Where have all the Bloggers gone to?

If you are a member of the old time Blogsville community, and haven't blogged in about two years, I have most likely unfollowed you in my blogger dashboard. It's not you, it's me, lol.

I just got tired of having so many redundant blogs and urls in my dashboard. It seemed my dashboard was really populated, when in reality, it was totally empty. I even clicked in Ginger's blog url, and the domain was expired, and up for sale. I was like "mogbe, see what I have been carrying in my backyard." I carried all these URLs, being reluctant let go, and unwilling to accept that life happens, and I should just move on. Anyway, I have now accepted my reality, and officially dismantled Blogsville in my mind. I miss you all, Toin, HoneyDame, Cherrywine, Geebee, Didi, MsJB, Naija Mum in London, Naija Bachelor, Beautifull, Okeoghene, Sykik, Unveiling Gold, etc

If you were mentioned above, and plan to come back to blogging late, please let me have your URL in the comment section, so I can refollow.

In the meantime, since you have all moved to Instagram or facebook, please add me @hattylolla on IG so I can follow back, and we can continue our fellowship there.

If these people can do it, what is your excuse?

Hello everyone. How are we all doing? I’m very happy that the pregnancy series is over. I did not want my blog to become a woman blog, pregnancy blog or mummy blog. I have been trying to be very careful about this because it sometimes seems automatic for a blogger’s new reality to take over the content of their blog, especially when it is a lifestyle blog.

This week’s post is quite brief. I want to talk about the recent trend of people spamming blog comments section with talks of herbalists and hex men helping them get their husbands back or in extreme cases, killing someone like the screenshot below.

I've always thought that there's no way on earth that someone will fall for this, and patronize such people. But then again, if their marketing strategy wasn't working, and no one was patronizing them, they would have stopped this gimmick a long time ago. You might have come across them on your blog if you are also a blogger

Gone are the days when you had to enter one bush to go and look for one 'baba' to do one jazz or the other for you. You can find them right here online, no more traveling to a remote village. One would think that the advent of technology would make us wiser, and send these people into extinction, but no, they wax stronger daily and now have websites and Facebook pages.

I think the several native doctor comment on the blogosphere is by the same person though, just that the person keeps using different profiles and email addresses all the time. Some people have time sha.


Are you aware of anyone who has fallen for these kinds of people? How did it turn out in the end?

So the real question here is what is stopping you? If jazz men, whether real or fake, are innovating, and changing the the demand of the recent times, what is your excuse? Some of us think that our trade is not marketable online, or we have just plainly refused to adapt, but I say if the Babalawos can do it, then you shouldn't be dulling.

When bloggers go too far... just for a story

Hi everyone. I want to thank everyone who read and commented on my last blog post. I can see women don't joke with sensitive issues like this.

I ended up calling my client, and she seems to be doing very fine now. She will resume the new job, and see how it turns out, although from what is currently being said, the new job seems offer a supportive environment to women, and enables them balance career and family. If you haven't read it, please do by clicking here, and lending your voice. This is because my client read the post, and is actually seeing the comments. So you can use the comment section to get to her.

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So something odd happened last week after the post was published. I was getting calls from a 'private number', which I kept cutting off because my number was recently used in a spam text, causing so many unknown numbers to call me, including 'private numbers'.

The person kept calling, so I picked, with the intention of cutting it immediately. Alas, I heard the voice of a well-spoken lady, who is a blog reader.

What my Top 10 blog post says about Blog reading culture

I have been blogging consistently for a little over 8 years, and I have written all kinds of post. I decided to analyse my most popular posts, and see what was unique about them.

1.TGIFridays Experience and 100th Post Giveaway

This is my highest viewed post, with a traffic of…, which is not surprising. From the day I put up this post in 2011, it has been skyrocketing in views. I knew nothing about blog traffics when I wrote about my experience at TGIFridays. I definitely was not looking for views 5 years later. But this tells us that when you write about a popular world-class brand, you are sure to keep gathering views for years and years to come

2. One more Blog Post

You would thing my second highest viewed post has nothing special in its title, but the word “blog post” is a very key word in the SEO world. Then add a good content underneath, you become king. This post is less than 2 years old, yet it made the second spot in my top 10. Lesson, SEO works

3. I want to burst some bloggers' bubbles

This post has two things going on for it when it comes to traffic. Firstly, it reeks of gossip (it is actually a blogville community gossip), and secondly, it has the keyword “blogger”. It seems anything that has the words, blog, blog post, bloggers, how to blog, etc. is always a winner every time.

4. Wordpressers speak back: Nigerian Blogger users are ignorant, backward, etc

I wrote this post during the wordpress vs blogger fracas, which honestly I caused, albeit unintentionally. It turned out to be a very friendly war between wordpressers and bloggers, when the community was still strong. This post made it for two reasons, it is a warzone post, it has the word Nigerian bloggers, and it makes use of a condemning statement about a country, which is not the goal of the post.

5. "I have decided to stop attending church!"

Anything about church condemnation, pastor criticism, how a popular televangelist molested people, sells. These kinds of gossip posts attracts traffic like mad. This post was publicised on all my platfoms, and many people saw me as church girl, also being a teen’s teacher in church. So imagine me going public with my intention to stop attending church. It’s either people wanted to know why or they just wanted to join me in stoning the church, lol.

