Iyanu Adebiyi ~ Up Nepa Lyrics

In Nigeria, we don't have light.
Common sense is trampled upon and thrown into the bin
So that to pick it up or wash and iron it's rumpled shirt,
there's no light to do the laundry
Only a fire that burns to ashes. It hurts.

I come from a land of the night
Where vision has lost its sight
No human rights or a sense of what is right
No hope to rewrite our poverty streaked plight.

This is where darkness reigns
And tears are the rains that water our crops
When pain triggers it to drop

Our children carry their dreams in bowls of darkness
Chanting up Nepa up nepa
A prayer to the man upstairs to send us LIGHT at least for a WHILE

I come from a land of many churches
Where we ride on as pretended horses
Lying lazily on lonely lanes and street corners
With a huge cross mounting our centres

Blind folded men of God running helter skelter to raise money for generators
Because there is no power to the microphones that blare the good news
They do not mind if these generators are smoking our lives like detonators
blurring the vision of the congregation
They go ahead seeking fake power.
Fake lights emitting from these towers

Day by day, our mothers crawl to the altars on their knees
Begging for light.
For with the night our children turn sick
But our faith is a torch to these paths that we seek
So our mothers go on crying up Nepa up Nepa up Nepa

Our father's are ravaged from within
Hoping government will come and redeem
As they sit like prisoners behind bars,
Drunk on bottles found only in bars
Spitting their prayer, like a rapper spits his bars
Up Nepa up Nepa up nepa

But I bring you word from the depths
Let this be a light to waken you from your death
A lamp unto your path, to strengthen your hearts

listen Naija, please listen

For No man becomes a slave in his father's house without his consent
So, let us stop blaming the power holding company of Nigeria
Because we hold the power and the strength of company
To make Nigeria great even its economy

So let us arise, Oh compatriots
For the God of Nigeria calls obey
To serve this fertile land with love and sweat and faith
Lest the blood of our heroes pass and be in vain
Let us serve with the artistic might
Of one nation breaking the chains that bind our freedom
Into pieces of unity
As we shine. As we become light.
So we can finally truly say
Up Nepa up Nepa up Nepa!

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Iyanu Adebiyi is a poet, writer and singer. Her write-ups can be found on her social media pages(@Iyanu_Adebiyi) and YouTube.

Comments

Seen Only When Needed

You asked. I gave what I could. Not everything. Just enough. After that, my messages felt quiet. Not because I stopped, but because you stopped seeing. The space between us grew. No fight. No goodbye. Just distance. I stayed available. You stayed away. I understood without words: people remember you when they need you, then forget when the need is gone. I didn’t hate you. I only learned that timing rules hearts, and silence teaches more than promises. Life moves like this: giving, taking, leaving questions. I stand with mine. If only time could listen. Reme Abel Nakruah Nawoe Liberian Writer, Poet, Educator & Motivational Speaker Writing as The Black Poet, Reme Abel Nakruah Nawoe is recognized for his poignant poetry exploring themes of love, heartbreak, hope, and social commentary, deeply rooted in African reality and lived experience. Through simple, direct language, he gives voice to the unheard and expresses inner truths shaped by social struggle. As a modern truth-teller in 21...

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