Jobs

The author's main hobby is creative writing. In this regard he has written books, poems and articles for the web. He is an iReporter for CNN and has authored many web pages. He is on FaceBook and Twitter. The next poem, This is Ijegun, was written in 2008 to bring to light the sufferings of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of that area who suffer from neglect because of bad road.

Where the road is marshy

Where the efforts went

Built on sweat and hope

Ijegun

Where light does not come

Where we hope to live

Where we plan to stay

And Be happy

Ijegun the Pipeline Victim

The signs of our decadence

The evidence of our decaying planning

But still people stay with hope

The road to Ijegun

Somehow made but with no plans

Many stay for want of better place

Hoping that a City would soon emerge

Ijegun story may be like Aguda

Ijegun story may be like Allen

Ijegun story may be like Maroko

But where lies its salvation

Ijegun so close to Festac

Ijegun so close to Isolo Estate

Ijegun so close to Igando

But far and far from them

The attention drawn to Ijegun Road

Should continue despite the explosion

But who will save Ijegun

From these despair of its roads

Ijegun is an emerging city

Based on trust and faith

Civil servants, bankers and traders

Stay put there and hope for the best

When will the best come?

When will the State wake up?

When will Ijegun become the Chatham?

Of our own dear native land

But there are many Ijeguns

Scattered along our cities

Who will be the saviour?

Of all our Ijeguns

What makes an Ijegun a Chatham?

The People

Give them a good road

And a good living condition

Our leaders don’t stay at Ijegun

So they don’t know where the shoes pinch

But they will come back to Ijegun

When it is time to count the votes

Use your weapons, people of Ijegun

Do not waste your votes

Only leaders who make your roads

Deserve to take your votes

First Produced Jul 14. Reproduced for the ABIYE TOWER BLOG on 11 Nov 08.

This poem was almost going to extinct after I de-blogged the original web where it was hosted. A friend alerted me to the poem which came to me ordinarily while lamenting the ineptitude of our Governments to address basic issues that could have multiplier effects on national development. Ijegun is an example of what government should do and they are not doing. Governments elsewhere are alive to their responsibilities and why not ours? We pray the days come when every person in authority would be made accountable not only for his or her actions but also inactions. This poem IJEGUN is rededicated to those who have read this poem earlier and made this reproduction possible.