POVERTY Fuji

Whose kid is this
who must sleep hungry
Whose mind is this
which must wander in want
Whose wife is this
who must go naked
Whose husband is this
who must bow in shame....
All because he works but earns less
Simply because he sees can touch not
Just because he jumps but falls flat

Save him this night
O'Mighty One
Save him this shame
Ye gatekeepers

If you let him into his world
his brain, his brawn, his pride
will give hunger a rout
and shame his thirst away
If you dare him to dare
his spirit, his will, his groin
will savour freedom from want
which the other nights curtailed

Give him his night of peace
his sleep in freedom
Show him the map of pleasure
so he may choose his path
Give him the ringless space
so he may keep his pace
Task him the Square of Honour
so he may burnish his pride
Give him his breath of humour
so he may laugh off his pains
Grant him the CREDIT to use
so he can micro his problems
and MACRO his family's joy!

"Fuji" is a popular and original Nigerian music. It originates from the Yoruba ethnic heritage of the southwest, home of the late Afrobeats legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti who, may you know, was Professor Wole Soyinka's cousin. As Africa's first Nobel Laureate for Literature, who will not rest on his laurels, Soyinka and his soulmates have crusaded against injustice worldwide. Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, Fela's brother and a foremost human rights crusader, passed on recently. He was the last of the Kuti Family of born-activists and civil rights titans. Along with many disciplined and determined patriots, these legends desired the end of poverty in both their country and continent. Alas, their own sojourn came painfully sooner!

Geldof and Bono have teamed up with others in a renewed crusade to make poverty history around the globe, with a special focus on Africa. Bless you, guys. God bless you plenty.

I thought that when the rich and powerful go on their party spree and, what in street slang we
tag "jolly-jolly or jollification", they ought to know that the masses are rumbling in "Poverty Fuji". The poor do not need or seek pity. They need and demand opportunity, equity and dignity. Surely, that can't be too much to seek in a resource-filled world....in 2006, can it?

The "Poverty Fuji" Task belongs to us all. Let it find home in the letter and spirit of the UN Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. Let the Masses' Music move from grumbles to pulsating highlife, to melodious juju and serenading blues. May the Global Village hold its Square of Honour for ALL.