Poetry
Your Excellencies
Your excellencies
You've won
We no longer discuss
Your FAILURES
In our majlis
Under tree shades
By the roadsides
We only discuss
Our bedeviling problems
And the vicious circle
That envelops our being
The high price of foodstuff
In relation to starvation
The upward review of medical bills
In relation to ailments
The beautifully built schools
Without teachers
The meager salary
That cannot maintain our bills
The dirt roads
With potholes
And the increasing road accidents
The inadequate water supply
The diseases that alternate
With seasons
The scarcity of petrol, kerosene, and diesel
And the long queues in filling stations
Yes! Your excellencies
You've won
We no longer discuss
Your failures
We only discuss
Our misfortunes and calamities
Your excellencies
Enjoy the public treasure
Loot all it contains
As it is all yours
Your excellencies
We only discuss
Our PROBLEMS
Abdullahi Buba
Abdullahi Buba lives in Maiduguri, Nigeria. He had his B. A. English from University of Maiduguri, Borno state. He lectures in the department of Remedial and General Studies, Mohammed Goni College of Legal, Islamic and Educational Studies, Maiduguri. The thematic preoccupation of his works mostly center on poverty, starvation, and bad governance. His poems 'Maraya' and 'Ours' have appeared in LIBER, an anthology of poems, and 'Our Torchbearers' published in ANTAE, a creative writing journal, Malta.