TODAY WE ARE, TOMORROW WE MIGHT NOT BE!

My day started on a brighter note and everything seemed to go well.

Throughout the day, it was work, work work then the day ended.

I got back home, took my mandatory 45 minutes back rest nap then I got a call from a good friend.

As usual his calls gives us the opportunity to talk on various subjects relating to family, work, plans and all.

This particular call wasn't one of such. After the usual pleasantries, he went like, bro " I should have called you a few weeks back but didn't know how to break this news to you". 

I went like oh, what dey happen? Then he broke the news to me " Hmm chale your paddy go oo, your paddy *Twilight*(for the purpose of this post) pass on oo". 

Suddenly my whole mood changed. A few comments between the both of us ensued for a while then the call ended.

My mood changed and suddenly, sadness engulfed me.

We weren't that close as friends but from afar, this person lived her life. She was a very happy person and opened to conversations. Paramount of all was her love for GOD. She will show it no matter where she found herself.

My takeouts as thoughts run through my head all night after hearing the unfortunate news,

Folks today we are, tomorrow we might not be, Life is so uncertain we never know when and at what time we might not be.

Love God, fix your relationships, drop hate, aspire to achieve your dreams and of all be thankful to your maker for the gift of life!!

To my late buddy, rest well, may the good Lord keep your soul.

THE CASE OF SOLAR ENERGY - MY PERSPECTIVE

When you mention solar energy, why do people only think you are talking about bulk infrastructure?

Solar is more than that. Solar is modern technology driven by local innovation.

In fact, the solar revolution in Africa today is driven by small solar lighting solutions wired to Pay As You Go (PAYG) software and hardware. It has less or 'nothing' to do with bulk infrastructure!!!

First and foremost, nobody pays for it, it’s just there and for the next ten billion years humans can and will be able to tap it. Interestingly, developing solar energy may seem like a no brainier but there are legitimate concerns when it comes to the capabilities of it and its implementation.

Photo Credit : Google

Over the years, there have been a lot of arguments concerning solar energy which ranges from the cost involved where the general notion is that it’s too high when adopted. But from further readings and research, it has been identified that, there are different ways for calculating costs and the alternative methods also doesn’t compare easily to each other.

There’s also been the case of how feasible it is to generate power when the sun shines on them. Other factors such as its storage, its accompanying environmental costs are all valid points in the argument for and against the case of solar energy but in my opinion, I believe the positives outweighs the negatives.

The Government of Ghana and for that matter most African governments in my opinion doesn't believe in solar energy, it is rather the citizens who do.

LOCS4Africa 2017: Water & Climate Congress

The Local Climate Solutions for Africa (LOCS4Africa) Congress series is Africa’s leading platform on local climate action for cities and other sub-national governments across the continent.

It connects business and industry, investors, scientists, technical experts, development partners, national governments and civil society with Africa’s cities and urban networks. LOCS4Africa offers opportunity for direct engagement and strategic discussions around current local solutions and emerging trends relating to urban resilience and low-carbon development in Africa.

It is a well-established pan-African bi-annual congress, each with a strategic theme critical to urban sustainable development, in line with emerging global trends. The congress places strong emphasis on local leadership and innovative approaches to sustainable development in Africa's urban context.

If you will want to be a part of this congress happening in South Africa from 20th March - 23 rd March of 2017, take a look at the attached document below to know who qualifies to be a part of this wonderful congress.

See you there in March !!

HAS IT FALLEN THAT LOW?

And then 2015 ended calmly and we were ushered into the new year.

Invitations to a lot of social events came through for which I chose quite a number to attend.
So the very first social event for 2016 was the wedding ceremony of a working colleague. It was out of town so had to travel the distance to make it there. Somewhere in the Eastern region is where it took place.

Right on time, I made it to the service and everything as planned began. Time went by and the service went on and on and on. The groom came in and it was time for the bride to show her presence for the solemnization to begin. Minutes went by, then it turned into an hour of waiting. Various singing groups were called upon to minister different songs from worship, to reggae, to praises all in anticipation for the arrival of the bride but still it was a no show from the bride. It was an hour and a half gone and the bride had not showed up. People started to express some level of anxiety and anger as it was getting annoying to a few myself inclusive. I asked a friend who also knew the groom and had come to support, why it was always the case with brides delaying to show up. Well guess what she showed up two hours after the groom had taken his seat.