6. The “It is well” generation.

I don’t think the title made this one popular at all. Firstly, it was publicised on all my platforms, which really doesn’t matter because many other posts were publicised on my platforms too. But this particular post had many keyword in the content itself.  When you read it, you would see controversial words like Femi Otedola,  Farouk Lawan , 170 million Nigerians, Shunemite woman, Horatio Gates Spafford, Chibok Girls, Boko Haram, Elisha, etc. I might be wrong though.  Maybe the word “It is well” is a keyword. All I can say is that it is one of my most popular posts

7. How I hustled to graduate from University
Again… gossip sells. It is of the opinions that I did really well in university, so when a post title begins to claim the reverse, people want to know (things about your personal life they shouldn’t ordinarily know). Just do a post about how you slept with 5 men in 2 months, and see what happens, lol.

8. How I see Nigerian Blogsville (2) – The two clans... not cliques

This holds the same point as number 4. Exactly the same points

9. Almighty's Formula by Atilola Moronfolu

The keyword made this post great. Almighty Formula is a very popular topic in mathematics that can solve any quadratic equation other methods can’t solve. When people google it, they are sometimes led to my post, which talks about another type of Almighty Formula

10. Close Shaves Series – part 4 : The AUR Story

At first glance, there’s nothing unique about this post. But I remember that when I was publicising it on my platforms, the caption was “how I opened my legs for a man”. Just like number 5 post, many people know I don’t believe and engage in premarital sex, and here I am, opening my legs for a man? What is happening here? Again, gossip! (people want to know what they shouldn’t ordinarily know).

So the summary of what I have learnt from my Top 10 posts when it comes reading culture, and this is something you can use if you are interested in growing your blog traffic
1. Writing about big brands attracts traffic
2. All that SEO and Keyword life, they work big time
3. People love gossip. People want to know what they shouldn’t ordinarily know, and if you can keep feeding their desires, they’ll keep coming back for more.

Lastly, let me add that I don’t write for traffic. I’m more about content. If the content is right, people will eventually come. I do not strategically position myself to increase traffic by inputing keywords, spreading gossips, etc. I just write, and I just want people to read. I implore you all to read these top 10 posts, I can assure you that you will enjoy them.

How to switch from Old time Blogger to Modern day Blogger

Hello everyone - oldtime bloggers, new bloggers and non-bloggers. I want to talk about something that many bloggers can relate to, and has taken the blogging world by storm

There has been a trend going on for the past three years - old bloggers struggling to keep on blogging, with some eventually giving up, new bloggers coming up, and taking over by storm.

I have been blogging CONSISTENTLY for 8 years, and some things have happened in the course of those years.

Blogging is not what it used to be. Old bloggers  ran a close knit operation. They had a community called blogsville, cos it was like a real village, only that it was online. They were passionate about one another, competing to be the first person to comment on one another's blogs. That was the era on Nigerian Blog Awards (a feat that is getting more and more difficult to pull due to the dynamism of social media). Being a blogger was as easy as ABC. As long as you had content (mostly personal), and you had internet, you were good to go. There was no need for aesthetics or world-class photography. Non bloggers were always jealous, and always stood outside, looking in, praying they could join this virtual blogsville. New joiners praised God for every new comment they got.

Then came blog enemies like twitter. It competed for the attention of bloggers, some falling off the wagon, while some others juggling between both, never for once realising that they served two totally different purposes.

During this period,

Please help me determine the next direction of my life

Where's everyone?

For sometime now, all the blogger oldies have been disappearing one by one by one, like water leaking from a bucket with a very tiny hole in it.

This has translated to the fact that if I still want to remain on blogger, I have to start deliberately making new blog friends, and accepting the fact that the old ones might never come back again, or would just come once in a six months to update us.

Making new blog friends isn't exactly a walk in the park. You have to DELIBERATELTY reach out to new people, drop blog links, etc. I also feel like the randomness of my blog style and op-ed write ups was what made sense to my old blog friends, but might not cut it for the new blog friends I want to make. This might also be evidenced in the fact that the kind of phase I'm entering into soon would not allow for such randomness.

This now means I might have to serious evaluation about this blog now. I mean at some point, I used to rake in 60 to 100 comments every week. Now, we are just doing 15 to 20. This goes to tell me that the Nigerian blogosphere has evolved. And what do they say about businesses that refuse to evolve with the times? They go under.

Another option would be to go under, i.e. shut down the blog. But I refuse to do that. Almost every (99%) blessing I enjoy in my life now i.e. career, business, marriage, travels, spoken word deals in and out of the country, etc. is directly or indirectly as a result of my presence on this blog. So shutting down the blog would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Also, writing is my life. If I'm not writing for people to read, I'm sure I would just die.

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Another option would be to keep writing, but not consistently, so I don't feel any pressure. But knowing me, this would never happen. I'd just die of self guilt because consistency is what keeps me going in every area of my life. Either I'm in or I'm out. NO MIDDLE GROUND.

So how do I get this blog back to level it used to be before, and even surpass it? It means it has to evolve. Content wise, and audience wise?

And that brings me to the most difficult part. How? How do I evolve? A lot of people are now blogging about lifestyle, the places they go, review about the food they ate, etc. but that's not me. I want to be more intentional than that. I want people to come here, and not leave the same, I want people to look forward to visiting the blog every Monday

So what do I do?

Do I change the theme to entrepreneurship (That's not the only thing I am, and writing about business weekly seems like a boring thing to me)
My life as a spoken word artist (This is so limiting)
My life as an author (Too seasonal)
Do I stick to the randomness and just focus on finding new friends? (I think it has gotten me this far, but won't take me forward)
Do I have to do a minimal blog redesign?

So in short, I'm confused. You guys are wise. Can you give me suggestions on what to do, how to make this blog evolve? I've been feeling this burden for almost a year now, so give me that opportunity to bounce my ideas off you. Please don't look at the reasons I stated in the list just above, just advise of your own accord. Thanks

I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing what you would say to me.

