The Cry of The Hungry

In the land where the sun kisses the soil
Where abundance once sprang from honest toil
Now hunger prowls... like a restless beast
And famine mocks every hoped-for feast

The yam barns are empty... the granaries bare
The fields once golden... now stripped of care
Scarcity spreads... like harmattan dust
A bitter curse... on a broken trust

A goat tied too long... will chew the rope
But here even ropes... can’t kindle hope
The people cry... their stomachs hollow
Yet promises are all they’re forced to swallow

Once we planted and reaped with glee
But now our labor feeds misery
The crops have shriveled... the rain's gone dry
And government officials just walk on by

They gather in chambers as grand as a king's
Sipping their wine while the poor eat sins
With every policy... they widen the gap
Burdens doubled... a sinister trap

The river that forgets its source will run dry
But these leaders have turned a blind eye
Their roots forgotten... their hearts turned cold
Their greed devours the nation’s gold

Let me tell you about Mama Folake’s plight
Who toils from dawn until the night
Her palm oil business used to thrive
But now she struggles to keep her family alive

Her son Ade once bright with dreams
Now sees the world in muted themes
No school fees paid no books in hand
The future crumbles like dry sand

The lizard that nods in the sun has seen things
Ade nods too but only hunger stings
His mother tells him to keep the faith
But faith alone won’t fill a plate

Inflation is a thief that robs unseen
Turning Naira to paper hopes to dreams
A bag of rice now a tale to tell
The average Nigerian lives in hell

And yet the leaders play their charade
Making policies like poorly sewn trade
One week it’s fuel the next it’s tax
They strip the people while lining their sacks

The monkey sweats but its fur hides the tears
Behind their smiles are our growing fears
They draft decrees in ivory towers
But down below survival sours

The streets are loud with unspoken cries
The markets echo with desperate sighs
Bread is a luxury... meat a dream
And corruption runs like a poisoned stream

When the bush burns the grasshopper loses its home
The common man is left to roam
His sweat builds the mansion he’ll never see
While the rich feast on his misery

But oh dear land even the night must end
Even a bent tree will someday bend
A story is told of a bird in flight
Who fell to the ground but found her might

The people will rise their voices clear
Their strength forged in pain year after year
For the drum that beats the loudest will burst
And the people's anger will quench this thirst

The tide will turn the tables will shift
And justice will rise from this rift
The leaders may build walls high and wide
But the power of truth they cannot hide

The land will heal the barns will fill
The laughter of children will light the hill
And as history writes this bitter song
It will mark the day the hungry grew strong

No matter how long the night the dawn will break
And justice will serve what greed could not take
So let the tale be told far and near
A new Nigeria will soon appear