THE LOUDEST SILENCE

THE LOUDEST SILENCE
By Solomon Chollom
 
Loud! Louder!! Loudest!!!
The cries of orphans
Loud! Louder!! Loudest!!!
The wailings of widows
Loudest than ever
The rattling of fire arms
More frightening than ever
The plague of Plateau
Sore and widespread
Land mass taken
Mass burials a daily affair
Busy and noisy Plateau
Yet loudly silent
We cry and die in silence
Loudest silence
 
Loudest noise
In the ravaged villages
Loudest silence in the corridors of power
Loudest wailing at mass graves
Loudest silence at National Assembly
Loudest noise of blame trading
Loudest silence of ideas
Loud with derailed definitions
Vocal with skewed positions
Discordant in tone
Misdirecting audience
Hitting no target
Hitting each other
Heated chats
Hot debates
In wrong places
All emotion
No motion
Noisy and busy
The loudest silence persists
 
North East is under siege
The world knows
The campaign trends
Government vocal
Plateau is under siege
Communities ransacked and sacked
Lives wasted
Early and daily
Everyone is silent
Killings in North East is news
Massacre in Plateau is no news
No one raises a voice
Opinion leaders go mute
Journalists lose their pens
Youth trade blames
Politicians alienate themselves
Authorities look elsewhere
Loudest and longest silence
 
In North East
It is a National problem
Federal government is tasked
In Plateau it is a redefined
It is trivial and tribal
It is a squabble
Cattle rustlers vs cattle rearers
The world is told
Plateau youth made to believe
They stand aloof to watch
Militia on a mission
Ethnic cleansing the target
Conquering Plateau the aim
Yet we watch with indifference
With sealed lips
Folded arms
Silence reached a crescendo
Killings go unabated
World's loudest silence
 
Silence not of words
Silence of ideas
We trade blames
Territories are taken
We isolate on tribal lines
The arsons are guided by it
We rant and fight on Facebook
They face our people in villages
It may start here
It will reach there
It may start there
It will reach here
Generations to come will blame us
Not for starting it
But for failing to stop it
This silence must be silenced
 
Break the silence
Promising youths
Tell the gory story
Break the silence
Leaders and elders
Call for cease fire
Break the silence
Government at all levels
Charge the security agents
Show the might of Nigerian army
Protect the Plateau
Loudest silence must go silent
Loudest action must go loudest
Peace on the Plateau
 
#StopThePlateauKillings