Did I go overboard with my comment?

So someone anonymous dropped that comment on my blog post, and that was my response to the person.

When I got the comment in my phone, I was first taken aback. I found it had to believe that someone who decide to spam a blog on behalf of RCCG? I doubt their pastor or planning committee asked them to do this? 

My initial reaction was to delete the comment, as I do to any spam comment that has the luxury of bypassing blogger filter. But I decided to leave it for the world to see, so we can all learn that this is not cool.

I understand it when Ikemba is spamming my blog for how to get a bigger manhood, and that babalawo guy that keeps disturbing us to come and prepare love potions for our runaway lover. But when Christians begin to do this under the ANONYMOUS identity, it says a lot about us. Or is the end game not to get poeple to give their lives to Christ again?

If we don't present ourselves as the light of the world, in this barrage of darkness, then what exactly are we doing as Christians?

Please weigh in. Did I go overboard? What are you thoughts on Christian spamming blogs for their events?

I am sorry. Please, forgive me

Guys, I am extremely sorry about the past two weeks. Posting about Mama peace and Mrs Brown back to back was a pure coincidence. I didn't even realise until it was too late.

You see, what happened was that I knew I wasn't going to be around, and had scheduled some blog posts for the upcoming weeks. I had writers' block, so I took some articles from my comedy book, For Laff's Sake, and scheduled them. So when I got new inspiration, I started moving articles around, and before I knew that those two articles ended up side by side, it was too late. So please, forgive me. I am sorry.

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I promise I am still normal, and don't have weird neighbours. Besides, if you haven't read For Laff's Sake, what are you waiting for? Order your own copy on Amazon now. There are way more funny stories in that book, but I can't post them here because they are too long. Besides, there would be no need for you to purchase again if I do that. Oya, click here to purchase.

So I haven't been around o. I was touring the world, lol.

I went on a trip that sent my account straight to red, but at least, I enjoyed myself. I did a whole lot of things on vacation. I think I was forced to have fun this time because I didn't have the comfort of staying with family in two of the states I went, so I was forced to actually go out without having to depend on anyone. If you know me, you know I actually don't like going out of the house.

Trust me when I say I went to a whole lot of places, but the major highlights were Hollywood and Beverly Hills in California, bowling with my cousin in Dave and Busters in Baltimore, then watching the Veterans Day parade in New York City, and the height of it all for me was watching Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. At this point, I was almost crying at the money I had to spend, but my love for Phantom of the Opera was just too much for me to resist.

So here's the thing, I am supposed to give you guys highlights, right? Since the trip was overpacked, the most sensible thing to do is to break it down into series, like my Seven days in Brazil series. But I don't know if I want to be blogging about vacation for one month, since I blog just once a week. The alternative would be to have it in one single looooong post.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think. I will do what the majority says.

But in the meantime, I neeeeeeeeeeddddddddd Moneyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!

If I were an anonymous blogger...

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The fact that I am not an anonymous blogger has restricted me in some ways, in terms of blog content. There are some things I definitely cannot put up here. But that's where creativity comes in. When you are restricted, cannot affoed to use offensive language, yet you still own your space when it comes to good content.

As you might know, I have always said on the blog that I had known that one could blog anonymously, before I started blogging, I would have been an anonymous blogger. I have this feeling that my life is way fuller than I portray it to be, and this blog would have been far more interesting.

So I was thinking. If I were actually an anonymous blogger, what would have been different?

I would have blogged more about the Nigerian kind of religion Christianity, and talked a lot about hypocrisy. God knows I have my own work cut out for me in this Kingdom-building business, and the way I remain sane is by focusing on the specific work cut out for me.

I would have blogged more about my mum. I think she's such a case, and I think writing about our conversation will make for great comedy. No, she's not funny, she's just... well, a case.

I would have blogged more about my relationship life. In fact, there's a particular one which we'd have gone on the journey together on the blog. I used to be more open about relationships and all, but now, I am the most private person in existence, lol.

I would have liked to say that I would have blogged more about my past. Fortunately, I am one of those people who don't have any adventure or secrets or whatever in their past. For example, I spent six years in university without attending a club for once. I am not from a dysfunctional family, I didn't jump from place to place, men to men, relationship to relationships, and I don't believe in premarital sex. No, I don't have a perfect past, I just don't have a spicy past. So blogging about my past would make this space a really boring one, and I would have sent a lot of people into slumber. So let's move on.

I would have blogged more about my weaknesses. I know I currently blog about my imperfections, but I would have delved more into things I feel I could be better at. I would have said some things without the fear of anyone using it against me in future.

I would have blogged about other bloggers, lol. Something tells me I'd have been a troublemaker, rather than the peacemaker I normally am, lol. I am just joking o. There's this saying that short ladies have sharp tongue, and insult people easily, as a defence for their short stature. I think this cliche somehow passed me by when God was creating me. I can't insult to save my life. Maybe that's why God gave me a fast speech, assertive voice, and a skill in the art of spoken word to compensate me for my lack of height and lack of insultive prowess.

