For Punctuality's sake

By the first streak of the dawn
We are up on our feet
With half-suppressed yawns
Our minds are set on getting a seat
Helter skelter
We look for water
Cos we dread being late
A quick shower
Left over from dinner
To make the deadline of eight

Friends

friends are special people close to our heart. they can make us smile even when we detest to do so. what would life be without friends.

Lessons from the Laws of Motion

LIFE'S LESSONS FROM THE LAWS OF MOTION

   First Law of Motion: Motivation

Every object will continue to be in a state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by a (external) force.

In life, there are many things we fail to do, not because we didn't have the opportunity, but rather because we simply failed to take the chance. How many a time do we realize we ought to do something yet we don't feel the zeal to accomplish it! Motivation is fundamental in achieving any goal. In fact, we need to be motivated to set our goals in the first place. That shows just how important it really is.

   Motivation can be described as an external force that acts on one's inner will such that it sets it to motion. It is simply a reason for which an action is intended.

Second Law of Motion: Proportionality of Force Applied to Momentum Obtained.

“A net force on an object will accelerate it—that is, change its velocity. The acceleration will be proportional to the magnitude of the force and in the same direction as the force.”

What motivates people is almost as diverse as the people themselves and different kinds of motivation are needed for different tasks. Finding the right kind of motivation is just as important as accomplishing the task at hand because the two are like pegs and holes, they must fit into each other. Whatever inspires an individual to do a thing must have enough momentum to surmount whatever challenges that lies in his path. The desire to get a decent meal might be enough to make a man walk down the street to the grocery store on a normal day but the same desire won't be enough to get him out of his house when he's almost deafened by gunshots just outside his home. But the thought of saving his skin would be enough to make him stand up to more daring situations.

   Sometimes, people set out to do things struggling very hard at first only to give up midway. This is mostly due to weak motivation i.e. the motivation for the goal falls short of its requirement. Simply, they don't feel the goal is worth the struggle, at least, not anymore. At such point, the individual has to look inward and re-evaluate the importance of the goal he desires to achieve. If he starts to feel the reason is not worth the effort, he needs to find a bigger reason and assert it in his mind and at times all that may be needed could be to remember the reason he set out in the first place to achieve his goal. As humans, we tend to forget things pretty quickly especially when faced with challenges.

    Challenges are no more than frictional forces acting in opposite direction to wherever we head. Funny enough, whichever way we head there will be opposing forces acting against our chosen direction. Though there is a great challenge associated with starting which is very comparable to the static frictional force, it does not end at that because there is also the dynamic frictional force equally comparable to the challenges you meet on the go. But as in physics, the dynamic frictional force is usually lesser than the static frictional force. Among the challenges we need to overcome before we begin anything is our fears, some of which we later find to be inconsequential as we move ahead.

Third Law of Motion: Reciprocity of Action and Reaction.

“Action and reaction are equal but opposite (in direction).”

In life, it is important to know and always note that the average person will treat you as you treat him or her especially when you are both on equal footing. For those who smile often, it seems like everyone smiles at them and vice-versa. When you assist people in their times of want they are often eager to return the favor to you. Thus, ‘do’ to others as you would most love for them to ‘do’ to you.

Note: I like to point out that this piece is an extrapolation of physical sciences into social sciences and as such, there are bound to be exceptions. In fact, every rule I know seem to come with its exceptions.

VOYAGE THROUGH PHARMACY

We came from far and wide­­­­­

With tears of joy and glistening eyes

Charting a perilous path on a noble cause

Like water at its middle course

Patiently meandering across life's bends

We study to fulfil our dreams

In a life with endless ENDS

We desire more than meagre MEANS

With tales of incredulity

That rivals ancient Greek mythology

Our ears were filled

Gathering resonant resolution we plunged on

Like Zulu warriors chanting war songs

With hearts seemingly forged from steel

Racing with our scribbling pens and sprinting feet

Across lecture theaters and our ruled sheets

Standing before books and bags claiming rows of seats

Keeping calm was an appalling feat

Our worries were yet to start

‘Though we thought we stood at its peak

All we yet needed was two-fifth to pass

But our naïve minds were never at ease

The splendid architecture we once praised

Gradually dwindling in its beauty

With the colossal challenges we faced

We felt busier than worker bees

Our shadows darkened the red floors

In huge numbers we came through its opened doors

Adorned with smiles and joyous hearts

Whispering to ourselves “We’re here at last”

