BY ABA SAHEED
And they are dead, dead and dead/
Students Unions are dead, dead and dead/.
Labour Unions are dead, dead and dead/
Workers Unions are dead, dead and dead/
National Assembly Chambers are dead, dead and dead/
State House Assemblies are dead, dead and dead/
Academic Unions of Universities are dead, dead and dead/
Non= Academic Unions of Universities are dead, dead and dead/
Civil Society Organizations are dead, dead and dead/
Traditional Councils are dead, dead and dead/
Religious Organizations are dead, dead and dead/
The Media, oh, the Media, are dead, dead and dead/
But there are students, disco loving students, cultism craving students, gangsters, ritualists/
They are not dead, not really dead, they are living dead/
There are labourers supplying labour and services, they are not dead/
Not really dead, they are living dead/
There are workers, millions of them, paid wages fit only for slaves and servants/
They are not dead, they are living dead/
National and state Assemblies have plenty men and women/
These men and women are not dead/
They are majorly commercial and mercenary politicians/
They are alive, and they are living dead/
Universities, Civil society Organizations, Traditional and Religious Organizations/
Are peopled by human beings/
Purchasable individuals, dead living, living a shadow of times past/
Oh Pa Michael Imoudu, yours was the proud flag of labour unionism/
Anthony Enahoro, Aminu Kano, Mokwugo Okoye were unforgettable Voices of courage in politics/
Obaroge Ohonbamu, Claude Ake, Bala Usman, Omafume Omage, Comrade Ola Oni, Ayodele Awojobi/ And many more in Ivory Towers of yore gave voice to the voiceless/
Dapo Falase, Segun Okeowo, Adegboro, Agunbiade, your generations defined student unionism/
Irrepressible Tai Solarin, Gani Fawehinmi, Fredrick Faseun, Isaac Adaka Boro, you are not dead/
Get up and replace yourselves with the living dead, the living shadows of your hallowed legacies/
Ernest Sese Ikoli, your golden pen, your inimitable courage, badly needed to rescue the Media/
Now we have ears that are waxed/
Eyes, not blind but blindfolded with large sheets of dollar bills/
Mouths, not dumb but padlocked with bribes and political patronage/
Zombies in high places/
Zombies in various parliaments/
Zombies bedecked with beads, feathers and turbans roaming naked in palaces/
Zombies in ivory towers and student union buildings/
Zombies in labour and workers unions/
Zombies all over/
(This is dedicated to AKOGUN TOLA ADENIYI’S PLATINUM ANNIVERSARY)
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