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If it’s not Nigeria, it’s Venezuela, the bait and curse: their oil

reserves. Their crime. What you think is yours, isn’t. Just toil

for nothing. What choice do you have? Can you foil the sick ploys

of the eagle? The eagle is a lurker and, in his eyes, you’re all dizzy boys!

Some of you don’t even exist, if you do, you’re chicks or shitholes. Empire,

please mind your words! You bite hands that feed you. Globe’s self-styled umpire.

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Stephen Mupoto, also known as Ngugi waMkirii, writes a short and sharp critique of Ndaba Sibanda's satirical poem titled Of Worst Empires and Umpires

I am deeply in love with this terse poem. It is short as an assegai but very effective in driving a very huge point home. Of Worst Empires and Umpires reflects on the dynamics of world relations. Its main focus is driven from the conduct of the so- called world powers who plunder the resources of other nations for self-aggrandizement.

In the opening line— “If it's not Nigeria, it's Venezuela, the bait and the curse: their oil reserves”— the poet points readers out to a natural resource, (oil) that has made Nigeria and Venezuela victims or prime targets of both Western and Eastern powers. This is then viewed as a “crime” because it brings a curse of war, plunder and displacement. The poet reminds, particularly Africa and Africans, that if their crime is not resources, then it is labour.  

The mighty Eastern and Western powers such as China and America are viewed as eagles and the rest of the world prey. This imagery is very powerful and creates a vivid picture of the state of affairs in the world as the poem explores the complex dynamics of the delicate relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed.

 Great piece, kind bard.

Hailing from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, Ndaba Sibanda is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer who has a passion for themes and topics around conservation, nature, development and justice. A three-time Pushcart, National Arts Merit Awards, Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize and the Best of the Net Prose nominee, Sibanda`s book Notes, Themes, Things And Other Things: Confronting Controversies, Contradictions And Indoctrinations was considered for The 2019 Restless Book Prize for New Immigrant Writing in Nonfiction. Ndaba`s novel Cabinet Meetings: Of Big And Small Preys was considered for The Graywolf Press Africa Prize 2018. His five titles are on the Barnes and Noble list of 2024 Best books. 

Stephen Mupoto, also known as Ngugi waMkirii , is a Zimbabwean author, poet, and dramatist who has authored novels and novellas including Who Killed Laura, The Village Drunkard (published by Hopelink Media), The Signature, Mission Blade, and Malefactors Charade. He has contributed to several notable anthologies, such as Essential Voices, Trumpets Of Posterity, and Bleeding Sands.