Fast forward to the plot of my post, I will try to get that bit of why brides, if I will say take delight in keeping everyone waiting for such long periods during their wedding days.

Soon they were pronounced man and wife after their vows exchange and it was time for merry making. Photographs were taken and we all headed to the reception grounds. Guests and family got seated awaiting the newly weds to come take their seats so the other half of the day could continue.
Then the MC showed up! He started with some jokes and introduced himself to the gathering. All through his presentation and MC duties, coordination of what follows what on the outlines program was duly delivered with dexterity. He did well in mixing both the English and Twi languages to the admiration of everyone. Still that doesn't pitch in my plot for this post.....lol!


Here it is......recently the form of worship with reference to Christianity has come under a lot of scrutiny. Several reasons have been assigned to the modern ways of worship in recent times.
Throughout his MCing, one thing that run through was how the various forms of worship in the christian faith was used as jokes and used them as jokes formats. One of the very repeated ones was the speaking of tongues. The sight and movements that ensued around immediately warranted a form of prayer and ended in the tongue speaking craze which drew laughter and giggles from most people around.

Personally I wasn't enthused by those gimmicks and thought I was the only one. Right behind me, I overheard some grown up women expressing their displeasure of that particular aspect of his mcing. One of the women expressed in twi "Enti ebi nom ensuro Nyame anaa?" meaning "so don't some people fear God?"

That wasn't the only time I had heard of such jokes. On a lot of platforms, I have heard such lines being jokingly expressed. In not trying to compare to other religions, will they - comedians, MCs etc try that other forms of worship of other religions?

Aside the tongues bit, kindly share any experience you've had where certain forms of worship of other religions has been jokingly expressed even though will prefer more of the christian religion.

Cheers and have the best of 2016 and welcome to another run of cool posts from me.

2015 Goodreads Best Book Choice Awards

Good reads announced the winners of the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards for best books. Over the year there have been some good books coming through and I am sure if you are a follower of Good reads, some of these books might have caught your sight.

Luckily, I read a few of them but those I read unfortunately didn't make the winners list. Maybe yours made the list but might not know so I bring you the complete list of all the winners categorized by the various genres.

Here we go;

FOOD & COOKBOOKS --     THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS: DINNERTIME: COMFORT CLASSICS, FREEZER FOOD, 16-MINUTE MEALS, AND OTHER DELICIOUS WAYS TO SOLVE SUPPER

                                                    BY: REE DRUMMOND

 

POETRY                                 THE DOGS I HAVE KISSED

                                                  BY: TRISTA MATEER

 

GRAPHIC NOVELS              SAGA VOLUME 4

& COMICS                              BY: BRIAN K. VAUGHAN (Writer), FIONA STAPLES (Artist)

 

HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY    DEAD WAKE: THE LAST CROSSING OF THE    LUSITANIA

                                                    BY: ERIC LARSON

 

NONFICTION                       MODERN ROMANCE

                                                BY: AZIZ ANSARI, ERIK KLINENBERG

 

HORROR                              SAINT ODD

                                                BY: DEAN KOONTZ

 

MEMOIR &                           A WORK IN PROGRESS

AUTOBIOGRAPHY             BY: CONNOR FRANTA

 

ROMANCE                           CONFESS

                                                BY: COLLEN HOOVER

 

FICTION                               GO SET A WATCHMAN

                                                BY: HARPER LEE

 

FANTASY                              TRIGGER WARNING

                                                BY: NEIL GAIMAN

 

MYSTERY &                          THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

THRILLER                              BY: PAULA HAWKINS

 

SCIENCE FICTION            GOLDEN SON

                                                BY: PIERCE BROWN

 

HUMOUR                               WHY NOT ME?

