iBlog in pictures

 

 

 

 

 

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Japheth Omojuwa: All I need is a blog post!

Bloggers matter, they count and they are crucial not just for the fledgling democracy we’ve got here but for our society where secrecy and lack of openness have done us more harm than good.

- Omojuwa

Planning iBlog has been exciting, I've had many hoolahoop moments where I've done a wiggle, a shake and a jump in excitement. This post, I'm telling you more about who you will be meeting at the event.

Japheth Omojuwa is one of our speakers. To describe him well, I'll have to tell you what others have said about him, what he has said of himself and what I think of him... then the rest is up to you.

Omojuwa has been described as a blunt critic of the Nigerian governance structure, practices and policies on twitter. He's been titled a Digital Activist and has been dubbed a detribalized thought leader. His 40 something thousand twitter followers are a testament to the fact that whether loved or hated, the public is taken by this bold and driven 28 year old. They may have been surprised into surrender at his brazenness or wooed into acceptance by his boldness but Japheth himself will tell you "those who love me really love me and those who hate me really hate me".

Of himself, Omojuwa has been known to say, "I am Omojuwa." That begs the question; "Who is Omojuwa?" Don't ask me. Ask him.

 As I asked him.

Was he someone who would shut up if "someones" in government put him in office?

"You've met me", he said, putting his verdict in my hands, "do you think I'm that sort of person?" This was his way of saying he is just what we see. His motive would not be corrupted or compromised by the allure of position or the pollution of money. We both agreed that by many standards money was considered success but of himself he said  " Success is too low a bar to set, I want greatness and money doesn't give greatness."

He's been described as arrogant, he told me.

I considered this for a while and concluded I didn't think he was.

Over confident? Maybe, but I did not see a reason he shouldn't or couldn't be if he was. He had afterall set a high bar and proved himself against it. He had afterall found himself and discovered his strenght.

I didn't begrudge the man his own opinion of his ownself.

I was simply relieved that here was one person who wasn't shirking his own responsiblity, asking me to believe in him because he couldn't do it himself.

"There is nowhere I go that people don't know me, to me that's big and I'm just a blogger not a musician." If the words he spoke showed arrogance, it certainly escaped me. I saw awareness that he had a voice, an angry, often angst inspiring voice even. And I saw gratitude that he had hearts who listened, who amidst and despite the insults, moved.

Was he making money off his presence online? He was quick to admit he was. It was a springboard for other dreams, other streams of income. "Blogging is for fun, speaking and travelling is the business".

Was he hurt by the generous, unedited insults he received on his platforms?

It worked two ways.

On the one hand, it was a measure of success as a blogger. "The day you get your first abuse is the day your blog has gone beyond your circle".

On the other hand, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to repay in kind if he found a worthy opponent. His response reminded me of his ipad saga with Arik airline but he offered me an unsolicited example of "worthy", I paraphase: "If someone insults me on twitter, I check their twitter followers. If they have a few then it's not worth getting into and I forget it".

But he remembered and even favourited  an abuse  a comment  an "abusement" dealt him on twitter, where someone asked him to get a real job. His response? "Maybe I will when I'm done with my travels".

He has a tough skin to go with his big mouth. A big faith to go with his good heart.

"Yesterday morning I decided there was a need to speak up for the children of Bagega in Nigeria’s Zamfara State after a friend had reached me about doing it. These children are in danger of death if the remediation process that needs to be done before their treatment does not get done. Within hours the message had reached some 400 thousand people and we had access to more information to reach the powers that be to get something done"

Did he fear for his life? He has no fear but he wouldn't put himself in a position to be harmed. He has a deep faith that God watches over him and experience has made this faith as real as flesh, more real than words.

Like all things he speaks on, he speaks about blogging with passion. "Bloggers are bosses" he says to people who think it is a perfect waste of time and "Bloggers matter" he insists especially in the conversation to convert the unbelieving complacent to action that reaches the voiceless lost.

"All I need is one blogpost."

But don't ask me about my opinion of Japheth, meet him and see for yourself!

More details here


Nigeria is what it is because we are who we are…mostly selfish, short-sighted, parochial and a grab-your-own mentality obsessed group of people who make noise when not positioned to steal, who steal when positioned to do greater good. We have hit rock bottom even though the realities of modern day Nigeria make us feel our current office holders will breach even this bottom and take us further down. God forbid! We can forbid it too.

- Omojuwa



Step one: START!

iBlog is an idea I have been nursing since March last year. Amb. Stephen Oguntoyinbo had organised a National Youth Media Summit and wanted bloggers for a session of the event (I don't remember it clearly now). A friend of mine contacted me about it and I contacted him. "It would be in Lagos" he said. I suppose that was the end of the matter and the beginning of all the thoughts that have led me to this NEW BEGINNING.

