A Poem : Toli Toli Stori of Ghanaman in Agege

By Kwesi Atta Sakyi



If you provoke me

I go kuku cane you

If you tease me, I go tear you apart

Nna your wrapa go part oh

I go cane you so tee igo hurt

Haba, I say if you tease and provoke me nnko,

You go bear my pain in your groin

You go cover your shame with wrapa in your loin

My eye don red oh,

Come stoke am

My eye don ripe oh,

Come pluck am

I go stroke the fur on your ----

And you go kuku bear the brunt

You go hala and bark like aja or a cur

Na so so you go howl and grovel

Nnna your gold I go dig with my shovel



If you provoke me

I shall lay you flat on your back

I go do lap of honour and whack

So tee I go cane you well well

Yo go waka waka between your mosquito legs

You go je je waka dear dear oh

B’cos I go cane you well well oh

Omo buruku, oshi buruku

Ori ofo, ori oda

Nna you dey there, you no go fit

Commot between my legs oh

You go unwell oh, you go dry yourself on a peg

Shey I beg, you go run run tanda,

You go tanda su tee for your Mama’s nyash

Ino be me cause am oh,

Nna hotwater bottle you go cuddle and romance



Why, unna you play nyanga (bluff)?

You dey throw your okra eyes this way

You throw am that way,

Abi, wetin you dey look for,

Abi you de cross-eye or a squint?

Why you dey hala? Shakara baby you be?

Nna your arms you dey flaunt about in the air

Abi, uno like am?

Make I harvest am for you with go-to-hell

Abi, you sabi cocoa plucker in Shanti, Ghana?

Nna your arms you dey fly fly like Quixote’s

Windmills?

Nna Sancho Panza go muster am with him

Master’s lances, galloping at breakneck speed



Everyday you so so do nyanga for obado street,

Abi you dey fashion parade or catwalk?

Nna for my own street, small small nyash ino kuku

Them do nyanga oh! NATO and ECOMOG

Soldiers them dey braketeeh, Naa no fly zone oh!

Make you commot your sexy eyes oh,

Make you commot your pregnant buttocks oh,

Abi your papa ino warn you?

Or your Mama ino tell you toli?

Nna shakara baby wayo jibiti you dey do,

Wait oh, bullet head igo hammer you

Wey you dey commot for road oh,

Make you kuku thruway your melon-size

------- off my line of vision oh,

I don tire for them insults oh,

Wey dem look like twin-inflated balloons

Bumping and bouncing off your loaded chest oh,

Them look like twin-ground-to-air projectiles oh

Nna you dey aim am for we Omo Gana pikins oh,

Nna dem do wayo plus my krokro eyes oh,

Kai! Tell am oh, ofa my dead body oh!

I go cane you well well oh!

If I catch you, I go wallop you oh,

You go tumble in my bayou

Abi, in my ogbono soup you go fall

Karakata like dry crayfish



Nna you say five “hundrad naara”

Nna five hundrad naara ibe plenty boucoup

Moni for omode Gana oh!

Nna meself I no no Bawku nor go to Shokoto

Nna so so you dey do nyanga

Me I no wan wahala oh,

Abi, take your five hundrad naara wahala

Commot for my face for small small nyash

Nna so so big moni moni you dey chop chop

See your skin oh, edey shine shine breketee

Like black cobra him skin,

Ibe you don kiwi or nugget am?

Nna your face and eyelashes nnko?

Them dey technicolors like winch fowl?

Abi nna guinea fowl or witch fowl?

Nna your buttocks, you dey shake shake

As if them catch fits,

Dem dey like roadblock way them waylay

Me at kalakuta junction,

Wele, over my dead body oh

I go take my Hummer-SUV bulldoze

Commot am jeje!

Your hairdo nnko, anoda toli toli

Nna your dressing, Nna smasher and dapper

Abi, your Papa ino tell you say

Woman ino wear trosa or shokoto

Abi, nna this one ibe knickerbockers or boxers?

See oh, you dey rush rush

Everyday so tee you make me gush gush

Causing flooding in my trosa and shokoto

Abi, you get oil well in Niger Delta?

Abi nna your fada and brodas dem dem

Sell oil tankers in international waters?

Abi, why you dey do me Toyin Tomato?

Wele, wey I catch you, I go give you tattoos

On your chocolate thick thighs,

Oh, nna dat also ibe taboo?

I go show you pepper for your nyanga and smell-smell

I go waka waka so tee into your evil forest

Ino fear Achebe’s Egwugwus oh,

Nna dem be human beings wey edey masquerade

Nna if I tattoo you, don’t Oga me oh?

I no go madam madam you oh



Following day, you go tanda and waka waka

Between your mosquito-shaped legs oh

Abi, ema binu, kosii nkonko, kosii wahala oh

I go buy you Golf car oh,

I go sponsor you go Jahman or Jahmaaka oh,

Or abi, ibe Jahpon you want nnko?

Sori oh, toli toli stori oh,

Ema bi nu oh, pwelee oh,

Nna me Omo Gana throway salute oh,

Tele tele I don sabe mata for we,

Omo Gana make dem go oh,

Nna him cause katakata skata

Ino get skatabrain

I be Omo Gana, Omo daadaa ni

Nna Ganaman ibe broda and kosin plus Nigerman



The author lived in Nigeria for 11 years and has been living in Zambia now for 20 years.













