Efe Paul Azino
Justice Has Been Kidnapped
Justice Has Been Kidnapped
Justice has been kidnapped in my country,
no one’s willing to pay her ransom.
She was absent at the tribunal when the verdict was given,
so the marauders were declared winners,
though we know the votes were phantom.
Chaos convulses the land;
the tranquillity’s been shattered,
We can’t piece together the peace.
Justice has been kidnapped
somebody please call the police!
But my friends mock my naiveté,
poets that they are, they blaspheme,
claiming the patriotic men in uniform
are part of the conspiracy.
Justice has been kidnapped in my country
and no one’s willing to pay her ransom.
When was she last seen? Errr, I can’t remember.
She was missing in the years of IBB
when Dele Giwa was blown to pieces.
She was absent when Abacha reigned
and Justice Auta hit the gavel,
Saro Wiwa was hung (to hell with the critics).
Justice has been missing in my country for so long,
the Fourth Republic gave us a made-up version of her,
but she was promiscuous and so wrong,
worst of all she could see.
Distinguishing between foes and friends of the government,
working through the hands of the EFCC.
Which reminds me; Nuhu Ribadu was acclaimed her champion,
that dispensation’s faithful man.
Until wiki leaked, and we heard him sing like a canary,
humming a different tune before the Americans.
Justice has been missing since the First Republic
when Awo was thrown in prison for treason,
Since the soil in Oloibiri bled oil,
and the windfall from the boom stressed divisions.
Believe now, justice has been lost since Nigeria was found.
A friend said he saw her at Mile 12, lately,
when a pickpocket was mobbed and set ablaze,
maybe that was Justice, but I’m still not sure,
because I see sticky-fingered politicians
and government officials roaming free, even on TV,
sitting in the assemblies were they make laws.
Justice come home we miss you.
Justice come back we need you.
Justice we weep for you, everyday.
Even the Church can’t remember what you look like
though for you they fast and pray.
Activists, youths: blog, tweet,
even march on the streets in protest for you,
but I don’t trust them
for, while their leaders get famous,
I still don’t see Justice free among us.
I wrote a poem for you Justice,
but I fear that’s the best I’m willing to do.
I guess I’m just as guilty,
just as guilty as the politicians
and the rest of the society,
who speak like they love you, but won’t dare to bleed
to see you freed.
Justice has been kidnapped in my country,
and for her freedom,
we’re not willing to pay the cost.
But until she’s found
we, my people, will remain lost.
Justice has been kidnapped in my country,
and nobody, not even you,
is willing to pay her ransom.