HOME FOR ALL?

Sometimes, I wonder why we go by that name “HOME FOR ALL”, - the gateway to eastern, Nigeria – my land, my origin. My pride?

She gloats proudly by the tag, “HOME FOR ALL”, this tag is everything but the truth, a land that is plagued with erosion which threatens the decaying infrastructure. Greedy politicians with promises, gone with the wind and ..., Oh yes, kidnappers- able bodied young men who refuse to be responsible to the society, using the lame excuse of unemployment to leave in their trail, widows, devastated mothers and fatherless daughters. This group of three are still casualties of my culture... of my land.

I look back in nostalgia, the days of going back home to the waiting arms of my grandparents, without being afraid of my shadow, but today, I cannot even have my traditional wedding in my homeland for the fear of my father being kidnapped. With each coming election, empty promises are made as the erosions dig deeper the graves for our primary schools and our secondary school leavers used as political thugs.

The victims - the women. We, who dare to hope and pray for a better tomorrow, it is our sons who become kidnappers, our babies that fall into the gullies of the erosions and our loved ones who die in political violence ... but then we still dare to hope and stand against all odds because this is meant to be our HOME FOR ALL!