My stance has always been 'Being an anonymous blogger doesn't give you the freedom to just talk anyhow even though you have a lot of freedom. You can read more about my opinion on this when I chose to burst some bloggers' bubbles here. Anonymity only gives a degree of freedom, and not infinite, so let's still be careful'

Really imagine? If we had to pay money for everything we said, won't we watch our words better, and say only things that are important and edifying? I try as much to watch my words, as I have no time for idle words. Try it, the positive effect in every part of your life would amaze you. #poetryofinstagram #poetsofinstagram #writersofinstagram #wordsbyatilola #instaquote #instapoet #talkischeap #idlewords

A photo posted by WordsByAtilola.com (@hattylolla001) on Oct 22, 2015 at 6:12am PDT

I think I would stop for now, and ask you. Are you non-anonymous blogger? If you were an anonymous blogger, what would you blog about, which you are not currently blogging about? Let us know in the comment section.Id

My Husband's name is... (Sisterhood of the World Bloggers)

Wow, I can’t remember when last I did a tag. I normally just dodge or hide. But Lola Oseni specifically called me out on this one, so I guess I have nowhere to run to. She nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers. And I am really honoured to be nominated. You can check out her blog here

Here are the rules
Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site;
Put the award logo on your blog;
Answer the ten questions sent to you;
Nominate five blogs;
Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.

Now, let’s see if I will rebel against some of these rules.

Done the first and second. Now to Lola’s ten questions

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I have so many, but I think it is indiscipline of any form. I just can’t stand undisciplined and unruly behaviour. Why jump queues or drive ‘smart’? Are the other people fools? Why go to an event or church, and not conduct yourself well? If the policy says don’t chew gum in the sanctuary, does it kill you as a teenager not to chew gum? Why step on the head of others to get ahead? As a civil servant, why keep people’s lives on hold just because they refused to bribe you?

2. What does your last text message say?
“SellerHQ by Konga: You have a new order: Order No:………”
But seriously, do people still send SMS these days? Only businesses do that.

3. Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and coke? Which do you prefer?
None. I don’t take soda, and try to avoid processed sugar as much as possible. Flat stomach is non-negotiable for me. Water is the way.

4. Make a confession about anything.
20 minutes later, I am still thinking of an answer to this question. I’m sorry but I have no confession to make, lol.

5. Name one item on your bucket list
My bucket.

6. If you were another person would you make friends with yourself?
I don’t think so, lol. I’m so different from everyone that it is mind-boggling. It is like the whole world goes south, and I just face north. And I can’t even be bothered, lol.

7. What is your secret weapon to lure the oppoiste sex, boyfriend, husband, potential?
If I reveal it, then it won’t be secret again, lol.

8. What do you want to know about the future?
Simple! My husband’s first name. It will reduce the suspence and work by 99.999%. Lol. The toasting will go like…

Toaster: Atilola, I want to marry you. I think you are the woman of my dreams.

Me: Is your name Iyanuoluwalandurode

Toaster: No.

Me: Sorry, you are not my husband because my husband's name is...

Case closed. No time wasting, or unnecessary prayer of “God, if this guy your will for me…”

9. What would you change about your experience in secondary school?
Kai. This one is hard o. Okay. I remember. I won’t have allowed a wicked senior force me into confessing to a theft I didn’t commit. You can read the whole story here.

10. Scary movies or happy endings?
Happy endings. The real world is already filled with a lot of scary things, and we need happy ending movies for some escape.

I nominate
Mobolaji Amusu
Berry Dakara
Okeoghene
Lifetitudes
Naija Single Girl

So for my questions to you, I want to believe my questions are very interesting, lol.
1. What is your biggest pet peeve?
2. Team Whatsapp or Team BBM?
3. Eat healthy, and watch what goes into your body? OR Life is too short, enjoy all the food while you can? Which of these two describes you best?
4. Make a confession about anything.
5. Do you think ladies with natural hair take the “team natural” thing too far?
6. Can you marry a man exactly like your father?
7. What is your opinion about premarital sex?
8. What supernatural power do you wish you had?
9. Tell us something you wish you hadn’t done in the past
10. Books or Movies?

The freedom of Anonymous Bloggers

When I set up my blogger account, and started blogging, I never knew there was anything like anonymous blogging. It wasn’t until I became active in blogsville that I noticed some bloggers had no identity. By then, it was already too late for me.

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I feel like anonymous bloggers are so fortunate. I like ranting and letting out through my blog, but the fact that I am not anonymous means there is a limit to what I can say. Everyone knows my blog, so I can’t afford to give people undue access into my personal life, just by reading my blog, a mistake I made a couple of years ago. I mean, I can meet a distant relation I have not seen or talked to in over 10 years saying, “there was this personal article you wrote two years ago, it really touched me.” Haa, wahala.

Being an open identity blogger means you have automatic monitoring spirits on your case. So you might need to go to MFM prayer city for monthly spiritual check. Exes, stalkers, enemies, frenemies, families, friends, and even your parents will be using your blog to keep tab on you.

That is how last week, I was frying egg. My mum saw me, and said “you have started eating egg?”
I looked at her with a bewildered face, saying “why won’t I eat egg? Isn’t egg healthy? I never stopped eating egg.”

Then she goes “Didn’t you write about how eggs were affecting you on your blog some time ago?”
“That’s because I overdosed on eggs, aargh!”

You see what I mean by monitoring spirits? A post of over two years ago! You can read it here.

This is the reason why I am baffled at anonymous bloggers like Naija Bachelor who are eager to come out of the closet. It’s as if they just want to give up all that freedom I envy for nothing. All they get is a month or so of blogsville hailing, and when the mystery fades and dusts settles, they might wish again that they were anonymous.

Note please. If you are anonymous, that doesn’t mean you should say all the nonsense in this world. There are so many anonymouses whose covers have been blown. I personally know a couple of anonymous bloggers because they considered me worthy enough to reveal themselves to me, in person. So we don’t want to read your escapades about how you regularly cheat on your wife or husband, or colourful details of how many married men you have slept with. That kind of thing usually comes back to bite in the butt. You can read more about that here.

