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Peace Habila Wins N100k For The #ValentineContest 

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The brain is very good at finding reasons not to attempt. But if you don’t attempt you will neither fail nor succeed. Yet failure is an integral part of success. ~ Cmoni The winner of our #ValentineContest emerged with 6 nominations but I would like you to read my commentary first. Let me begin by saying that I’m enjoying our sessions more and I’m sure you may be wondering why this is so. I will tell you. Following Seth Godin has been transformative in many ways. I don’t miss his weekly Akimbo podcasts. Please follow this him and thank me later. Godin made me realise that plurality is a myth.  You don’t need the numbers to be good at what you do. All you need is the smallest viable audience and the determination to show up consistently for them, and yourself too. Yes, when you teach, you learn. This is why I enjoy a session with 2 attendees as much as I do with a dozen people. Of course, I know about the saying “the more the merrier” but sailors also say “the fewer on board the larger the loot”. In any case, what I’m saying is that like fine wine, we are progressing fine! I intend to hold at least 12 sessions/contests this year. But not without your support. It can be 24, 36 or more but at the very minimum, we should have 12. Ok, let’s dive in. Do you know the origin of the word essay? You can look up the etymology on Google. Essay derives from the French word essai. It means trial or attempt. An essayist attempts. We try to convey our thoughts, ideas, and opinions as the case may be. Of course, not every story can be described as an essay but even your best fiction or poem reflects your thoughts..or at least some of it. Now it’s sad to see that some works didn’t qualify for this contest because they didn’t fully comply with the instructions. Some didn’t meet the word count or deadline while others were either not published on a platform or included digital products from other sources. I encourage you to learn from this unsuccessful attempt. That is the essence of what we are doing. Learning from attempts, both the successful and unsuccessful ones, and building on the lessons learned. However, it’s important to emphasize this; Writers should be able to comprehend and follow instructions or at least seek clarification.  One of my lecturers, Prof Igbigbi used to say that understanding or misunderstanding the question is part of the exam. In the first case, you will pass if you know the answer. If you don’t have the answer you can say what you understood by the question and earn some marks. (Medical students can relate) But once you misunderstand the question, you have already started failing. So always read, understand, and comply with the instructions. Seek clarification when you think it’s ambiguous or confusing. Furthermore, we need to allocate adequate time to tasks, or else we rush through and commit avoidable errors. For instance, I was planning a joint project with a friend. and we were to launch this 1st quarter of the year. Well, I did some reflection and realised I was moving too fast. I work 30+hrs/week. I am committed to work-related training until March 29th. I’m also writing a book in a year. I remotely run 2 businesses. I have an ongoing building project. I administer 3 platforms including this one. If you add regular chores like school runs, walks, gym, etc..whew! I considered all I had on my table and realised how tough it would be to add more. Thus, I suggested that we use the first quarter of 2024 to fully conceptualise the project, particularly the revenue profile, before launching. So consider all your engagements and allow adequate time to achieve tasks. I wrote about this here. Don’t postpone until the last day because you will make mistakes. I have also repeatedly advised writers to use editing apps like Grammarly to correct grammatical errors. At our level, it is disappointing to see works dotted with countless red marks. As an editor your first reaction is to trash such drafts and I do that all the time. I only edit drafts with few pardonable errors. Again we also agreed to get our domains on platforms like Medium, LinkedIn, substack etc It is for our good. If you don’t get published elsewhere at least you can do that yourself. And in doing this you will learn more about publishing online. You will learn to hyperlink texts, embed images and videos and other skills that enrich your work. Now let me tell you this. I get a lot of joy from reading my old stories because they remind me of my progress as a writer. Improve your social media presence. And by this, I don’t mean scrolling and chatting away your time. Be productive, engage and follow those who post about your interests. My stories titled Digital Holy Grail did justice to this point. Moreover, it is a great way to build your platform as a writer. This counselling may sound elementary, but it’s worth repeating because we are never too big for small errors. The craft can be simple but not necessarily easy and we know this because we chose it. As I said previously I’m committed to this journey and I urge everyone to put in the extra effort. It is simpler when we navigate together. Recall that at the end of last year, we agreed to reward excellence. It is a step forward after a period of paying out tokens of encouragement to many. This is the right path for many reasons among which are these 3. We have passed the beginners stage. Yes, we are writing a book in a year and will also pass that stage soon enough. (More on this later) In addition to writing, we are learning other skills like publishing,