With our pens we slew thousands of dragons

Hoping to bring home the Golden Fleece

Dispensing erstwhile strange pharmacojargons

Our examiners we strove to please

Casting my mind at the myriad of sleepless nights

‘Finding Nemo’, our frog prince

I remember the shrilling squeals and feminine fright

Seeing him hapless might make you wince

We’ve been around the world

Studying barks, fruits and leaves

And for agar’s stake in our micro world

Gladly, we dived and explored the seas

It’s been quite adventurous

With some memories, I’m greatly pleased

To cherished colleagues and bosom buddies

I believe you’ll be sorely missed­­

                                                       dedicated to all oau pharmacy students

Life is short

Life is so short but we fail to realise this till it passes away never to return again. No one can neither rewind nor forward because you don't have its remote control. We can only live each moment in life as they come. It is best to live it in the cause of Allah to ensure minimal regrets (i.e. I wish i had done more than i did in servitude to Allah) in the next life.
            "I wish I had more" would never be incomparable to "I wish I had done at least something".

Changing our sinful ways

Of the most difficult things to change are one's inclinations, desires, habits, thoughts and character. May Allah assist us all in the positive changing process. It is easy to imagine but often difficult to accomplish. Our hearts' yearnings can seem too strong at times. Though we know what is wrong and right. Distinguishing the two is not our plight. But rather continually giving preference to what is right over what is wrong, that is the herculean task. There is hardly any man who does evil and is unaware of its nature rather he either strives in his heart to justify it or tells himself he is damning the consequences. Whichever of the two, he secretly regrets in his heart but might be too proud to show the guilt which lurks inside as he desperately tries not to reveal it. However, it is open to Allah wherever it might be. Another might decide to show the remorse he feels in his heart and attempt to salvage his situation by turning in repentance to his Lord the Most High and that is better for him.

Who is your Lord?

We are all slaves. What differs between us is what we willing submit ourselves to. For some its their desires, money, fashion, acknowledgment from others, 'stars,' parents etc. But there is only one being that deserves our total uninhibited submission. HE IS ALLAH. My Lord and your Lord. If you disbelieve, kindly bear witness that I am one of the muslims.

Sins ain't worth the effort

Nights dissolve into days
And days dissolve into nights
We've lived and died
As many as the days and nights
That we've left behind
All shall leave this world for another realm
Unable to return with sealed fates
That we're still chanced to determine today
A moment more may be too late
If you continue with evil ways
Why do we trade pounds to earn pennies
Momentous only are the pleasures derived from sins
But their regrets live with us for the rest of our lives and more
So how do we reason
Blinded by emotions
That leaves us with guilt, remorse and anguish moments after
Sins ain't worth it
Lets turn in repentance to Allah

Are you a pharmacist or a crammercist?

ARE YOU A PHARMACIST OR A CRAMMERCIST?
Though we are graduates of the prestigious school of pharmacy awaiting to be inducted into the fold of 'men of honor', truth be told, most of us are far from being prepared and ready for the outside world. We may have successfully crammed our ways through pharmacy school but it is time to enliven our functional brain cells for the imminent challenges and practical problems ahead.

Be that as it may, we have no current problem because we are fully equipped with the resources (e.g. BNF, textbooks, materials and internet) to tap from and enrich our knowledge bank. It is time for us to start reading again, not for the marks this time, but for the future lest our hands be covered with others' blood then it'll be too late to regret. The passmark is no longer fifty percent. It has just been raised to LIFE and DEATH.

                            'With great power comes greater responsibility".

Race

A race of a thousand years

Begins with a single stride

As the finishing line draws near

Emotions are hard to hide

We're paying the price

With our eyes on the prize

Déjà vu

Déjà vu
Nostalgic blues
My quaking heart
I so much need to soothe
Melancholic memories from the past
Days of sec. school

Like a broken record
Events in repetition
We have to grow up
'Tis part of the transition
We need to cheer up
Can't help the tradition

The goodbye in my ears still echoes
Of the parted i still see shadows
Lingering thoughts
Reverberant words

Truth hits us hard
Only where it hurts the most
We must part
To seek the future's treasure trove
We can only set sail
When we leave the coast
Of challenges and life's travail
I opine you make the most

Leaders

We were once girls and boys
Occupied only with our dolls and toys
Without a care in the world
Save for food and fun
For schools, we had less concern
The reason for reading we could barely discern
"Tomorrow's leaders" they called us
In our potential skills and talents
they had utmost trust

We've always had fairy dreams of our own
Looking into the future carving a niche of our own
Some dreams we've had to leave in the past
The realities of life we've had to live past
Growing up hasn't been easy
It is hard to become a (wo)man
'Life ain't a bed of roses'
Our experience has made us understand

Yesterday we were growing up
But today we are grown ups
More responsibilities lying on our shoulders
Cos we are today's leaders

Last moments: From Ajose to Marquis.

