Salute the Cloth

Salute! – salute the power-breeding cloth,

Purchased in any city market;

Government tailors provide buttons and collars,

Salute the cloth

Bought with funds from our public till,

Salute! – salute the power-generating garment.

SALUTE!

Attention! – pay attention to the uniform men,

Carrying the almighty – the almighty gun;

Pay attention, when in their consistent manner

They inform you about how they police the nation,

How they police your future.

PAY ATTENTION!

Obey! – obey all orders,

Because sometimes while policing there is

Little need to be civil,

As stubborn civilians learn

After they have been bloodied.

Obey! – obey, stop and search later for your rights

On the pages of imaginative tabloids,

Obey! when the uniform polices the state.

OBEY!

March! – march with the starched khaki

When they eject ruling rogues

From our public castles,

March! – march with them as they play

Their game of musical chairs

With the looters in Agbada.

MARCH!

Still the fruit of Eden has touched their lips,

And in spite of numerous handovers

The power-breeding cloth intends to stay!