Blog, Diaspora Diary., FEATURES

Diaspora Diary: To Be A Man…

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Family is not an important thing. It’s everything. ~ Michael J. Fox As a growing kid, my dad always gave me pep talks on how to become a responsible and successful man. More than once he ended the talks with one line; “Ayichaa ka ara fhulu ulo, ayia ka ara fhulu ogalanya”. It means that friendship will be according to age as you grow but it will later be determined by success. The lucidity of this statement wasn’t exactly grasped by my juvenile mind then but it is a line that nevertheless remained engraved in my subconscious. As a young adult thrust into the hectic terrain of the Nigerian oil business when I lost my dad at 21, I mostly related with older men who had years of business experience. The wisdom I gained is invaluable. In Lagos, I had a boss who wasn’t much older even though he was almost at the peak of his career then. I would visit him in the office and we’d chat about business, life and politics. On this particular day, I was going home from work and decided to pop in. He was staring out of the window overlooking the sprawling and ever-busy Victoria Island Lagos. After the usual pleasantries, we got talking and at one point he said, “I wish I could fly over this traffic to the welcoming embrace of my loving family”. I could feel him. Lagos traffic can be debilitating. With a wry smile, I told him to be calm since he just left them in the morning. He said “Well, my wife just left here a few hours ago”…and continued about how much he would have loved to have his family around him at work, at home and everywhere. I can’t be too sure now but I think I said he can imagine my situation. He’s aware that my family lives in Ireland. As we talked about family and the joy they bring he asked a question that triggered what I now consider a life-changing introspection. “ When last did you see your family Cmoni?” I replied that I couldn’t be exact but that it’s been at least 3 months. Then he asked another question I would remember for the rest of my life. “How do you cope?” Initially, the question didn’t sound too weighty because I smiled and said I speak with my family daily. Moreover, I visit regularly too. Sometimes twice, thrice a year and when I can’t bring them home for Christmas I rarely spend it without them. With a resigned look he told me he couldn’t possibly cope in my shoes. As I drove home that night I thought about our chat. Here is a man who is at the very top who could have anything, nice clothes, fancy cars and so on. He goes on vacation to the best spots yet his top priority isn’t money. It is his family. I remembered my father’s pep talks. Can I possibly claim to be responsible and successful if I don’t actively and fully play my role as a father? Yet living abroad was not my immediate or future consideration. I could move my family back home of course. After all, the initial plan was to give our child a second citizenship. My wife only stayed back because she was offered a path to naturalisation. On second thought the benefits of having European citizenship surpassed those of living in Nigeria. When a friend asked me what would put food on the table after I informed him about my plans. I replied that I would be visiting every quarter to oversee my businesses. He said, “Cmoni it is time to build”. Again, I thought about this statement hard and long. Relocation could trigger a mid-life crisis for me. I mean who would effectively run my businesses? What would I be doing abroad? 9–5 wasn’t an option because I needed some flexibility to travel often. However, I was relieved after some research. I realised that significant changes and accomplishments made early in life can prevent a mid-life crisis. In Igboland, your foremost responsibility as a man is to your family. The resources you should deploy to provide for them go beyond money. To provide counsel, affection and protection you must devote your TIME. Following all the musings I concluded that for now, ‘building my family’ was more important than ‘building my business empire’. The reason for this is simple. You can always build an empire at any time but if you miss parenting and the bonding that a single roof provides especially during your kids’ teenage years, you can never recover it. Hard decisions are often the best. So, on the 15th of January 2015, I relocated. For a man who, barring a few years in the UK, had lived his entire adult life doing business in Nigeria, it was indeed life-changing. All the same, my family was already well settled in Ireland. And with my versatility, I could easily adapt anywhere. I had things planned, or so I thought… Yet, it is one of my best decisions. If you enjoyed this please share it. You can also hit the follow button and join our cmonionline community of digital creatives let’s grow together. Thanks for reading.