I researched on the internet for similar ideas and wrote a million things down. It stayed written in a small jotter in my book case like so many of my ideas waiting for me to give them me. Whenever I got one of those broadcasts inviting me to a monthly event of some kind, I remembered my seed of an idea. Usually things like that would make me uncomfortable for a while then leave me with resolve.

Then three weeks ago, I read something on Remembering my Journey blog by Nnenna Ndioma and it again made me uncomfortable. Again I don't remember specifics except that it made me resolve again to do something about my idea. So I made the first phone call and committed myself. I was going to do a monthly bloggers networking event, it was called iBlog and it would kick off on the 27th of January 2013. Done!

Maybe this will make you do something to create a new beginning for yourself too. Maybe you will read this and take the first step to making real a possibility you have held in your imagination for sometime.

I hope it does.

I also hope you make history with me and come for #iBlog! I'll be looking out for you!

More details here

iBlog- where bloggers meet!

 Hey everyone!

I’m absolutely excited to talk about iBlog! It’s a monthly networking event for bloggers and a resource for bloggers to improve the content, graphics, branding, traffic, ads, popularity, and impact/influence of their blogs.

It’s also a community where bloggers come to support each other whether they blog for fun, to make an income, promote their brand, advertise their business, pass their message, share their work or keep a dairy. 

It will hold every last Sunday of the month in Abuja ( for now) hosting a special guest each session. This first outing will play host to Japheth Omojuwa. He is a supper blogger, has been called a digital activist and has deeply held beliefs in the power of social media as catalyst for positive change.

Details

Theme: "Meet my blog"

Date: 27th January, 2013

Venue: Juice place II, Funk Shui Lounge, 25b Libreville Street, near DSTV, Wuse II, Abuja.

Time: 5:30pm

Ticket:N3,500 (N3,000 for Omojuwa’s Followers and mine on this blog)

Registration

1.      To register, send your name, blog address, contact details and a brief description of you and your blog to Omonaikee@yahoo.com.

2.    Pay

Registration closes on 25^th January, 2012. Limited spaces are available. First Five at venue enter free courtesy of www.folanski.wordpress.com

What you stand to benefit at this event

· Improve your blog

· Gain traffic

· Network for business

· Have a great time

What to bring

· Your very important self

· Desktop, Laptop or iPad (Optional)

· Your complimentary cards (Advisable)

This event is not restricted to bloggers.

We can’t wait to blog about you meet you. See you there!

-The iBlog team

Powered by Omonaikee Media Company. Supported by Pearls International (Lady O), Events Abuja, Buzz, White Rabbit Concept, Venussbay , Sleeick Stories and Analyze these (Moye Media).

It's up to you!

Getting into work mode and picking up from where we left off before the holidays will gradually wear off the "new" of the new year. It is expected that work will peak even more and life will return to it's busy pace. But these few days that begin the year present an opportunity to focus on what we want for the year and how we can attain it. (What can you do in 12 months?)

It is this period that lots of prayers and planning happen. Prayers for direction and plans for execution.  While i'm all for embarking on quests for divine direction and one- man strategy sessions, it is of greater importance that these exercises are productive.

The question to ask ourselves is,

Are we gaining clarity?

To achieve our goals for 2013, clarity is required. As we do these retreats, planning must be detailed enough to provide clarity. Prayer, fasting and study should give insight and perspective.

Are we seeing a course of action?

To achieve our goals for 2013, action is required. How effective our moments of deep thought and our practice of intense prayer are depend on what they help us DO afterward.

Are we getting prepared?

To achieve our goals for 2013, preparation is required. Our prayer and fasting should prepare the heart, our study prepare the mind and our planning prepare the feet.

The answers to the above will show us if our efforts are at best good habits and at worst uneffective strategies. 

At the end of the day, all the planning and praying in the world can't take the place of "DOING"!

Have a Happy new year!

It's up to you!

You can have a happy new year.

Happy new year!

You hardly can say it without feeling some excitement!

Every year we wish our family, our friends and colleagues... indeed anyone we see on the 1st of January, a happy new year.

We do it out of habit, we do it because we are happy to see them in the new year, we do it because we are excited to see another year, we do it because it feels good!

But the phrase is more than a greeting when we think about it. It is a statement. It says the year is a new and happy year. It says the year is happy and tells us it is so because it is new. 

If you think about even more, you gain the audacity to interprete it as a piece of advice that tells us what we will have to do if the year is to be happy. Do something new.

So lets see how happy your new year will be?

Are you trying out for new things? 

Check your activites. Are you applying for a new job? Are you applying for a scholarship? Are you applying for sponsorships to attend a conference? Are you applying for your masters degree? Lots of companies will be hiring at the start of the year, are you applying?

How much of what you are focusing on will open up new opportunities for you to do something new, something different or something you’ve always wanted to do?

Are you actively seeking out new opportunites or are you doing your routine?