If you provoke me

I go kuku cane you

If you tease me, I go tear you apart

Nna your wrapa go part oh

I go cane you so tee igo hurt

Haba, I say if you tease and provoke me nnko,

You go bear my pain in your groin

You go cover your shame with wrapa in your loin

My eye don red oh,

Come stoke am

My eye don ripe oh,

Come pluck am

I go stroke the fur on your ----

And you go kuku bear the brunt

You go hala and bark like aja or a cur

Na so so you go howl and grovel

Nnna your gold I go dig with my shovel



If you provoke me

I shall lay you flat on your back

I go do lap of honour and whack

So tee I go cane you well well

Yo go waka waka between your mosquito legs

You go je je waka dear dear oh

B’cos I go cane you well well oh

Omo buruku, oshi buruku

Ori ofo, ori oda

Nna you dey there, you no go fit

Commot between my legs oh

You go unwell oh, you go dry yourself on a peg

Shey I beg, you go run run tanda,

You go tanda su tee for your Mama’s nyash

Ino be me cause am oh,

Nna hotwater bottle you go cuddle and romance



Why, unna you play nyanga (bluff)?

You dey throw your okra eyes this way

You throw am that way,

Abi, wetin you dey look for,

Abi you de cross-eye or a squint?

Why you dey hala? Shakara baby you be?

Nna your arms you dey flaunt about in the air

Abi, uno like am?

Make I harvest am for you with go-to-hell

Abi, you sabi cocoa plucker in Shanti, Ghana?

Nna your arms you dey fly fly like Quixote’s

Windmills?

Nna Sancho Panza go muster am with him

Master’s lances, galloping at breakneck speed



Everyday you so so do nyanga for obado street,

Abi you dey fashion parade or catwalk?

Nna for my own street, small small nyash ino kuku

Them do nyanga oh! NATO and ECOMOG

Soldiers them dey braketeeh, Naa no fly zone oh!

Make you commot your sexy eyes oh,

Make you commot your pregnant buttocks oh,

Abi your papa ino warn you?

Or your Mama ino tell you toli?

Nna shakara baby wayo jibiti you dey do,

Wait oh, bullet head igo hammer you

Wey you dey commot for road oh,

Make you kuku thruway your melon-size

------- off my line of vision oh,

I don tire for them insults oh,

Wey dem look like twin-inflated balloons

Bumping and bouncing off your loaded chest oh,

Them look like twin-ground-to-air projectiles oh

Nna you dey aim am for we Omo Gana pikins oh,

Nna dem do wayo plus my krokro eyes oh,

Kai! Tell am oh, ofa my dead body oh!

I go cane you well well oh!

If I catch you, I go wallop you oh,

You go tumble in my bayou

Abi, in my ogbono soup you go fall

Karakata like dry crayfish



Nna you say five “hundrad naara”

Nna five hundrad naara ibe plenty boucoup

Moni for omode Gana oh!

Nna meself I no no Bawku nor go to Shokoto

Nna so so you dey do nyanga

Me I no wan wahala oh,

Abi, take your five hundrad naara wahala

Commot for my face for small small nyash

Nna so so big moni moni you dey chop chop

See your skin oh, edey shine shine breketee

Like black cobra him skin,

Ibe you don kiwi or nugget am?

Nna your face and eyelashes nnko?

Them dey technicolors like winch fowl?

Abi nna guinea fowl or witch fowl?

Nna your buttocks, you dey shake shake

As if them catch fits,

Dem dey like roadblock way them waylay

Me at kalakuta junction,

Wele, over my dead body oh

I go take my Hummer-SUV bulldoze

Commot am jeje!

Your hairdo nnko, anoda toli toli

Nna your dressing, Nna smasher and dapper

Abi, your Papa ino tell you say

Woman ino wear trosa or shokoto

Abi, nna this one ibe knickerbockers or boxers?

See oh, you dey rush rush

Everyday so tee you make me gush gush

Causing flooding in my trosa and shokoto

Abi, you get oil well in Niger Delta?

Abi nna your fada and brodas dem dem

Sell oil tankers in international waters?

Abi, why you dey do me Toyin Tomato?

Wele, wey I catch you, I go give you tattoos

On your chocolate thick thighs,

Oh, nna dat also ibe taboo?

I go show you pepper for your nyanga and smell-smell

I go waka waka so tee into your evil forest

Ino fear Achebe’s Egwugwus oh,

Nna dem be human beings wey edey masquerade

Nna if I tattoo you, don’t Oga me oh?

I no go madam madam you oh



Following day, you go tanda and waka waka

Between your mosquito-shaped legs oh

Abi, ema binu, kosii nkonko, kosii wahala oh

I go buy you Golf car oh,

I go sponsor you go Jahman or Jahmaaka oh,

Or abi, ibe Jahpon you want nnko?

Sori oh, toli toli stori oh,

Ema bi nu oh, pwelee oh,

Nna me Omo Gana throway salute oh,

Tele tele I don sabe mata for we,

Omo Gana make dem go oh,

Nna him cause katakata skata

Ino get skatabrain

I be Omo Gana, Omo daadaa ni

Nna Ganaman ibe broda and kosin plus Nigerman



The author lived in Nigeria for 11 years and has been living in Zambia now for 20 years.



Email: [email protected]
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