As for those who call themselves semi-anonymous like Toinlicious and Cherrywine, una jus dey deceive yaselves. You are either anonymous or not. *ducks blows*

And lastly, for anonymous commenters who hide their identities just to spew insulting and hate comments on people’s blogs, well, if you are not a coward, why don’t you comment using your real identity. Remember that you will sow what you reap, even if you repent in blogsville church and become born again!

Life is a Woman Breaking Eggs

Hi people. Great things are happening on Blogsville o. I'm sure y'all know we have another publisher in our midst. Like play like play, we are birthing so many celebs. What did you guys expect, is it easy to blog consistently for years, if one wasn't intelligent?

It is none other than our own Adura Ojo of Naijalines. First, I must say a big congrats to her. She recently published her book, Life is a Woman Breaking Eggs. I got the opportunity to interview her, and it was quite interesting, albeit, short. Read on.

What inspired you to write this book?

I was at a point in my life’s journey where I wanted ‘useful luggage’ I could take forward. I work in mental health where you meet people at their lowest ebb. It puts life into perspective and as a result, one is thankful.

Summarize your book in a sentence

The life journal of a middle aged woman

Why do you think that this book will appeal to readers?

I wrote this collection for poetry lovers as well as non-poetry lovers. The simplicity of language should appeal to people who do not normally enjoy reading poetry. Poetry lovers would enjoy the depth of imagery and thematic structure.

What makes your book different from other books like it?

What is unique about this collection is its flexibility. Some poems are in narrative form. Some are theatrical – Poems like “The Broom”, “Nagging Area”, “This Land,“ Owu Rubutu”, “Sisi” and “African Queen” can be dramatized on stage or performed as spoken poetry. The poems are also fine in their own skin as just poems. They will work across a variety of forms. I would like to see the collection performed as a stage production. Many poets are increasingly doing this, particularly across Europe and the US. It’s a great way of the getting the reading public engaged in poetry again.

Is there a particular poem from your book you’d like share with readers?

I think your readers would enjoy this one, Atilola.

Owu Rubutu

Time to dance, Owu Rubutu
dance the dance of spirits old
grab your shoes, let’s dance
the dance of bata
hips so swell, beads to the beat
gladly hit feet bouncing in heat
dance in the light of darkness
like the deaf lady and her best kept script
rhythm of beads heard, unseen
black beads, red beads
feet and hips the way beads sway
dance for me, Owu Rubutu

What tips would you give other writers thinking of putting together a poetry collection?
• Try to write a poem a day. Let your poems ‘breathe.’
• Edit but don’t over-edit.
• Join a poetry group (online or community)
• Take part in poetry writing challenges to hone your craft
• Decide whether you want a publisher or want to self-publish. Research the pros and cons and make             your choice.
• Publish when you’re ready. Make sure you’re confident enough with your material to put your work
        out there.

What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a novel about an older woman and a younger man. I’m also working on my second poetry collection.

Where can readers find your book?
My book is available on Amazon. I’m working on getting it to other platforms including Nigerian platforms.

Thanks for the interview Adura.
It’s been a pleasure. Thanks for having me, Atilola.

Read a little bit about Adura below.

Adura Ojo is a British-Nigerian author, poet, blogger and a mother of two. She is the author of Life is a Woman Breaking Eggs, her debut poetry collection. She graduated in English Studies at the University of Ibadan. She later bagged degrees in Law and Social Work in the UK. She has professional experience in varied employment roles as lecturer, trainer and mental health practitioner. Her poems have been published in Sentinel Champions, Sentinel Nigeria, The Poetic Pinup Revue, and a number of websites. She lives in the UK where she is currently working on her debut novel and a second poetry collection.

Follow Adura Ojo:

‘Like’ her author page: https://www.facebook.com/aduraojoauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aduraojo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AduraOjo
Blogger: http://adura-ojo.blogspot.co.uk/

Blogger is exposing anonymous bloggers

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If you signed up for email notification, which almost every blogger does, due to convenience, this might concern you. Email notification is the service that allows you to receive comments dropped on your blog posts, in your email, so you don’t have to go to your blog to see new comments. Makes real sense, right?
Well, about a month ago, I realised that whenever I replied to someone’s comment on my blog, rather that deliver to my email, as an email notification, it would send a message saying the message couldn’t be delivered to the blogger, i.e. me, and add the blogger’s email address it was supposed to deliver to. But I never had issues when people dropped comments on my blog, I still received their comments in my email. I want to believe they were receiving the failure notification, since they were the ones dropping the comments, even though I was receiving their comments. And here is why.

Last week, I started receiving these failure notifications when I dropped comments on the posts of some bloggers. Not a big deal, right? Since they were seeing my comments. Well, not really! Remember the notification will tell you the exact email address it failed to deliver to. This means if you had used your personal email account to receive notifications, I can see your email address.

So there’s this anonymous blogger whose blog I dropped a comment on, and I saw her real name included in the email notification failure. The good thing is, she is actually my friend in real life, as many bloggers have come to be, so I know her real name, but what of other bloggers that did not know her?

Let us take Cherrywine for example. Her real name is Chika Eze, she has real life friends on blogger, who are also anonymous, but they don’t know her particular blog, and she doesn’t know theirs. They drop a comment on her blog, and suddenly they receive a notification that their comment couldn’t be delivered to chikaeze@yahoo.com. Then they go “wow, so Chika is cherrywine.” All your years of anonymity gone, just like that, poof! And if you are a scandalous blogger who likes forming holy in real life, you will gaaaannn explain to your pastor why you like sleeping with married men for money.

So where am I going with this? If you are an anonymous blogger, you are not so anonymous at the moment. The solution is to either sign off the email notification service, or change the email with which you receive comments to something completely vague like youshouldmindyourbusiness@yahoo.com, but you will have to create such a vague email address sha. That way, no one will know your real name, when they get the failure notification.

