By Olamide Adekunle, Esq

Once upon a time, there lived

A big Cockerel, to me it belonged,

Fat and ruddy, forever busy,

What a fine specimen! What wonder!

It’s feathers bright and shiny

Like a polished diamond,

Strutting majestically, its chest out,

As if it owned the earth,

Cluck! Cluck! Cluck! It cries happily.

I’m a fine Cockerel, first of my kind

I own the Earthworms, the left overs,

Of my master, I own the roaches

Been blessed by God, yes that I am,

What an ugly thing which sits,

Morning, day and night not on it,

But pushes its eggs away disdainfully.

When my master picks my eggs,

Let him eat it, I’m the first and

Will be the last of my kind,

It kicks its eggs away as it sits,

And prepares room for itself,

Cluck! Cluck! Cluck! It cries disdainfully.

What a hen! No motherly instruct,

No love and protectiveness, no feelings,

For its young but itself only,

It feeds for itself only and cares not

At the coming of the hawk, let it fly,

I have no chicks it will carry away,

Oh thank nature, I don’t hatch any eggs,

Other mother hens have more perfect,

Finer eggs than me, other hens have

More food and water to drink than me,

For it does not know that

When a plantain tree dies it replaces itself,

With its young one, thats the circle,

The eternal circle of life,

What a foolish, selfish and ungrateful hen,

What an unfruitful thing.

Note

The poem points to some of our politicians in Nigeria who care only for themselves and would rather remain in power than breed or disciple people that will succeed them.

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Most of them are egoistical and callous which is against nature. But they are proud and live life as if they are immortals. They have more excuses for their actions than the devil, and love comparing themselves. They are never  satisfied with what they have and have the grab-grab mentality.