A STROLL WITH JOSHUA IHEJIAMAIZU (For World Tuberculosis Day)

"TB is curable, but current efforts to find, treat, and cure everyone who gets ill with the disease are not sufficient." ~World Health Organization (WHO)

About 3million people infected with TB are currently being missed by health systems around the world. This in turn have dented global efforts made by the WHO and the Stop TB partnership, to #StopTB in our lifetime.

"Why is this so?" You ask, considering how 'smart' the world around us has become; smart phones, smart cars, smart houses; perhaps we need a 'smarter' medical system? This is where my guest, Joshua, comes into the picture.

Alongside co-founder Johnson Okorie, the duo came up with an ingenious idea to 'smarten' up the health system around them, and the idea? Health Mobile; a mobile phone application available on the Andriod and BB10 OS platform, which contains a huge database of relevant health information in a very easy to access format. In other words, they've brought health care information to our finger tips, leveraging on the recent advances in mobile phone technology.

We talked about his experience from being a panelist at social media week, Lagos; the inspiration behind Health mobile, and his partnership with Johnson; and he shared some ideas on how we can end TB in our lifetime. Here's my stroll with Josh;

A STROLL WITH SAMMY SAGE HASSON (For World Poetry Day)

"Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry" ~Cassandra Clare

(Image Credit: Sage Hasson)

The art of spoken word poetry has been around for many centuries. In fact, history tells us that, the ancient Greeks included spoken word poetry in their Olympic games and people usually gathered in theaters to watch poets recite their lines on stage.

Modern spoken word poetry was made popular by the Black American community in the 1960s and platforms like, the Def Poetry Jam have helped to keep the culture alive till today.

The task of a spoken word poet is quite enormous; converting deep, though-provoking lines on the page to a colourful performance on stage is no mean feat, and one poet who has become a master of this art is my guest, Sammy Sage Hasson.

Sammy, popularly called Sage on stage, is the king of spoken word poetry in Nigeria--and one of the leading spoken word poets in Africa. With so many national and continental stage performances; and spoken word albums to his name, Sage is indeed a master of his craft. In course of our stroll we talked about poetry, his career so far, and he shared some advice for young poets around the world. Here is our discussion;

POET'S RAGE and DEAD TEMPLES (#4 of Co-authored Poems for World Poetry Day)

POET'S RAGE

Image Credit: ashlylorenzana

If my pen could sputter bullets
How I would riddle your frame
With a thousand heated words!

If I could ink, now, scalding acid,
Would I not drown your greedy throat
That your tongue may lie no more?

If only I could rhyme you death
And enjamb your stolen laughter
With spells of lingering tears!

WHAT CAN BE MORE STICKY and WHAT CAN WORDS DO? (#3 of Co-authored Poems for World Poetry Day)

WHAT CAN BE MORE STICKY

Image Credit: julianrees.com

What is the magnet that can bind
white and black fingers in heart-shake?
What is the string that can tie us scattered broomsticks
and make us one sturdy broom
sweeping oppression and poverty away?

What can be more sticky
than this phenomenal ‘aragum’
bonding our diversities, gluing tongues and tribes
to settle pending rancour
in this flaming fiery furnace?

In these words the heart is poured – gentle, petting, stark
sheathing daggers drawn from the world of abandon
calling back the conscience...
Words marred by ambiguity yet uniting thoughts
upturning the ban, the exile of peace?

In the exile of peace, we become refugees
in our own land – nursed by fear
With the renaissance of words we regain hope
The words are the deep lines of every free verse
The words are the rich melodies in every rhythm and rhyme

I'm awed, mouth agape. How words rebuild
The broken emotions of fallen nations!
O' potent words that thaw our fears!
Please brighten our visions!
Cleanse our memories and water our love!

CO-AUTHORS FROM WRR COLLEGE OF POETRY
This poem was co-authored by Iyeomoan Emmanuel Ehizogie, Dumejes Momalife and Amatanweze Tochukwu Offorbuike) 

NIGERIA and Border Lines of Change (#2 of Co-authored poems for World Poetry Day)

NIGERIA

Sited at the confluence of Lokoja

With her legs spread across Niger and Benue rivers

Adorned with lush greens and blessed with natural endowments

You swam through colonial rivers

Until the staff of freedom you possessed

THE SECOND INTIMATION (For World Poetry Day)

Guest Writer: Oyin Oludipe

GETHSEMANE

Bust sleepy vault-coughs, blackened drapes

Presage the end of time…or night, prayers,

Surge-bending invaders of the shady phase

Roost, witness to the dancing blades –

Confluence of coal-skin pyres as vision

Shrunk to visionary, truth was stain

Upon visor-faiths and earth was bearer

Of heavy waters of the shivering pore,

Intestate tunes of poem and plea – labourers

To that new sedition for reason

It ran the course of dirge to waive

The smoke cruel, to purge sterile plumes

From intimate corners of thought,

Glaze passions in the cup of woe to sham

Redemption, rituals of birth till it rack

Lips for the entombed world of bones

And all that world spun bold against the fall

Of utterance, filled spaces of the night

With lighted beings to blur the litany in the wind 

POETRY (#1 Co-authored poems for World Poetry Day)

I.

