MEDICO

1.     ‘Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.’ 2.    ‘The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.’ 3.    ‘The hand that dips into the bottom of the pot will eat the biggest snail.’ 4.   ‘Don’t take shadows too seriously, reality is our only safety; continue to reject illusions.’ 5.    ‘You are not a complete human being if you are not educated, schooled or cultured.’ 6.    ‘Nigeria is in war and only competence can solve the problem, not prayers.’ 7.   ‘Bluff is no substitute for bullets.’ 8.    ‘I don’t know any other way to live but to wake up everyday armed with my convictions, not yielding them to  the threat of danger and to the power and force of people who might despise me.’ 9.    ‘But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That’s all.’ 10.           ...

It was what got her through, Each single day. It got her through the pain That was turning her heart into mushy liquid; necrotizing it It got her through nooses of self-satisfaction, And simultaneous thoughts of love and hate; Castigation and commendation- Heaven; and hell Her convictions shone And they, were brighter Than the light of even the brightest of neon-lanterns As the wicks burned, they fueled her With the desire to fail forward, And this; Was what birthed her perceived ‘Strong convictions’

In the distant future of Raymond’s dreams, horns were blasting and a commotion of sirens were blowing with oh so urgent frequency. There was no doubt; his current dreams were chaotic. And so, he tossed to and fro his temporary bed in the doctors’ call room. A sharp knock on the door. Followed by another; this time, more persistent and not seeming to stop until one of two things would have happened: either the door was opened, or it was broken down. ‘Doctor! Doctor!’ Raymond awoke with a start, was barely able to scratch his itchy eyes before another rapid knock. ‘Doctor!’ He sprang forward towards the door, sad that his barely 2 hours of sweet sleep had been interrupted. His sleep break, was over. His hair was in disarray, and so; were his thoughts. What greeted his florid sight was enough to make him almost swirl. Damn. He was in for it, he instantly decoded. 5 patients had just been wheeled in. Turns out, the sirens of his dream were ...

Monday's poetry brought to your doorstep by a poet who's earned the right to be called one. Enjoy! I rise As the sun rises. A day begins I sleep As the sun sets A day ends A day begins And ends As sun rises And sets What a wonder that the potter In rising and setting of a day Humour the length of our days. As sun rises And sun sets A day begins And a day ends. (c) Shola Ojikutu

Ecclesiastes 9:11- The  fastest runner does not always win the race, the strongest soldier does not always win the battle, the wisest does not always have food, the smartest does not always become wealthy, and the talented one does not always receive praise. Time and chance happen to everyone. Time; and chance! It screams at me, literally surfacing from all of my conservations; as if that’s all God would have me learn during this period. From chanced meetings that carry a singular placarded content: ‘This could have been forfeited!’ to stories of friends who mostly rose, only through the right balance of time and chance, I am truly convinced of this: Quoheleth was right. Time and chance, indeed, are given as blessings to all of us. However, putting to use these chanced timings are critical to the birthing, and subsequent manifestation of our purposes. Every period inherently contains within itself, opportunities and when we look closely, with varying levels...

So, I didn't write this (chuckles). It was written by a final year medical student- somebody will now tell me medical students have no life outside their books (*yinmu*). Enjoy this beautiful narrative. When you love what you can’t have! Oh let us be clear, loving who you can’t have! You stay awake all night thinking about her It causes you pain but you still love her You go about in the day carrying the burden Here you go…she smiles back at you Your day is beautifully made. You wish she sees things the way you do You wish she feel things the way you do At some point, you tell yourself ‘she does’ But only get more pain b’cos you are uncertain Then, you hope and pray the feeling passes You even try to block  thought s of her Alas, days have gone, months have passed, years have elapsed She is ‘the’ what makes the order of your emotions, thoughts and feelings The one fear you have most!!! She never gets to know how exa...

‘The sun shines not on us, but in us.’- John Muir ‘We may get knocked down on the outside, but the key to living in victory is to learn how to get up on the inside.’- Joel Osteen ‘What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.’- Otto Rank ‘It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair’- Chinua Achebe ‘Dig deep and empower yourself today. Stand in your inner strength. Be uniquely you.’- Amy Leigh Mercree ‘I think that generally, people of the world typify a ‘free and wild’ person as someone who’s uprooted, detached and uninhibited. But I don’t believe in that kind of freedom. I think that’s an infantile concept. Freedom means something when it has escaped something! Those people who escaped things- their inner cages, cages set by others around them- when those people are able to roam free and say, ‘This is who I am because t...