                                                 BY: MINDY KALING

 

YOUNG ADULT                     ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES

FICTION                                  BY: JENNIFER NIVEN

 

MIDDLE GRADE &               THE SWORD OF SUMMER

CHILDREN                             BY: RICK RIORDAN

 

PICTURE BOOKS                  THE DAY THE CRAYONS CAME HOME

                                                   BY: DREW DAYWALT, OLIVER JEFFERS

 

SCINECE &                             BENEATH THE SURFACE: KILLER WHALES, SEA WORLD, AND THE TRUTH BEYOND BLACKFISH 

 TECHNOLOGY                      BY: JOHN HARGROVE, HOWARD CHUA-EOAN

 

HISTORICAL FICTION         THE NIGHTINGALE

                                                   BY: KRISTIN HANNAH

 

YOUNG ADULT FANTASY     QUEEN OF SHADOWS

                                                     BY: SARAH J. MAAS

 

DEBUT GOOD READS             RED QUEEN

  AUTHOR                                   BY: VICTORIA AVEYARD

 

Did any of the books you read during the year feature in the list? Well I had just one book that I read all year making the list and it is that of KRISTIN HANNAH’S; THE NIGHTINGALE.

 

#MusicWeDeyFeel For Another #MusicMonday

It's another Monday and I am sure you had a great weekend.

As promised, another #MusicMonday post comes your way for you to enjoy another #MusicWeDeyFeel moment.

Going straight into the list for today are;


1. DARK SUBURB feat NOELLA WIYAALA - MAMA



2. MZVEE featuring EFYA - ABOFRA (Child)

For this week I decided to go somehow bias a little. These two tunes making up the list for this week are artists all from Ghana even the ones that featured. These are great tunes and I believe if you check them out, you'll love the beauty of Ghanaian music.

I will be checking out more tunes from the continent and as usual share with you next Monday.

CHEERS !!!

Credits:
Videos: www.youtube.com

Link to Dark Suburb artist profile.

Link to MzVee artist profile

I CALL HER WOMAN

Sometimes I wish I had the talent of writing to the extreme, especially when it comes to thought provoking pieces of life whichever way it comes. As a matter of fact writing from my personal experiences isn't what I am referring to. That I guess I can pass, so when I see such deep writings from friends I have, I admire them and applaud.
On one of those boring days, a friend dropped this amazing piece in one of my whatsapp group chats and I am of the conviction that I share this. Reason? I am identified and associated to this. There are still some great wonderful women on planet earth. Take a read;

She gives life,
She is a wife,
She is a mother,
She is a friend,
She is a sister,
A survivor to the end......
Appreciating  her,
We never dare...
Asking her worries,
We Don't care...
Please Wipe away her tears,
For they are invisible as air...
She works,
She cooks,
She cleans....
She laughs,
She comforts,
She hides her pain...
And When you struggle,
She pulls you through...
All this she is,
And what do we do??....
Complain,
And create a mess...
Stress her,
And leave her depressed...
Push her away,
Ignoring her advice...
Tell her she is nothing,
Without thinking twice....
She is raped,
Tortured,
And abused.
Told she is nothing,
Always used just for pleasure,
Inconsiderate of her pain...
She swallows her Pride,
Pockets her Ego,
Puts her feelings aside,
Does as you need,
In order for you to be free...
Ignores your ignorance,
Tolerating your flaws.
You call her Bitch,
Slut,
Hoe,
And Tramp....
She answers with humility,
Dignity,
And a complete loss of self....
You call her nothing,
I call her Strong,
Smart,
Sensual,
Caring,
Giving,
Survivor,
Tolerant,
And powerful....
If this piece doesn't change you mind of how you think about women, then I don't think you'll ever change. No matter how things might seem, a lot of love and respect should be accorded the woman.

Another piece from a friend for which I decided I share with you my cherished readers. Thank you Eddy from Kenya for this one and the enlightenment you brought to how courteous a woman can be. 

A JAM SESSION ACCOUNT- ELECTIONS AND IT'S EFFECTS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Over the weekend of February 6^th to 8^th 2015, Ghana hosted hundred of the sub region’s brain boxes of entrepreneurs at GIMPA. What were they here for, TechCamp West Africa.

TECHCAMP WEST AFRICA 2015 - ACCRA

A maiden event and arguably one of an experience, the conference had as its theme; ENTREPRENEURSHIP: ADAPT, EMPOWER, MEASURE. It was intended to bring one hundred young social entrepreneurs from Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Cote d’ Ivoire to gather and engage in hands-on capacity building, and networking with the region’s leading government, academic, civil society and business experts.

The public-private initiative spearheaded by the US Embassy Ghana and the GhanaThink Foundation was to encourage cross border collaboration, inspire entrepreneurship, and promote increased trade across borders.

