By Ade Adeoegun
An agitation for the general good
A just cause for the youths
Powered by the fingers of middle class kids
And the anger of a nation
Reeling from hunger
Governance induced and Covid bred
A quest for Police Reforms
A final repose for the dreaded SARS
Citizens spoke with a single voice
Give them what they want
Elders beamed with pride
That their toils are not all wasted
The generation of the Lazy
Standing up for a good cause
There is hope for the future
It all seems so easy
Street protests turned to street parties
Celebrity endorsements and celebrity sightings
A carnival like atmosphere for family outings
For photo shoots and media mention
Hungry youths found succor
Free music to move the limbs
And electricity to charge phones
This is the youth revolution
Backwoods boys look with envy
At an opportunity not to be missed
From the riversides of Amukoko
To the hills of Akoko
Youths scurried like flash floods
To be counted in the # game
EndSars and EndEverything
Twitter is on fire as IG looks in envy
A youth led revolution
Mentioned in hushed tones
Like a train that veers off its track
An opportunity for rebirth
That enjoyed near national consensus
Was lost to a penchant for going overboard
And the street cred test
Was lost to streetwise men
And the street cred became our street hell
As the fun parties turned to hellish bonfires
From Orile to Benin City
Surulere to Obigbo
Fire, fire, fire, fire
There is fire on the mountain
Fireworks at Lekki Toll
Massacre, deaths or no casualty
Another crisis mismanaged
Like Independence Day fireworks
The sky is lit with sparks of lightening
Night through to days
From TVC to BRT
From Calabar to Yola, Aba to Abaji
Police on the run, stations in flame
Police arms in strange hands
Area boys turned DPOs
Black lives no longer matter
Carcass of warehouses everywhere
Public, private and hybrid
People scurrying everywhere
Looking for palliatives
Private homes and public estates
Receiving baptism of fire
There is quiet everywhere
There is fear on every mind
Twitter handles on recess
A golden opportunity for rebirth
Lost to misguided antics
Of leaderless leadership
And the burn-burn spirit of street thugs
Stored venom of street urchins
Let loose upon innocent entrepreneurs
The sweats of years past
Torched in an orgy of needless rage
A golden opportunity
To paint the beautiful picture
Of a beautiful future
Postponed to a pregnant future
•Adeogun represents Akoko South East/East federal constituency at the House of Representatives and writes from Oba Akoko.
