Dear Valentine

Dear Valentine, I hope you are doing just fine
There are few questions for you that are all mine
And I must ask  before the setting of the day's sunshine
Because my people would soon begin to wine and dine
All in the name of a day they named after you, Valentine

They say its anniversary is on every February Fourteen
And they do some things as if their manners are rotten
All their religions forbid they would have forgotten
Little wonder they usually come out of it with nothing
Except for those who must have gone in by truly loving

Dear Valentine, how can my people know who is sincere?
Because you cannot know from the faces of those here
They have since all kept calling each other my dear
But they might not all be the real Mc Coy I just fear
And the time to do the credibility checking is not there...

Dear Valentine, how should my people celebrate your day?
Is it by going to different hotel or brothel like they may?
Or going for gifts for which they'll find difficult to pay?
Or for a blissful future together they should pray                                      Dear Valentine, let me hear what you have got to say

Written by Saheed Ojubanire and dedicated to all lovers around the world.Pls leave a comment.

Boko Haram, Bombing Haram

 A Thought Aloud!

Tic-tac,tic-tac,the clock ticks. But no one takes notice. Why should they, since everything seems normal. So they all go about their businesses non-challantly without having any inkling of what is about to become of them in few minutes.

And suddenly, there is boom of a bomb! Instinctively, they all scamper for safety out of impulse. But not all of them is that lucky. Some have been caught in the fierce flame that attends the explosion. And their bodies have instantly been mangled and burnt beyond recognition.

By that single tragedy, scores of family are left with only the memories of their last encounters with loved ones. Because the departed all left without saying their final farewell. Some were the bread-winners of their families, some,only child and some carried in their bellies flawless foetus. But they are all gone in a split second!

And few hours later:" we are responsible for the attack. And we are Bokoharam", an extremist group comes out to claim responsibility for the untold disaster."Bokoharam"(western education is a sin), what has that got to do with cutting short innocent and promising lives in the most bizarre manner. It's really in explicable.

But just because this is happening in the north let it not be called what it's not."Islamic" extremist group? A gross misnomer! Terrorists? More like it. For the records, Islam means peace and such a religion can never condone violence of any form.  Even the holy Quran 2v256 says:"L'aa Ikraaha fid-deen qad-taba yyanar Rushda minal gayyi."(let there be no compulsion in religion). You should not penalize anyone for the religion they choose to follow.

Even evidently, Muslims are also been killed in the ceaseless bombings.    Yet,some would still refer to the bombers as Muslims. Bombers bombing own brothers!? Irrational. Spurious. Inane.Myopic. Bizarre. And you can go on and on.

When the predominant christian south-south took up arms few years back and committed all manners of attrocities, no one labelled them christian extremist group. But rather, they were called militants. The long and short of it is that, the society makes the crimes and criminals commit them. Now that the criminals are coming from the north, let there be no religious coloration.

Be that as it may, members of the dreadful group dragging the name of their supposed religion through the mud for whatever reason they have, should know they are anti-Islam. Because if Boko(western education) Haram(is a sin), then Bombing- Haram too. Because Islam forbids any kind of violent, how much more taking human lives. Boko-Haram,Bombing-Haram. Case closed.