Session began with attendees (participants) briefly introducing themselves, what they do and the various countries they represented.

Participants and Leads pushing through discussions in the Elections Jams session.#TechCampWA @cyriacgbogou pic.twitter.com/eUwnAJKD0G
— Kofi Opare (@QwophiCedi) February 7, 2015

Lead panel Seyi Taylor and Cyriac Gbogou opened the discussions by asking participants which countries were having elections in the sub-region and participants’ stated a few. Participants from Liberia pointed out they had their elections the previous year and it was well noted.

I went to Accra for an event called Tech Camp West Africa where I was invited to lead a session on use of tech in elections.
— ST (@seyitaylor) February 8, 2015

Moving forward in the discussion, participants expressed how the period of an election affected their businesses. One of the participants from Liberia stated that, his NGOs main sponsor left the country and haltered all funds that had been agreed to sponsor its programs for the year. This he expressed really affected his organization as one of the programs of the organization was targeted at poverty alleviation and scholarship grants to needy children towards their education.

As they shared their experiences, I became very sad. Africa has 'enjoyed' sit-tight leaders and they've caused us pain.
— ST (@seyitaylor) February 8, 2015

Another participant from Ghana stated that “My opportunity to gain that funding for my organization was declined later after it had been agreed in principle that my application had been approved. The reason, because a prominent politician who was contesting a Member of Parliament seat had come in for a colossal amount to fund his campaign and was considered a priority client”. This participant expressed disappointment because it affected his schedule of operations for the next period.

In CIV, post-election violence meant a complete stop to trade. They couldn't even buy airtime. One entrepreneur operated a call center
— ST (@seyitaylor) February 8, 2015

It seemed unanimous that, in the sub-region, one thing was evident; organizations are tagged to either the ruling government or the opposition party mostly based on perception or at some point your affiliation in society.

In as much as electioneering period affected some entrepreneurship ventures, there were some good news in some aspects as, the period helped some of the participants to explore their entrepreneurship self. 

One of the participants stated that, the elections helped his organization to enforce the reason why one should vote and not accept bribes to induce their decision. They in turn set up a working post where information dissemination made them gain funding from some organizations to support their project. This participant was from Liberia.

Another positive note that was shared in this Jam session was from a member of lead panel who hails from Ivory Coast, stated the election period encouraged him to set up an sms application solely to debunk rumours pertaining to the general elections. This application was designed to create the awareness what that was true and not true running around in the country. During the election day, the app extended its services to providing information on where election materials were available, were not available and to announce violence in an election locality. This he said attracted some funding from corporate bodies.

Some countries have been trying to 'conclude' the electoral process for A WHOLE YEAR. Can you imagine doing this for a year?
— ST (@seyitaylor) February 8, 2015

Revealing during the Jam session was a term in the mobile telephony circles which had similar references in the sub-region. In Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria, it is referred to as FLASH whiles in Togo and Ivory Coast it’s known as BEEP. This is where a main call is stooped after a connection is established and the recipient gets notified and shows as missed call. Interestingly, in Liberia, it depends on the intellectual affiliation level where the somehow educated folks call it flash and the rural folks used beep. This actually drew loud laughs in the room ending in applause. It was news to me and for once I learnt another thing that was general in the sub-region.

In another country. You would flash their number and they would call you back and ask you who to relate the message to. Disaster.
— ST (@seyitaylor) February 8, 2015

It was therefore agreed by both participants and lead panel that, as an entrepreneur in West Africa, you must have a working plan specifically spelling out your strengths especially during an election year so your business isn't affected.

WHO WON WHAT - SOCIAL MEDIA AWARDS AFRICA !!

The Social Media Awards, Africa’s premier awards for social and digital media with nominations spanning four categories and drawn from across the continent took place on the 24th of January 2015 with some of the people that really matter  in the Social Media World in attending.

The event which was hosted in Lagos, Nigeria, recognized and rewarded excellence, creativity and impact of social media on human Socio-Economic development, through its tools and various available platforms by individuals and organizations as such across the continent.

There was also a second part which preceded the awards ceremony which obviously was the highlight of the evening, hosted Africa’s best in diverse sectors to discuss, analyze and forge a new development path for Africa through social media.

