Who Will Liberate Africa Poem by Raimi Babatunde

Some have eyes
Yet see not
What do you see?
An ocean? No
A dead end
The point of no return

In search of answers
To fill a void
I journeyed into the sea
Where our forefathers perished
The greatest exodus on our continent
A journey into the unknown

Angry with the gods
The rulers of the deep sea
Tired of distortions and concoctions
I journeyed to ask why?
But why ask why?

The Queens of the coast
Prettier than most slay Queens
Fair and attractive
They beckoned on me
Like the strip girls in Octopus
In a bid to indulge
Seduce and manipulate

Come a little farther
That we may commune
You'll have all your answers
And an unfogetable experience
Ninety-Nine virgins awaits you
Then we may speak
At least for fair hearing and posterity
Why we sank some and allowed others

Tempted as i was
I made to go further
Until i heard the still voice
Peace be still
Your generation still needs you
Lest you go as they went
I made to ignore
Until i saw a sign, a tainted pebble

Soiled in that salty sea
In the heart of Obama beach
New name, same history
Faraway in Cotonou
My spirit connected with theirs
Their pains in my heart
Heard their wailing and gnashing
Even after many years
Their blood still speaks

Seperated from their families
Bound in chains and heated irons
We tilled their lands
Tended their plantations
Cooked their foods
Satisfied their libidos
Yet they call us slaves

Exchanged for mirrors
Guns and jewelries
Silenced for standing up
Our virgins they defiled
Yet they called us slaves
Who will liberate Africa?
From all oppression
Where is our Moses?

They called slaves
And we act thus
How do you explain brain drain
Capital flight and insurrections
Sex for marks on campuses
Thieves celebrated as heroes
Total disregard for life
I cry for Africa

A continent so rich
Yet wallows in abject poverty
Who will save Africa
From the slavery of corruption
And the shackles of tribalism
A coinage of the slavemasters
Describing lower animals

A people so endowed
Yet depends on foreign aids
Until we are totally emancipated
From the mind
Think unity and progress
Build a future for the African child
Our independence and education
Resource and exposure
Remains but a curse
Other than blessings