Ink

flowing

on a page

slithers with ease

on a smooth surface

Paper and pen in sync

executing perfect twists

Making this turn, and then that one

bearing message for all and sundry

wielding words on an errand, poetry!

II.

Toddling voice sweep through the hurricane

In society of shut-eyes drowned in gradual spate

Witness of swift, shivering waves toss to and fro

Feet slack in mud of doubtful faith row

Tempests, shadows, frailties, all lost in hopeless souls

Life wounds quickly heal

The dumb now sings

Street now palace

Abandoned have fame harassed

Oppression in pockets of the weak

When ink flows in a non-stop streak

III.

Like a tree with many branches

You touch men with your verses

To some, it's pure lashes

Others receive and change their courses

...You are poetry

the voice crying from the wilderness

Like the river with more than one wing

You flow into the heart of every being

To some, you're fresh like the morning spring

Others hear but refuse to go with what you bring

...You are poetry,

the voice crying from the wilderness

IV.

'Tis virgin wine. Wash your throat with little sips

Let it lull your mind to a lucid sleep

Lie down on this slate. My words paint lurid dreams

Let our minds hug in this word-filled realm

Where creative words take form is where you lie

At the soul of craft and every riddle

On this plain is where love lives and dies

In here, fantasy grows real and fickle

To the lonely soul, 'tis a friend so longed

Its poetry, the soul of the sweetest song

the first stanza of ten lines  

CO-AUTHORS from WRR College of Poetry
This poem was co-authored by Sam de Poet, Emmanuel Emperortee Theophilus, Oku-Ola Paul Abiola and Modestus Nkem Okennwa)

A STROLL WITH TIM HARRIS (For World Down Syndrome Day)

"Dad they think she has Down Syndrome. 'He smiled genuinely as his eyes welled up with tears.' That's okay. We love her." ~Kelle Hampton

(Image Credit: People.com)

Tim's place is tagged the world's friendliest restaurant, and on the menu? Breakfast, lunch... and hugs! Yes, hugs!

Tim's place and the success of Tim Harris is a sharp contradiction with his condition--Down Syndrome--which sets people up for a sad, sorry, unproductive life, but Tim has turned that 'obstacle' into a spring board, leaping himself into the life of his dreams. Apart from being a restaurateur, Tim is also an athlete who competes in the special Olympics--trust me, he's got more gold medals than Usain bolt and Michael Phelps!

I'm doing this stroll with Tim, not just to inspire people with down syndrome and disabilities around the world, but also to inspire the able people who are living in depression and misery; blaming all their woes on the government; and doing nothing about their dreams. Tim shared his story with me, and also gave me an insight into the secret recipe for running the world's friendliest restaurant. Here's my stroll with Tim;

A STROLL WITH RANDY TARAN (For International Day of Happiness)

"My grandfather once told me; 'the soul of business is not making money but making people happy" ~ Aliko Dangote

It's what we are all looking for. It's the reason we work extra hours to make extra cash to buy that extra gadget or dress; it's the reason we want to loose weight, travel to see the beautiful places in another state; happy, happy, happy is what we all want to be. Happiness drives us all. But how sustainable is our pursuit of happiness?

This is question Randy sought to answer when she started a personal research into happiness which eventually led to; an award winning Documentary and Project Happiness a non profit organization that empowers youth to create greater happiness in their lives and in the world.

She's also the co author, with Maria Lineger, of the Project Happiness Handbook that talks about how to make the best use of Positive psychology, neuroscience and mindfulness. In course of our stroll we talked about what makes her happy, sustainable happiness, her work with Project Happiness, and lots more. Here's my stroll with Randy;

A STROLL WITH TAMSIN WOLLEY-BARKER (For World Wildlife Day)

"If we teach people about wildlife, they will be touched. Share my wildlife with me. Because humans want to save things that they love" ~ Steve Irwin

I'm yet to find anyone who is crazy about wildlife--and biology as a whole--as much as Dr Tamsin. She writes about it, dreams about it, falls in love with it, and learns from it everyday.

She is an evolutionary biologist, writer, sustainability expert, and passionate biomimic in the Biomimicry 3.8 Professional program. She blogs about biomimicry on BioInspired Ink and The Biomimicry Manual, and is currently working on a book about organizational transformation inspired by nature.

This is the first World Wildlife Day, so we talked extensively about Nature, and wildlife in particular. How much have we cared for wildlife? Are we even supposed to care for wildlife? These and many more questions were asked, which were matched by her very intelligent answers. She also talked about what draws her so much to nature and biomimicry. Here's my stroll with Dr Tamsin;