The awards considered specific social Platforms like; Facebook Page of the Year, Twitter Handle of the Year, Influencer of the Year (Considering LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and Instagram.

For the case of individual achievement in social media, the selection boards looked at Blogger of the Year, Social Media Personality of the Year, Social Media Hero. Not forgetting local campaigns and brands, it was obvious Hashtags of the Year couldn’t be taken out. Others earmarked for recognition were Brand of the Year, App of the Year and Best Rated Platform of the Year.

Before I share with you on the various nominees and winners of the various categories, here is a quote from the organizers;

“With 4 major categories and 15 awards, the SMAA is a genuine, timely intervention for promoting distinctive creativity, peerless innovation and pervasive developments on the African continent through the best use of social media platforms and the rest of the social web”.

Now WHO WON WHAT?

  
HASHTAG OF THE YEAR
#TheNiteTalk       Kenya -      
#letsnotpretend    Ghana
#choice4life          Nigeria
WINNER: #TheNiteTalk (@Lt_Caesa)




Financial Institution
Stanbic IBTC              Nigeria
KCB Group                Kenya
Access Bank               Nigeria
WINNER: @KCBGroup




Brand of the Year
Raha 2.0                      Tanzania  
Jumia-Nigeria              Nigeria
Vodafone Ghana        Ghana
WINNER: @rahaFIBER



Best Rated Platform
All 4 Women               South Africa
Nigeria Trade Hub       Nigeria
Bizcommunity.com      South Africa
WINNER: @Nigeriatradehub




App of the Year
ICOW             Kenya
Afrinolly         Nigeria  
MPesa             Kenya
WINNER: @Afrinolly

AFRINOLLY - APP OF THE YEAR

The awards also recognized best use of social media institutionally and here are they:

Private Sector
Informer East Africa               Tanzania
DHL Africa                            Kenya  
Popi Media                              South Africa
WINNER: @DHLAfrica






Non-Profit
Stand to End Rape Nigeria
WINNER: @StandtoEndRape

Government/Public Sector
Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Youth and ICT      Rwanda  
Kenya National Youth Service                                   Kenya
Ekiti State Government                                              Nigeria
WINNER: @myictrwanda


Start-up/MSME
Adforumco        Nigeria  
AIM Group        Tanzania
TVyangu            Kenya
WINNER: @adforumco



Influencer of the Year (LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Instagram), which had the following gunning for the award,
The Love Tour KE                  Kenya  
Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo        Nigeria
X-tian Dela                             Kenya
Had @slumphotography picking up the plaque as winner in that category.




Then came Twitter Handle of the Year
@jimitewe – Jimi Tewe                      Nigeria  
@XtianDela – X-tian Dela                 Kenya
@omojuwa – Japhet Omojuwa           Nigeria

WINNER @jimitewe 

TWITTER HANDLE OF THE YEAR - @JIMITEWE

I was actually rooting for Omojuwa to win based on the impact that handle had made over the year but let’s not take it away from Jimi Tewe, some wonderful things came out of that handle. Check out his ThankYou message to the world after being declared winner.

 



Facebook Page of the Year was won by Barefootlaw from Uganda (@BarefootlawUG ) and if you want to know who its competitors were, find them below
All4 Women                            South Africa
Barefootlaw                            Uganda  
Comedy Central Africa          South Africa

Call them the flagship awards of the night, the following won the top awards of the evening .



Social Media Hero
Japheth Omojuwa                   Nigeria
Michael Hlatshwayo               South Africa  
Xtian Dela                               Kenya
WINNER: @big_MIKE_ayooba

Social Media Personality of the Year
Ayari Yassine                          Tunisia  
Japheth Omojuwa                   Nigeria
Luyando Haangala                  Zambia
WINNER: @yassayari

Blogger of the Year

BLOGGER OF THE YEAR

Philip Etemesi                         Kenya
Ogunsaya Jide                         Nigeria
Ben Kiruthi                             Kenya
WINNER: @Benkiruthi 



 

 

Congratulations to all the winners and the other nominees, wishing you all better luck in the next awards session. Hope you don’t stop being an impact on society and Africa as a whole with all the good things you do with all your social media platforms. Africa no doubt is the future.

You can also find me on most of the various social media platforms;

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

GOOGLE+

 


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