Are you finding out new information along the lines of your cherished dreams? Are you finding out about the opportunities around you or have you isolated yourself in your current situation without thinking of getting out into other possibilities?

Are you planning anything new?

Is there anything you are about to do that is causing you any excitement? Are you going to do anything in the next three months that can give you that new experience you’ve always wanted in the following three? Is your life exciting because of the new things you are setting up for yourself or is it boring because you are going with the flow and leaving occasional exciting experiences up to chance? Are you trying to meet someone? Are you making arrangements to go someplace new? 

Are you taking the first step or waiting for everything to be perfect?
 You might not have the money to travel abroad but you have the money to get your international passport or pay the visa fees for a visa to that country you want to go. Take the first step and see.
 
Are you making anyone happy?
Are you giving anyone a gift this year? Are you making anybody's dream come true? Whose life will you change? Who will you get a job? Who will you push to take the next neccessary step in their journey? Who will you help? Whose prayer will you answer this year? Who will you pray for? Whose hand will you hold?

 

Yes it's a new year and it should be a happy one but like I said in the title of this post, you can have a happy new year, if you set it up to be.

Have a Happy New Year!

 

The Book I Thought I Would Write Four Years Ago!

This year I turned twenty eight and wrote a book, an eBook, a book nonetheless.

I wrote it because I was in church one Friday and the Pastor brought to life the topic of the message that day by asking people who had used their talents to change their condition to share how they had done so.

An author volunteered and said she had written a children’s book which was now in high demand. I remembered that I too wanted to write a book.

I had been reminded.

At the end of the talk, the charge was for each person to think deeply about what they could do with what they had to get further ahead. The following Monday would be a public holiday so it was going to be a long weekend.

I had the time.

Months before, I had penned my goal to write an eBook. I wanted visitors to my blog to have a freebie and something personal from me when they visited it.

I had my reason.

I thought of different things to write about but settled on one. I had worked with a company for two years, taken a bold step to leave and experienced some things because of my choices.

I had my story.

I spent a full day indoors and by the time I was done I had a complete book!

Today I exchanged an email with the Editor of Femme Lounge who is doing a review of the book. Reading that what I wrote inspired her with the message that hard work and determination pays, I went and read the book again to see for myself.

It took an effort to take myself out of memory lane so I could experience her point of view instead of reliving my memories. I tasked myself to find what the morale of the story is for me. It’s a reminder. A reminder that if I think I can then I should. Whether that is seating in a room an entire day to write and design an eBook or doing a great job at work or continuing to pursue a dream whose date of fruition I don't know.

Thinking those thoughts reminded me that my eBook was once a dream. Four years ago I said I would write my first book when I turned 28.

I had my dream come true.

Several events I could not have planned worked together to make it happen. Ambitiously scribbling in my journal four years ago, a random message I heard in church, an author’s testimonial, working in one company, reading eBooks and a million things I can’t call to mind even if I tried.

This profound realization lends evidence of the existence of another dream come true in some three years or months or days, who knows?

Today you visited this blog and read this post and probably went to see what the eBook was about…

You just got reminded!

Find the time. Find your reason. Make your dream come true.

Ditch the mirror, ask the boyfriend!

I have never met a mirror I didn’t love but I am really beginning to hate the mirror in the office. The other day as I walked over to the sink to wash my hands during a pee break, I caught a glimpse of myself and shrunk in horror.  There were gaping spaces in my eye brows and the pimples which I thought were tiny were peering back at me with brazen confidence. Then I started to feel tardy and a little grumpy until I met up with The boyfriend for lunch.

He noticed I wasn’t as cheerful as usual and asked what the matter was. “Nothing” came the reply. I wasn’t going to say how “unbeautiful” I was feeling. So lunch ended and we headed to the car park. As I walked through the doors, I saw copies of my reflection on them.  My attention was drawn to the scars from a chicken pox infection years ago and by the time I took another look in the car window, I was ready to break every piece of glass I saw!

“What’s wrong?” he asked, observing me slam the car door shut. It all came tumbling out then and The boyfriend just listened with a patient smile on his face.

“Baby, you are beautiful” he said, “Those mirrors have nothing on you”. Five minutes later I was back on top of the world realizing that the office mirror had only amplified the imperfection on my face and I had fallen into the trap of seeing the worst not appreciating the best.

Two days later, while at home I picked up my makeup mirror and scanned my face. I spotted a freshly delivered patchwork of pink faced pimples on my left cheek and fled into the bathroom to my stash of toners, cleansers and scrubs all with the prescribed 5% Salicylic acid. I then dashed back to the mirror hoping my desperate antics would have restored my skin to velvety smoothness. Alas, the pimples remained. This time I didn’t seat down and ask the mirror on the wall, after all it had once been unkind in telling me if I was the fairest of them all. I just grabbed my phone and called my boyfriend.