As for me, I have nothing to worry about since I am not anonymous. I just did my own bit, since most of you already see me as the blogger police, lol. I gotta protect the lives and properties of my fellow blogsville community members.

Five things I learnt from hanging out with Berry and Cakes

Before reading this post, if you haven't voted for me, please, take about 20 seconds to vote for African Naturalistas hair products for the youth entrepreneurship competition. It requires just one click. Pleeeaaaaasssee. Thank you in advance. Click here to vote now, and come back to continue reading the post after.

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Okay, as you guys know, I like Berry cos I feel she is down to earth, open, free, and fun to be with. I was not really sure about Cakes, even though he has sent me free cake in the past. I had only met him twice, when Berry brought him to one Natural Hair meet up, not long after they started dating (I just said hi, cos I didn’t know he was her BF then), and at their wedding. So, I had never really had the opportunity to talk to him.

I was supposed to meet up with Berry at Nike Art Gallery on May 24, after I was done with my teens. When she said she brought Cakes, I was fearing internally cos I pictured Berry being all happy and fun, while Cakes facial expression will be like “Lady, why are you here? Don’t you know three is a crowd?” But since my appointment was with Berry, I dragged myself to the venue.

Let me just say by the time I was done with Berry and Cakes, I was blown away. So what did I learn from this amazing couple?

Don’t be insecure

You know that thing where you are talking to your friend, either male or female, and their spouse comes, and you start changing the topic? There was nothing like that. Most of the time, the whole thing went like this. Berry introduces a controversial subject with Cakes, they argue, argue, argue, I look dumbfounded as each of them tries to convince me that he/she is the right person, Berry stands up, starts roaming about to God-knows-where, while Cakes gists with me for so long, in the line of the topic, Berry comes back, and tells me not to mind him, and then leaves again to roam about, Cakes continues… and I think this happened like thrice. I did not see any shred of insecurity in Berry, and Cakes did not have the three-is-a-crowd look I expected. It was the exact opposite. If I did not know better, I would have said he even planned for me to be there.

Be your spouse's best friend

The strong friendship between this couple is just so apparent. No one needs to tell you, and I think that’s what makes their whole union interesting. They laugh, argue, banter like kids, it’s just so great to watch them in their elements. There’s no such way anyone can put up that kind of front, no matter how good an actor you are. They told me they fight, though I did not see them fight, and gisted me about an occasion. They argue… mostly about relationships, lol. How both of them ended up at the venue is another story. Let’s just say they are full of drama.

Don't be fooled. Berry is not taller than me. I was wearing
the only pair of flat sandals I have, while she cheated.

It is cool to be down to earth

You think Berry is fun and down to earth? Then you should meet Cakes. He is very open, and obviously deals with people with an open mind. I mean, right in front of me, this guy told someone on the phone where he was without even knowing the person he was talking to at first. I learnt a lot about him, his past struggles, business, relationships, family, etc., all the time when Berry left me to babysit her husband, while she was roaming about exploring artwork. The kind of attitude they display obviously draws people towards them, and is an amazing combination.

You just need a good example

Many people complain about marriage, its burden and all. After hanging out with Berry and Cakes, I told them the truth, which is that ‘They are such an amazing couple, and hanging out with them just makes you want to get married.’ I told them I like them, and that is when they started talking about their ‘serious fights’. My prayer for them is that they just maintain whatever they are doing to make their marriage great, and they will surely see it through to the end. So whenever you are doubting the whole marriage institution, just get a good example to inspire you, whether younger couples like Berry and Cakes, or older ones that have weathered storms together.

I repeat. Berry is not taller than me. I was
wearing the same pair of sandals. She made
everyone wear flats, while she wore
something high 

Don’t overindulge

I was so intoxicated with the whole Berry and Cakes combination that when they said we should go from Lekki to coldstone at the palms, I should have said no, but they tempted me, and I couldn’t resist the temptation. I had a truckload of work waiting for me at home. In fact, Cakes insisted that I watch an 8.50pm movie with them, and I have to sit in-between them. I respectfully declined. I did not want couples holding hands behind my back, with me in the middle, or worse, arguing over my head, because that was bound to happen. Cakes rejected my refusal, but Berry saved me from his hands. In the end, we went to coldstone, and we had ice cream… just Cakes and I, while we left Berry to eat the breeze blowing, lol. I knew I shouldn’t have gone with them there, but I just couldn’t resist them. They are just such a great couple. I had a series of Spoken Word ministrations at a Redeemed church the next day. In fact, it was extremely important, because the whole church service was built around my Spoken Word ministrations. I got home that night, and I couldn’t rehearse one bit. Thankfully, I had rehearsed well before that day. If not, ehn, overindulging in Berry and Cakes would have just destroyed my ministry. All my work was therefore moved to Sunday also, and my whole week suffered just because of the enormous work load caused by that simple shift.

They were so great that the only thing left for me was to go and sleep in their house, which they actually suggested jokingly, lol, but the love for my bed was just too strong for me to betray it.

At the end of the day, by 9.00pm, I hugged the couple, left them to go and watch their movie, while I left, exhausted.

Just look at everyone's feet. You see I wasn't lying
when I said she made everyone wear flats? Who
does that on their wedding day?

What Nigerian Bloggers should do in 2014

Happy new year to you all. I pray 2014 is a far better year for all of us, not matter how 2013 was. I read 34 books in 2013. If I stuck to my 1 hour reading per day rule, I would have done better. Sometimes, I was too busy, and many times, I was lazy. Hopefully, this year will be better

I am actually writing this post as a result of a comment I gave in the wrap up of the guess the blogger series a month ago, and MsJB's post.

