MENDELS’S RELIEF

The first time I heard the song Oleku

It made me remember Abiku

That sorrowful cycle of birth and death

As death crept in with disguised stealth

Limited by the knowledge they had

Our forebears resorted to measures very bad

Many a forlorn mother would have to watch

As the corpse of a dead child is set to the match

Abiku or ogbanje whichever you please

Call it but it sure it won’t release

Many a mother from her nights of tears

All spent torn apart by her fears

Again and again the cycle repeated

It was a brazen cycle of death

Till many a couple were out of breath

And had their initial love very depleted

Today I can say that things have changed

Science and Mendel have brought some relief

To so many families bound by their belief

That the stubborn Abiku would never be aged

It was just a challenge of genotype

So AS or SS, what is your type

Odim Street, UNN, 1829 hrs, 27.05.11