Hate him or love him, singer Pilato is a gem in the art industry. The young man has a niche for reflecting the society around him in his music. We are captivated by the cover song he produced last week, which localized the tribulations of gun violence in America, as originally created by Childish Gambino.
We would like to draw the attention of our readers to the lyrics in this song to understand why the powers that be are calling for his blood. Pilato calls things by their names. He says spade when he finds a spade and shouts thief when he sees a thief.
This is Zambia
Ni same na mafia
Ama taxes higher
Ama salary maya
To survive mu Zambia
kusanguka cadre
Are you Lozi or Tonga
They will call you tribal
Please give the Bible
Ni corruption nation
But Christian nation
Give us beer yeye
we love beer yeye
Give us beer yeye
Give us iwee give us…
This is Zambia
The home copper
But you see how we live now?
But you see how we suffer now?
This is Zambia
Education is not the key to success
But your political party – Yeh!
This is Zambia
Avic International
Run by China
This is silly
Who sold a school?
Now that’s a fool
Scandal pa scandal
Scandal pa scandal
Scandal pa scandal – Uuum Iwe!
This is Zambia
Nga baiba yapena economy
They call for prayer
Horabarakataba…!
Ama pastor for hire
This is Zambia
Land of graduates
Scared of call-boys
This is Zambia
Ngati Boma igula
Mitengo ni higher
Kugulisa ni lower
Nibamambala yeh!
Batibela yeh!
Wafunsa walakwa yeh!
Zambia! We have been avicted by Avic International, ba youth bikeni ubwalwa panshi sakamaneni icalo cenu.
Zambia! Abakwata amano baletina abashakwata. Zambia! lesa atupela Copper but abalesekelamo teifwe, Zambia!
There is nothing one can take away from this sad reality reflected in this song. In fact, it reminds us of a fictitious African nation called Wakanda portrayed in the Hollywood movie Black Panther.
To a great extent, our nation is like Wakanda under the rule of “Killmonger” the super villain; a bad King who is filled with bitterness and vengeance, wanting to fill the shoes of the fallen Head of State.
Just like Wakanda, our nation is super blessed with our own form of Vibranium called Copper. This Copper is so abundant that a tiny fraction of what has been mined so far can solve practically all the financial problems that we are facing today. But who is benefiting from this natural resource? It’s the king and his business associates.
We have vast fertile land for agriculture decorated with meandering streams and rivers, not to mention the sought after water falls; our national parks are filled with varieties of wildlife, fashioned with and blessed by God’s good hands. But who is the top beneficiary of all these natural resources? It’s the King and his allies.
Indeed, this is Zambia the failed Wakanda. A place where the King is the law himself and the people are his servants. Here, education is the key to a painful adulthood because graduates are ruled by call-boys.
A state doesn’t fail because of some innate inferiority in its people. Nations fail because they’ve been relentlessly exploited by the more developed world. Look at the power and influence that China has over Zambia today.
Dear Zambians, let us take stock of what has been left for us. How do we move forward from here? We need a sober leadership to steer us into the right direction. We need a leadership that is going to prioritise the needs of his people before those of foreigners.
What Pilato sings about boils down to leadership. We have a bad King, an insecure King who is scared of his own throne. He cannot imagine losing it and therefore, he does not care how much damage is done to the country, as long as the end result retains him to the throne.
Anyway, we are watching. Like Nevers Mumba rightly observed, there is earthly judgment day coming for everyone. The King can run around today and commit all sorts of atrocities, but he will not escape judgment. On that day, he will truly know Jesus.