I feel I sound like a broken record any time I say I love Blogsville. I really do. Nigerian Blogsville has turned my life around 360 degrees. My life would not be what it is now if not for it, and that is not an exxageration. Every single business I run now (4 of them) is actually as actally as a result of Blogsville, so it is not like I am just trying to be sentimental here. I am very grateful for everyone I have met here. I was with Cherrywine some nights ago, and she was like all these Blogsville people, even though one has never met them, they are sooo real, a real part of your world.

This is why sometime in the middle of this year, when about 80% of the bloggers were not blogging, I was really bothered. It was like a ripple effect. Some bloggers paused on blogging, and then some, and the some more, and before we knew it, Blogsville was so dry. At first, I just felt people were going through stuffs in their personal life, and blogging just had to take a back seat. What now pained me most was that, when some bloggers finally came after weeks or months to blog, they only blogged about how people were no more blogging, and how Blogsville was not fun, and now dry. And then, they disappeared again.

Let me just confess, I was pissed. How can somebody complain that people are no more blogging and blogsville is dry when they are the number 1 culprits of what they were complaining about. I remember I always commenting that 'if we don't make it fun, who will make it fun for us?' Some people said they were just not blogging cos of the blog trolls that were up and about then, but I said we have to take our community back from them. Abi, where are they now? Gone with the wind! Dem no dey last. 

I know I was blogging all through the season of blog drought, but the truth is that no matter how much I blog,  or how fun and refreshing my posts were, I was just a drop in the ocean. I alone could never make blogsville fun. Mehn, if blogs could haemorrhage, this blog would have bled to death then. So that is why when the Guess the Blogger series idea came to me, I was really excited. I felt it would make people come alive again, and if they come alive, then they can be more motivated to start blogging again. Well, I feel the series made people come alive sha.

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So what will we do? In my own opinion, I think let's just try to blog at least once a month in 2014. 12 times a year is not too tasking o, if we really think about it. Let's not leave blogging to the commercial bloggers alone. Abeg people of Blogsville, let's just try. We can do this. You can join MsJB's challenge to make it easier for you to achieve this. Let's make 2014 fun, and let's uplift one another. By God's grace, it will be a good year for us all.

All hail the King of Nigerian Blogsville

If you said the answer to my last week's blogger was Vera, I would say 'Really?' If there's a famous blogger whose blog I have never visited, then it is Vera. cos I always hear her name everyone, but we are not yet Bloygfriends. Anyway, if you said the answer is Beautiful, then you would be right. She is not only a gister on her blog, but in real life. Kai, she can gist. And me... I enjoy talking to her every single time. She is very down to earth with me. She is also a cheat o,  cos she kept pressuring me to give her the expo to the answer of several Guess the Blogger series, because according to her, I am a Nigerian, and can be fraudulent if I want to be. She said I should tell you all that she's sweet, so here I am telling you... Beautiful is sweet. *ducks flying chair*

So congrats to Tamie once again, You have officially made yourself an enemy to 1 + the one, lol.

Moving on, it my pleasure to officially announce the end of this series to you all. Are you all crying? Lol. I'm sure many people are secretly rejoicing. Now to my vote of thanks.

I thank Madam Ginger for hosting me for 2 days. It was my visit to her village in Milton Keynes that made me think up this idea.

I thank every one who participated by reading, commenting, complaining, threatening, participating in whatever way they could.

I want to make mention of all the bloggers featured in this series. Gee of Everything Weddings and More, Ginger, Aloted, Ibifiri, Berry, Sugarspring, Tomi Akibo, Beautiful, Madam Salt, Unyime-Ivy King, Michael Onobote, Gbenga of Geebee Chronicles, PET Projects, Rita of Ero Inspirations, Cherrywine, Sisi Yemmie, Dayor, Doll, and Olatoxic. Thanks for being great pals I can put a face to. If I have met you before, and I did not feature you, please pardon me. It was not intentional. I actually have a place where I record blogger's names after I meet them. The only bloggers I've met, and did not feature are Olufunke and Shally, cos I knew no one would know them.

I want to send a beautiful shout out to all these committed students of blogsville.

1. Beautiful, who participated once in a while, but gave up because she never got the answer, and I refused to give her expo on BBM. She is beefing me till now.

2. To people who took part once in a while, like Myne, Naija wife, MsJB, NikkiSho.

3. Priscy, 1 + The One, and Sykik, who kept persisting time and time again. They were consistent all through, even though they did not get any on time. That quality will get you guys very far in life. Take it from me.

4. One-time winners: Atoskin, Myne, Tomi Akibo, the OOhj, Doll

5. Two-time winners: HoneyDame

6. Three-time winners: Sugarspring, who won with three different profiles. Na wa o.

7. Four-time winner. Former champion Toin, who along the way, dropped the ball, and let the blogsville underdog overtake her.

7. All hail the one and only champion, our five-time winner. The Agbalagbi Agbalagba of Blogsville. We throway salute to you Madam Tamie. You were the underdog, whom no one expected to come from behind, and sweep it all up in a go, dusting reigning champions like Toin, Sugarspring, and Honeydame. May your reign as champion be fruitful ooo. Here is a crown and Irukere for you, as a symbol of your reign. We remain your loyal subject.

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So that's it. We call it a wrap for now. I will be doing this series once in a while, if I meet any new blogger.

What next will be happening on this blog? Well, only time will tell.

