SHACKLES FOR A MEATLOAF

Is our freedom worth anything?

That’s hard to tell

When to all comers,

We are willing to sell

We, once deeply rooted,

Until patriotism’s tree fell

Now find our eyes lighting up,

 At the sound of the puppet master’s bell,

We heed their call,

Bidding integrity farewell

And with open arms we follow the corrupt cartel,

To fetch from corruptions well

They make our pockets get fatter,

They help our stomachs swell,

But ultimately we only combine to ruin our nation

Causing it to plummet into hell

SHACKLES FOR A MEATLOAF

When Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of porridge, little did we know that he wouldn’t be the last to do so; indeed, it has become a generational trend - with people selling not just their birthright, but their land, voice and ultimately their souls.

There are tales humorously told, about ancient African chiefs selling their villagers as slaves to the Imperialists for bottles of gin and mirrors! It did not stop there, as now in the present day, the people sell their votes, replicating the same action of their forefathers centuries ago.  

As a result, we have many people living in glorified slavery.

For a few bucks…

·        A politician can buy numerous followers

·        An accused can buy justice

·        Matches can be fixed

·        Contracts can be bought

·        And elections can be rigged.

Only for a few bucks!

If the people’s god is their belly, and they rely on these bribe givers and corrupt individuals, why then do they pray to the ‘Most High’ to give them their daily bread?

We live in a time of shortsightedness, when man cannot see past his nose. His quest is for immediate satisfaction and whoever or whatever can provide him this satisfaction; he worships as his bread-giver.
Hence, for him there is no place in daily living for reliance on a supreme being (though he may claim he does, but we know better)

Yet, these shortsighted individuals are supposed to contribute to the wealth of their nations, but they continually sell their voices and freedom for peanuts leaving their poor nations to feel the brunt of it.
Though the bible says “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds for the mouth of GOD”, but man has now deviated and has no loyalty or reliance on GOD - ‘he certainly lives by bread alone’ and can care less about the word from the mouth of GOD.

Therefore, he sees this corrupt bread-giver as his high priest, providing him with bread as sacrifice to his belly god.

Hence, his high priest is revered and given honour, second only to his belly.

So who exactly is the threat to our nation? The belly, the bread or the priest?

It is hard to blame the bread, because you cannot blame money for being available for use in corruption. Rationally speaking, we have two alternatives; it is either we blame the belly or the priests.

My opinion is simple, since the power belongs to the giver and not the receiver; I blame the priests - they inflict the most damage on our nation.

With that out of the way, what then is the solution?

Simple, we need a reorientation, an awakening, a paradigm shift to selflessness and patriotism.

Hmmm… but we have heard that a million times haven’t we?

We know that, but how do we achieve it when we are all money hungry - power drunkards?

Perhaps if we can shift our goal from riches to relevance, then we may become a part of our nation’s ascension to greatness, rather than a deterrent.

Yet, no human being will partake in any venture that is of no benefit to him - so the call to patriotism may go unanswered.

Therefore, the major problem is not the corrupt individuals in power (high priests) as identified earlier, they are only minor. The problem is that most Nigerians have not come to understand what they stand to benefit from a greater Nigeria, so they see every reason to partake in the evil quest of corruption.

These same high priests responsible for educating the people on these benefits are busy feeding them with cursed bread - eaten mainly in ignorance.

But is ignorance an excuse? The people’s lack of knowledge plays spectacularly into the hands of the politicians who continually impoverish the people’s minds, while intermittently feeding their stomachs.

To get past this and save our nation, the learned ones have to take up the responsibility of grassroots’ reorientation. This is necessary as it is in the grassroots that this appalling porridge for vote transaction takes place the most. It is here that political thugs are bred and tomorrow’s militants are armed.

Messages of hate, tribalism and religious intolerance must make way for those of peace and patriotism. The politicians have for long used such messages to further their own agenda of acquiring power at all costs. Now we as a people must come together, educate the minds of the impoverished to ignore the cursed porridge and seek better governance, which would make Nigeria better for them and for their children.

We must begin by ensuring that constituency representatives at local, state and national level are only elected based on their antecedence and how they can help further our course as a people; not because of helmets, sewing machines and tricycles.

EMPOWER THE PEOPLES’ MINDS TO RESIST THE POLITICIANS’ PORRIDGE.



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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015


All Rights Reserved


Image courtesy tribuneonlineng.com