As wide-eyed as any novice
Many sprinting to Ajose at the first hint of the cock's crows
Burning calories or 'scarce means' on bikes
Wiping sweat off the brows
Only to fall asleep when the lectures begin
Standing or on the floor sitting
While bags, books and even fullscap sheet
May comfortably sit on seats
In proxy for those whose shadows are yet to darken the door
Arriving half an hour to class?
Just stand by the door
Or comfort yourself with the welcoming floor
After the rain of its test had fallen
And the local champions had fallen
Empty seats awaited us more often 
In love with the podium many had fallen

What shall u remember the bats for?
Their cries or their golden waste?
Which they offer generously
To the not-so-lucky pavement and hasty passers-by asides me

Wow it's almost nine
Latecomers now at advantage
With the bag clutched to the side
Heading for BOOC's stage
Threatening to burst in through its doors ajar
Not minding the lecturer looking on furiously from afar

...At the level of the roofed Colosseum
Ain't watching gladiators with swords
But lecturers battling with the board
The confused students finding their way in a myriad of labyrinthine words
m1, n2, n1 and m2 of optics (emu one, enu two, enu one, emu two)
so what's he saying?
Is it m or n?
In total darkness of the light we're studying

Dashing back to BOOC
Wonders shall surely never cease
Life began from the bigbang
Complicating matters, what a 'think tank'

Autobiography

Seconds roll into minutes, minutes into hours...you know the rest. New pages are opened every day. Your actions and inactions are the ink with which you write your own history. Note that you are writing your biography. How do you want the summary of your life to look like? Cos it depends upon you.

Leaders of tomorrow

They call you leaders of tomorrow.
So, I ask, are you a good one?
Are you ready and prepared to lead?
What are you ready to lead to?
You don't ask a toad for a chair when you can see it squatting.

No one gives what he doesn't have rather you'll be able to give only what you have. So what special skills do you possess that you're ready to share with the coming generation? Is it trouser-sagging, thuggery, laziness, unseriousness, sexual perversion, immorality, indiscipline, cheating, all sorts of indecent dressing etc?

What happened to virtues in our time? It has been beheaded on the guillotine. They called it a bad name (backwardness, stupidity etc) so that they could hang it like a crazy psychotic dog without you feeling any shame or pity cos you've been fooled to think it is the right thing to do.

This world is but a small village. Our actions and inactions affect us all. I grew up seeing my feminine mates dressed modestly in 'cinderella'-frocks with white socks. Though preserved with much praise in minds like mind, it's all been thrown in the gutters because some designers made us think it sucks.

Ever been to a children's party recently? If you bother to care even a little,perhaps you'll shed tears at what
you'll see-how some parents dress their wards. Be ready to see them dance like they see on tv, to adult songs with lewd lyrics. Does anyone sing songs for children anymore? Little wonder on how they'll dress your grandchildren...expect worse.

Most of the top designers of female wares are men, so I heard. They keep to their suits or tuxedos as they prefer to call it, but erode thread after thread the female's gown under the pretext of latest fashion. Consequently, making the female's clothings more bare. But does anyone notice enough to care. Perhaps most of our female folks also suffer from the sickening attention-seeking syndrome with worrisome desperation to impress the male folks even with pervert and sinister intentions.

Unfortunately, they love and enjoy the attention but later have to bear with the unwanted attention (stalking). 'drugs have side effects'. So, whats the risk-benefit ratio?

Shall we continue on this path?
Where will it lead us to?

Hope of Motherland

Just take a moment to imagine where each and everyone of us could be in the next 10, 20, 30, 50yrs... I once heard that:

 'one of the greatest challenges man faces is not the ability to distinguish right from wrong but rather, the ability to consistently give preference to right over wrong'.

One of the most convenient things to do in life is moving with the crowd especially in doing wrong, since you can only end up pointing dirty hands at each other if you're both partners in similar crimes.

The fabric of sanity and morality is being torn into shreds. The air in Nigeria reeks of corruption like the mouth of a drunk reeks of alcohol. Everyone only seems to be waiting for an opportunity to make fast money, live- off other people's sweat, tears and blood. An opportunity to get a political post and live off other Nigerians even though we all know its neither fair nor square.

