Ibadan – Yee!!!
In the shadows of a weary land,
A heavy yoke’s being forged,
A tax regime born of hardship,
For a people worn thin
By unrelenting poverty
And belly-wracking hunger.
Yuu!!
The people’s hands,
Worn raw from toil,
From blood, from sweat,
Hustle for the basics
Provide their own light,
Their own water,
Their own safety,
Yet the emperor’s hands
Stretch to squeeze out more,
What a bitter pill to swallow,
A heavy weight to bear!
Haa!
January 1st, 2026,
A date marked with dread,
A ‘tax year’ that promises
Nothing but more pain,
5% fuel consumption tax,
A drip of anguish
For tormentees who love
Their powerful tormentor;
25% return on investment tax,
A crushing blow that kicks out
Our cherished bears and bulls.
No more investors, no more speculators
They were all gone in a clean sweep
To where taxes are relaxed.
Hee!
Our land of stocks
Has turned barren,
Planters of seeds flee, flee and flee
Their confidence shattered
Like broken glasses,
Their unripe crops and fruits
Hurriedly harvested
With no plan to replant
How can new shoots sprout
In a desert of despair,
Where growth once bloomed?
Yeparipa!
Like a severed lifeline,
The fuel subsidy’s long gone
Petrol prices soar,
Inflation’s fiery breath,
A punishing dagger that cuts deep,
And still, the emperor reaches for more.
To finance our looted budget,
We must squeeze them dry.
Oh!
This December,
‘Dirty December’, they call it,
A month of foreboding,
A year of unknowing,
A new year with new taxes!
If this is the end aura
Of an outgoing year,
Can a ‘Joyful January’ be possible?
Hmm!
The year 2026,
Now hesitant to arrive
Because of a specter
Of suffering along its path.
Here is a land of paradox,
Where hardship begets nothing
But more hardship,
Where taxes bring only tears,
And where tormentees
Eulogize their tormentor
On a daily basis.
F. Mosh
