Jápá (A Passport and Two Clothes)
Pick up your passport and one or two clothes
‘Cause in Naija, life na per head, that’s how it goes
How we ended up here, we know but no one really knows
Feels like we’re in a constant nightmare, stuck in revolving doors
We didn’t ask for constant power or karma
Or justice for corrupt politicking yansh-holes
We didn’t ask for rights to ride around roads with no manmade potholes
We didn’t ask for quality strike-less education or basic healthcare.
We didn’t ask for the bar to be so underground that it looks up to pipelines polluting the waters causing Niger Deltan Deaths.
We didn’t ask for the end of Boko Haram, Bandits and Herdsmen
We didn’t ask why we’re hungry while demons with brooms and umbrellas Dancing faux Solons in their white agbadas are steady flexing
We didn’t ask why they’re friends with fundamentalists
We didn’t ask why they reek of Eau De Selectif Sympathief
Laced with pungent drops of Tribalee Bigotree
We didn’t ask why they speak empty words,
Insulting our collective intelligence with inane statements
full of nothing but corrupted egotisic philosophy
We didn’t ask why our wanderlust fly Daddy G.O’s and Preachers
stay tithe-lipped except of course — when it’s time for offering
We didn’t ask why our heroes are being hunted,
On pilgrimage seeking cold havens overseas because it’s japa or the mortuary
We didn’t ask for any of these.
All we asked was this.
Stop killing us.
And they did.
On October 20, 2020, 365 days ago, they did.
Rest in peace. We will never forget.
#EndSARS #LekkiMassacre #EndSARSMemorial #EndPoliceBrutality #WeWillNeverForget #RestInPeace
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(#TweetPiece is this random idea I just had to write an article, story, poem or piece inspired by a random tweet I see, and just publish every week. Because why not? The goal is to purge, even if no one hears you shit…right?
This #TweetPiece 2 is based on the first line from this poem:
“Pick up your passport and one or two clothes.”
For those unfamiliar with the now iconic phrase in the Naija Digital sphere, it started around this time last year when the #EndSARS protests escalated, with the Nigerian Police Force and Thugs shooting and attacking innocent peaceful protesters. Basically, an ‘elite’ member of society watched the unfolding violence from the safety of their apartment and told her daughter to get her passport and a change of clothes — an apparent signal that they’re fleeing the country.
https://twitter.com/dvmian3000/status/1318914028517924865
The ironic humour in this is how about those who can’t pick up and japa? How about the millions of Nigerians who will never have the opportunity to even see another state in the country much less go abroad, whose entire human existence and experience is tied down to this entity we are bound to, that we call home — this dysfunctional country we love Nigeria?
This statement is what some would call an apt summation of the real Nigerian Dream, and they wouldn’t be lying.
I released the very first Tweet Piece titled “I Saw Leaves on Cars today” just hours before the massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate on the orders of demdem. The whole day felt ominous, and being familiar with violently executed dispersion techniques used during student riots and previous national protests, I knew things couldn’t end well. And I saw a tweet by @lionel_ikey on with the titular line, and with his permission, I wrote on it.
Went to bed, woke up to news of the bloody massacre, and the more dumbfounding reports of denials by demdem.
I just hope we don’t see new leaves on cars today. #EndSARS )
