paradox, what an irony of fatal fate,
Our few ruling classes amassed humongous wealth,
Then our freedom we lost the third time,
First, it was ignominious slave trade,
Second, it was colossal colonialism
In the saddle of power, they incarcerated us
Yes, freedom forsook our fevered shores,
Followed by exodus of our professionals
To frenzied first world shores in hordes,
Yet, in sanctuaries abroad, they sold their birthright,
And became lackeys and objectionable serfs
See oh, Oga see,
Wetin we go do now,
Yes, the freedom our forefathers fiercely fought for,
Was it freedom for a select few?
Fie, nay, nope, not at all!
Majority Africans got to wrestle
Majoritarian freedom,
From the jaws and claws of political predators,
The political juggernaut mows the masses.
To their untimely demise.
Away with selfish mispatriots
Abash, heartless misanthropists
Africa cries aloud to the highest heaven
For a fourth emancipation and liberation,
Millennium Development Goals, a mere reportage?
By Kwesi Atta Sakyi
Email: kwesiattasakyi449gmail.com
