“You are the leaders of tomorrow”
They told us over and over
Right from the tender age of three
Through childhood and adolescence.
We have outgrown our youth
We are now mature men
We have come of age to lead
Just as promised decades ago.

At a recent gathering
Our *leaders of yesterday
Stricken with age and power
And long overdue for retirement
Addressed us, saying,
“Bla bla bla, bla bla, bla bla bla…”
“You are the leaders of tomorrow”*
That last statement jolted me awake
From his uninspiring, boring speech.

Then it dawned on me
We are a sleeping generation
We have long been waiting- sleeping!
When we should be leading
Our greedy, power-drunk leaders,
Will die in active service!
They will NOT hand over to us!
Not if we sit and wait for them.

I had a *revelation that the “tomorrow”,
We were promised “yesterday”
Is fast becoming yesterday, today!
And while the Nigerian youth sleeps
His chance is being usurped by his fathers
Yesterday we heard this promise
Today we hear the same promise
But come tomorrow, we will be too old to lead
And our children’s turn, it will be.

We have been scammed of our future
By the very ones we entrusted them with
And like turns in a game of scrabble,
We have missed ours- forever!
Our leaders are old men
Who have no faith in youths
And come tomorrow, our children,
Will have graves to look up to

Because we would have no experience
From which to advise them…
And like an unwanted track on a CD
Our generation would have been skipped
By the geriatric push of a ⇒ button!


© Raphael Uzor

A happy 18th birthday to Jireh Hong
Who I can proudly say is an amazing ching-chong.
She talks all four corners from food to Grande,
about her amazing voice, not the Starbucks sized latte.
Speaking of drinks, milk tea is her crave,
An hourly dose to satisfy her own rave.
Passing two tests, she is now a pro-status artist in UP,
Not to mention merging art and sport to move on stage gracefully.

The Year of Seven was our first encounter,
Memorable it was, I clearly remember.
During that year there was a game on my birthday
too bad we lost pretty bad, so she cried on that day.
Today, I remember the last thing she did,
She slapped me so hard that even Krisa hid.
From Seven until today there were plenty of memories.
Memories that turned Legendary from mere simple stories.

When I was in Rage Mode, and people wanted to hide,
you were of the few who were helping on the side.
Hashtag specific, this is really all I have to say.
Patiently praying, patiently waiting every single day.

Your height, your might, and your appetite,
They give me insane amounts of fright.
But FACT: It is your heart, that I can say with ease,
that is as big or bigger than any of these.

So for crying out loud, stop working out,
Ya don't need it, gimme the benefit of the doubt.
So go enjoy your music and milk tea
AKA Hang Out more (hehe) with friends and family.
You deserve it hundred percent all the way
So thank you, I wish you a happy birthday.