Opinions of Saturday, 16 October 2010

Columnist: Adu-Gyamfi, Kwaku

Burn, Baby Burn - Niger Delta Ghost!

VOICE OF REASON:


Burn, Baby Burn - Niger Delta Ghost!

ONCE UPON A TIME, the Niger Delta was calm until the oil find
Making the politicians’ bank accounts feel like fluid
Swimming in money like Tsunami flood

Eating, drinking and partying like no tomorrow
While the citizens go to bed with empty tummies

You wonder why Delta is burning
Check out why they’re fighting

It’s not so much about one’s equality
It’s simply about oil equity

Hope Ghana takes a page or two from Nigeria’s pain
So as not to fall into the same frying pan
The oil is for all Ghanaians
It needs to be shared by all Ghanaians

Once it becomes a personal fortune
It will likely create fire fortress

That can kill our expectations, aspirations and inspirations
When people have too much dissatisfaction
There will be no other explanations
Than denunciations and demonstrations

Sadly our negative actions are not making a difference
Because of our chronic indifference
In a land where money makes all the difference

For we’ve been waiting for this chance
To justify our existence

Many centuries have gone by with no hope to exhale
It made so many of us end up in self- imposed exile
But with the oil money we can easily go astray

We’re bound to be on gravy train
Because Ghanaians spend money like rain
Yet figuring out a name for the crude is even a mind strain
We don’t have the minds to be trained
To mine the oil mines

If we don’t want Western Region Delta
We better learn how to treat the people better
This is not the time to shower people with flatter

Since the GNPC is going to be the only entity for the oil right
You don’t need me to tell you that something’s not right
When the government has all the right

To determine our future when we’ve a choice to be GNPC shareholders
The best way to solve this is to make everyone buy a share
In GNPC to prevent the government and its cronies from having the lion share

Ghana has the potentials to be a rich fountain
As long as everyone’s going to maintain
By keeping the money to improve lives at home
To make Ghana’s children to stay home

Because we’re tired of being globetrotters
Hustling and bustling just to get our daily bread to make life better

Hope I’m not the only voice in the forest
To sound the alarm to the people to get set
I’m not giving up because too much is at stake
To take my warnings as baseless facts

Politics and Policies aside
We have to get the right people assigned
Put national interest above everything
And make the old politics a past thing

If the Dumbocrats and Corruptcrats ruin this opportunity it will backfire
That is how the Delta fired up and started the fire

I don’t want to make this sound palatable
But I know it’s possible

Now it’s our turn to turn a page to take a note
We can pray for change but that is empty hope
Not when a few us will have the audacity to shop

The volcano is hot
With the potential to erupt and rock

The ghost of Niger Delta is hanging around
Waiting for us to get it wrong

All we need is a new character born
To remember how the Delta burns!!


Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi (VOICE OF REASON)
NJ, USA
*The author is a social commentator and the founder of The Adu-Gyamfi Disadvantaged Youth Empowerment Foundation at Asuom, Akim.