It was a long journey, A trip by road, A couple of hours on a bus, We stopped to have a meal, It was at the nick of time, It was an unfamiliar place, As I wasn’t a regular guest, I saw these children, A few of them, Holding a hand luggage, They were incessantly shooed by a woman, “Kai jeka, kai tafi”, she said, This means, “Go away, leave this place”, These children were adamant, These children were obstinate, They were unrelenting in their pursuit, I sat down to eat, It was a warm welcome, Something like a red carpet treatment, The woman and her girls were hospitable, I wondered why those children were unwelcomed, It wasn’t too long that I realised, They were homeless, Waifs and strays, They were hunger stricken, And in desperation, Some offered to help wash the dishes, To get a meal in return, Some just stood by the door, Competing for the leftovers, We had hardly finished eating, That they sped in for what remained, This annoyed the woman, This embarrassed her, “Dan Allah, mai wanna, ku tafi manna”, This she said in anger, She meant, “Oh! God what is all this, leave this place right now”, It was strange to me, I wondered why, I imagined why, Someone couldn’t afford a decent meal, Not asking for a sumptuous one, It wasn’t too long, Some years down the line, I understood what it meant to be hungry, I understood its burning fire, I experienced its pangs, I had its fair share, A bitter ordeal, I have relived, Even after then, Why is food out of the reach of the large few? Why is it a scarce commodity? Why do we have to go for an Indiana Jones expedition for it? Why the black gold chase to get it? Our government is confused, So many advisers, Too many complexities, Our economy, Has laid so many stripes on us, A harmful economy, Who will salvage the situation? There’s no decimation in view, Now I cry, When I see them, Now I feel their pain, I have taken a mandate, I have pledged allegiance, To give of my substance to this cause, When fortune smiles on me, A cause worthy of embrace, A cause divine.