A time once existed
Right across the length and breath
Of “the country that once was”
When District Officers
Permeated the nooks and crannies
In various shades and purposes
From the Agric. Extension
To sanitary inspection
And local dispensary
And local school authority
Ever before the advent of DFRRI
Or the town crier MAMSER
When lives of all and sundry
From urban to rural areas
Were touched by the act of governance
And the public servant was still fairly civil
Then the movement happened
And the ‘uncivil’ servants
Holed in air conditioner offices
Barely reporting to duty
Putting up mediocre services
With hands soiled with grafts and avarice
Ineffective in almost everything
Spending most of the time gossiping and Facebooking
Then it becomes the haven of the mighty
Where entrance is only through powerful connections
With no urge or motivation for service delivery
Highly urbanized.
Completely neglecting the rural areas
To its devises and backwardness
With local government headquarters
Becoming where the monthly court holds
For allocation sharing
With nothing to show
The chairmen mostly regular visitors
To the very area, they purportedly superintend
Giving room to unhindered urban migration
Seeking for the elusive greener pasture.
Leaving the hinterland to the aged and weak
Ebbing out life in its most grinding manner
Leaving a large portion becoming fallow
And the forest without guards
Brazenly encroached by herdsmen
Both of the local pastoralists
And the imported ‘Chinco.’
Destroying the scanty cultivation
Illegally mining the natural resources
Of people and space
Devoid of ubiquitous government presence
Since the public service
Has deserted the streets
#JustThinkingAloud.
