Beating The Drums Of War Poem by Michael Adeosun

It's so easy and convenient for
some who have their ship well
berth offshore to beat the drums of war.
They can signal the lighthouse to turn on
the green light for the commencement of
war in the hinterlands.
Of course, they will reason their decision
on the fact that the union has failed
and the amalgamation was a forced one
meant only for the benefit of the colonial masters.

Yet, these ones fail to reason the fact that a breakup or secession is seldom achieved
via a peaceful means.
But what do they care if we have to roll out
the tanks and deploy fighter jets again
like we did fifty years ago?

What do they care
if lives of innocent children, women,
the sick and elderly become collateral
damages in the realisation of a
geopolitical divorce?

What would they care
if all they would do at the break of a war
is to fire prosal bullets from the
barrel of their smart phones
while seated before fireplaces that keeps
the wintery atmosphere
permanently outdoors.

Their battlefield binoculars
shall be their television screens
tuned to CNN and BBC news channels.
And of course after seeing
Premiership league matches and
NBA playoffs of the day.

Should we not be weary
of mere commentators who will never
enlist in armies whenever there is
that call to duty to liberate their ancestral lands?

Shouldn't we be weary
of opinion influencers who stand to lose nothing when the anarchy they call for
becomes a reality?

Shouldn't we see as dangerous
those capable of directing less
intelligent ones to self and collective
harm and misery,
when they themselves remain
within the comfy of temperate regions
clad in designer jackets
only ready to pop up to
fill ministerial positions?

These ones will pontificate and
elucidate the pros of a secession
but are deliberately blind to the cons of a breakup.
Such is the con of these influencers.
They will never bring into discourse
the plight of Sudan. They will never see
the misery of war torn nations like Libya,
Yemen and Syria.
Neither would their hindsight behold the miseries of Nigerians during a civil war fifty years ago that only lasted three years.

It's so easy to stay offshore
and beat drums of war for the hinterlands.