Interactions with those around us, the Nigerian youth, portrays this to be in their hearts when what we really need is a generation to break this vicious cycle.

In the decades to come, i have absolutely no doubt that, some if not most of us will be in the upper echelons of Nigeria when and where we would have the opportunity, tough as it may be, to right many wrongs in nigeria. But we don't need an official post to make a big difference, we will all get the opportunity of having a huge influence on those surrounding us.

Lets make sure we all dot our 'i's and cross our 't's. It is not the number of those doing the right thing nor people's appreciation of our efforts that matters most rather it is our determination to ensure that we strive to do what's right at all times (as much as our capacity permits) and positive results i believe that will yield. We need to steam off our lusts and sacrifice in other to begin the process of breaking this vicious cycle lest Nigeria, our motherland, recedes to oblivion and becomes no more.

So what shall be your LEGACY?

Nigeria; my home

                                               There's no place like home...

I dream of a tomorrow that is fit for living for myself, all those who'll surround me then and likewise for every Nigerian. A time when I can travel freely across Nigeria spared of panic and worries of attack not just from robbers but from 'law-abiding citizens'. Free from the violence in the north and being attributed to what (violence) I'm not part of and furiously against because it violates the sanctity of life. And also free from the reprisals and hatred innocent muslims have to endure in the eastern and southern part of their country.
To be honest, muslims like myself seem only safe in the western part of Nigeria. I pray Allah protect everyone and may He guide the hearts of all nigerians to truly seek peace.

My Home

Home is where my heart is
Filled with radiating faces that brings ease
Loving people with kind words;an alluring peace
Warmth from their glowing hearts and smiles that fills me...

Inductive effect

In life, like chemistry, we have money-withdrawing and money-donating groups. When a person is surrounded by too many money-withdrawing groups, the individual becomes money deficient and the attachment of many money-donating groups makes the individual money-rich.
The more moneyphilic a person, the more their money-withdrawing activity and vice versal.
Generally, women seem to have more affinity for money than men so they have more money-withdrawing activity. The longer the distance of the attached substituent groups to our parent functional group (our heart), the lesser their money-withdrawing or money-donating effect (i.e. through inductive effect).

Atoms

Like atoms, we form bonds only when we share things in common with other people like ourselves. For atoms, they share electrons but for man, it is more diverse. Experience, kindness, love, belief, money etc are some of things that create bonds between us when we share them together. For each and every bond, there are two electrons and there is always a donor and an acceptor. Sometimes, its a benefactor-beneficiary relationship; IONIC BOND. Sometimes we share resources that we utilise together leading to the formation of a COVALENT BOND amidst us. While in some cases, some people are very magnanimous that they singlehandly contribute things we share together (dative covalent bonding).
We are special atoms capable of forming many bonds thus establishing relationships between us and other atoms like ourselves that seems to form a matrix. Amazingly, each one of us can form the 3 basic bonds at the same time though we're often better at forming some than others. We do have our own special kind of octet configuration which limits the number of successful relationships we can maintain per time.

Restlessness

An idyllic sense of peace in our minds is what we often promise ourselves when we're faced with challenges. We often expect so much, I'm afraid that sometimes it could be too much, of freedom from worries, stress etc after we weathered the storm and we can see the silver lining in the dark clouds. While writing an exam, we exert ourselves to study hard in a bid to ensure success. Our minds are hardly at ease. *Then we hope with too much certainty that all worries will be over after the completion of the exam. But alas! after..., we start to worry about our mistakes, inadequacies etc so much so that our minds are deprived of the peace it believes it has rightfully earned yet subconsciously denied.
The kind of peace of mind we often seek is nothing but a mirage in a desert. If we are patient enough to expect little of worldly pleasures, content ourselves with the little that we have, and trust Allah staunchly BELIEVING and ACCEPTING that we will only get that which has been erstwhile apportioned to us, then we will find an oasis before us. It will open doors allowing us to find pleasure in things as insignificant and simple as a smile.

                           Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.  Suratul Ra'd: 28

Great expectations

Great disappointments only come after great expectations. In life, some things only come after some other things. A good but perhaps challenging way to prevent somethings is by avoiding what leads to them. Disappointments only come after expectations and they are usually commensurate to one another. A scientist would say they are directly proportional to each other. perhaps when we expect less from life, we can save ourselves from hurt by reducing our disappointments.