While basking in the euphoria of the gift of life and it's attendant beauty, we seldom remember to sit back and ponder on the realities surrounding the kind of life we live here in this divide of the world.
A typical Nigerian deserves accolades for making it through life or at least for staying alive amidst the challenges and pandemonium in the land.
A life where one is denied of virtually everything that gives you a sense of humanity, a typical case scenario of 'The Adventures of Alice in wonderland' where verdict comes before judgement, a life without the basic amenities of life and without a sense of belonging to the larger society. This is one hell of a life, often times I ask myself, how did we survive for this long? How come we are not broken?
I guess the real question is: how did we get here?, where did we go wrong? Is there hope?
Alot has gone wrong, as much as there has always been class divide from time immemorial, ours is overwhelmingly in bad shape, there is a divide in everything and anything that ought to unite us as a people; Tribe, Religion, and Nativity are the evils that has befallen us, they are more dividing here more the even the defunct 'Wall of Berlin'.
Worse still is the total absence of justice, inclusiveness, merit, equity, fairness, rule of law, liberty, welfare and national interest. These are supposed to be the bedrock of a liberal and nascent democracy. Here, unlike elsewhere, the common man is robbed of all these and even more.
But for how long shall we continue to tow this path? How long before we break? For how much longer can we hold still? Where are we heading to?
It's time to give this burning issues a thought and decide for ourselves whether to continue on this path or take our collective future into our own hands.
The time is now and we must have to decide, decide to speak out or take action with a united sense of purpose.

Lost, lust, Love

Love dealt me a big blow the first time
She was a motivational speaker
She deceived me with her sweet words and I fell for her,
Only to realize she only came use me.

The second time, she came in form of an artist,
Painted pictures with words that depicted her as the perfect one,
I fell again, thinking she was the right one for me,
Only to realize she only came to use me.

The third time twas an orator,
Her choice of words and eloquence captivated me,
And fell so cheap for her deceit,
Only to realize she only came to use me, this time a little too late.

She took advantage of my innocence
I was young, dumb, stupid and hungry for love,
And she deceived me three good times
But I've learnt my lesson, though the hard way,

Now, I've fallen in love with me,
I've learnt to put myself first before others
Realizing I'm whole and beautiful in my skin
Also, that when the is ripe, the right person will come and at the right time too.
And when the time and season comes, I'll be ready with a once broken but now mended heart and able to spot the cunning ones.

Behind that beautiful smile
Lies pain, agony, depression and frustration
The smile is but a camouflage
To cover the inner scars and struggles

Behind that confidence
Lies self-doubt, low self-esteem, self-pity and self-condemnation
The confidence is but a camouflage
Just a cover of the true inner self

Behind that success
Lies years of struggle, sacrifice, sleepless nights and hard work
The success is but a camouflage
Not necessarily a cover but reward for the efforts and time invested.

Behind that beauty
Lies imperfections, vile, shortcomings and ineptitude
The beauty is but a camouflage
To cover the inner beasts and demons

Behind that saint
Lies sin, villain, savage and a hound
The hallo is but a camouflage
To cover the struggles with human nature filled with sinful tendencies.

Behind that beast
Lies charisma, charm, appeal and enchantment.
The cruelty is but a camouflage
To cover the the true inner self.

Behind every man
Lies struggles, pain, sorrow and agony
With a mixture of joy, peace, happiness and fulfillment.
People only portray that side which they find pleasant and appealing to the eye.

And you dare ask why?
But why not?
When all we do is judge people and crusify them even without giving them a chance to fair hearing?
We label, stereotype and tag people with certain profiles.

And yet we lack the ability to look through them and see their struggles and scars
And see beyond their imperfections, mistakes and shortcomings

Are you any different?