P.S: I hooked up with Cherrywine last week. Mehn, it was so nice to be with her again. Of course, we gisted and gisted. This is just the usual when Atilola hooks Cherry. Lol. Than's how it would be written if two of us were to get married. She spoilt me with Fish and Chips at the Grill centre. Toinlicious and Honeydame, I hope your envy metre is springing out of control? Lol.

Things are happening

Na wa o. Things are happening in this Guess the Blogger series o. I don't understand why Toinlicious will let all her hard work just go down the drain like that. She just became so relaxed with her champion status, and now Tamie has finally caught up with her. So unfortunate sha.

So I guess we all know who the winner of last week's edition is. Tamie. I will send your gift to you once again. Unyime-Ivy King is the blogger in question. Sorry, I don't have a picture of us together. Na familiarity cause am. We see each other a lot, so I actually never thought of taking a picture with her.

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So unto this week's blogger,

1. In my opinion, this blogger is just a spoilt person jare. She expects everyone to be loving her up, but I have blatantly refused to, lol. She is suffering from last-born syndrome, and I intend to cure her from it.

2. This blogger can giiiissssstttt, kai. She just like to gist about one thing or the other that happened, on her blog. It is quite fun to read all the gist sha.

3. You need another clue? By now you should know this blogger jo. Okay, this blogger is heavily endowed. *clears throat, and picks race*

Guess who.

Contrary to what you might think...

Hi Everyone. I want to officially thank everyone that has been part of this series since it started. You all made it fun. Thanks for spicing it up, and not running away.

This sounds like a message to end the series, abi? Well, sorry, we have not yet come to the end, lol. I just wanted to appreciate you all. To think that we started this in August, and this is November, and it has not ended. Meehhhnnn, me sef, I throway salute for myself. I have met bloggers mehhn.

So onto last week's blogger, the answer is not Sting. I can count how many times she has dropped comments on this blog, on one hand, and still have fingers left. So she couldn't have been on the forefront of that particular series.

The blogger is none other than Ola-toxic. Actually, we have been friends for a very long time, over 10 years now. We practically rolled together in the same group all through our days at Unilag, cos we danced together, we attended fellowship together, prayed together by 5.00 am in the morning, rehearsed all night together, etc, you get the picture. I am sure if I dig into old archives, I have a picture of both of us somewhere, but this is what I can whip up for now. Unfortunately, they are group pictures taken at two different occasions, two years ago (and no we didn't graduate two years ago, lol).

Tokunbo on the extreme left. I was literally pinched to appear in this picture

Many years after graduation, they refused to hang their dancing shoes

Tokunbo at the back, with the face cap. Me in the pink dress. I am sure you all did not think I could be playful, right?
Well, contrary to what you might think...

Congrats to Sugarspring. She is now in a very hot competition with Tamie and our champion, Toinlicious. Unpredictable things are happening in this series. It's about to go down.

So onto this week's blogger. 

1. This blogger recently moved to the other clan. She confided in me last week, that she is thinking of moving back. Well, I think the word 'confide' doesn't apply anymore.

2. I attend the same church with this blogger.

3. This blogger has recently released her book.

So guess who.

Will our champion be dethroned?

My my, people of blogsville, just fix your eyes on the race track. For a very long time, Toinlicious the athlete with an eye for detail gave many people in this race a wide gap, reminding us why Usain Bolt still remains unbeatable. But now, as we near the finish line, some other athlete is giving Toinlicious a run for her money. Who can that be? None other than Tamie, the blogger that refused to leave Blogsville, even though she claims to have retired. Just behind Tamie is HoneyDame, who is pulling her weight, but no where near Toinlicious. Everyone, look at Toinlicious, she seems to be running short of breath. Do you think Tamie will surprise us by overtaking her before this race ends, or will she up her game, and once again remind us why she has been dubbed the unbeatable champion in this race? Well, only time will tell. In the mean time, let's keep our eyes on the race track.

Lool. I hope you guys enjoyed my race commentary. I won't mind being hired to comment at the next Olympics track and field event o. So yes, Tamie is now a third time winner. The answer to last week's edition is Sugarspring. If there is a blogger that is anonymous, it is Sugarspring. She is so anonymous, that even anonymous bloggers call her anonymous, if you get what I mean. She hates putting her face to anything. She is so anonymous, that she has been a winner twice on this series, and no one is even aware. Talk about ghosts, lol.

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So onto this week's blogger

1. I initiated an interesting blogger series where people started wearing boxing glove, and threw lighthearted  punches. Let's just say this blogger was the forefront of one of the factions

2. This blogger's name reminds you of something poisonous

3. You might need to cross to the other side to find this blogger's blog, if you know what I mean.

Don't be fooled by what you see.

Why Nikkisho? Why? Why? Why? For goodness sake. Remember when this series started, I said we would need to be guided by details bloggers post on their blog.

Nikkisho stays in Philippines, last time we checked, and I don't think she ever announced that she was coming to Nigeria. So unless you blogsville people paid for my trip there, I don't see how that would have been possible.

Thinking about it now, I realise that the clues could be argued to fit more than one blogger. But again, if you really think about it, which blogger looks like a baby. Nikkisho is cute, but does she look like a baby? Hmm. Well, Tomi Akibo, that's who. She has a very cute and baby like face. Don't be fooled by the lipstick and the shaped eyebrow in the pictures below. In fact, don't be fooled by the picture at all. You should see her in person.

So congrats to Toinlicious. She is now a 4-time champion on our Guess the Blogger series. Let me know what you want me to do with your gift, since you have decided to give away your giveaway, lol.

Onto this week's blogger.

1. This blogger should now be given the award for the number one lazy blogger of the year.
2. This blogger's name should remind you of something sweet and refreshingly moisturising.
3. This blogger is a religious blogger.

So guess who.