Blog, Lifestyle, News, Writers

The Winner Of N100k For The 21-Day Challenge Is…..

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Becky Peleowo! We had a peer review to select the winner of our creative assignment for the 21-day challenge on 7/01/2024 with the following criteria. i. No self-nomination ii. Nominate 2 ONLY and explain why they deserve the prize. iii. A tie will be broken by the publisher. After the contributions and nominations by some members of the community, Becky Peleowo and Victor Oladejo tied at 3 nominations each. Immigrants of the Turbulent Waters is a thought-provoking project that demonstrates Becky’s versatility as well as a testament to her progress in creating rich media content. Dear Netizens embodies Victor’s talent as a creative and its captivating cover image shows that our mantra of stacking up digital skills has been embraced by this young writer. As we agreed, the community will strive to reward the best works instead of paying out tokens to encourage everyone. Hopefully, we will start rewarding our intellect with millions of naira soon enough. To break the tie I considered participation and other factors but I will summarise my assessment by paraphrasing the honest appraisal of one of us. “Becky — I noticed that she attended the pre-21-day challenge meetings on Sundays and this helped her in chronicling her work. From her work, she worked on a vocalised poem and attended a skill acquisition which is a testament to her judicious use of time”  “Victor —  I like the fact that he listened to the advice to reduce his unproductive time on Twitter and created a work on Netizens. Hopefully, his next digital project will involve more forms of media production” The projects by Solomon Ekoja and Oluwaseun Osanyinro were equally good. We can be proud that our writers can now create multimedia content. It shows we have come of age. The baby step taken in 2020 has developed into adult strides that will eventually become giant leaps. The 21-day challenge will be a recurring fixture because it will form part of a digital product I’m developing. As we already know, the best part of our journey together is yet to come. By the end of January, we will meet again to chart the path for 2024 starting with our Book In A Year challenge which commenced in June 2023. I thank everyone for their support especially those who participated in this challenge. I’m fulfilled that we learned a thing or two. I also use this opportunity to appeal for more participation from our community. Happy New Year!

Blog, Lifestyle

Creative Assignment: For The 21 Day Challenge And N100k

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The 21-Day Challenge will form part of a product I’m developing for digital natives who wish to improve their online productivity. So it is proper to finish up with an assignment that reflects the learning outcome.  For the N100k cash prize, draw from your journal and create a digital product of your choice. Then write a commentary explaining; 1. Why you chose the product and the method/approach used to create it. 2. What you learned in 21 days and areas that could be improved. The word count is (750 )± 10%, preferably in Google Docs. Submit via email to admin@cmonionline.com on or before Wednesday 20/12/2023 at 11:59 pm.

Blog, Lifestyle

Your pathway to online productivity.: Disappear For 21 Days.

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Week 1: Welcome to our first meeting. I’m a stickler for punctuality but I usually give 10 minutes because we all know the frustrations with Nigerian networks. So after 10 minutes, we started with Becky Peleowo and Solomon Ekoja. The attendance was good enough for me to unpack my points without any feeling of disappointment. I’m experienced enough to know that doubts often follow disappointments. It is even more so in the early stages. Your response should be to hang in there with self-belief because you are creating value to build something bigger than yourself. The disappointment and doubts will eventually form an interesting part of your success story. So I thanked them for accepting the challenge and turning up. Now let’s dive in. I’m excited about this self-development step of having better control of your time. If you have been following my writing, you will know I’m interested in skills capabilities development with writing as the crucible. I develop compelling content including but not limited to articles that not only inform but also provoke thought and discourse. It’s a burgeoning passion fueled by the desire to give back to society. Before now, I wrote sociopolitical commentaries mostly on Facebook — arguably a complete waste of time. I could write multiple posts daily. It’s easy. I introduce the topic, smack down opposing views, then present my take and conclude. That’s it. Post done and arguments ensue! But if I have to be published in a newspaper — perhaps a worthwhile venture —  I take my time to research the topic, review the background, argue for and against it, and analyse the different perspectives before concluding with my opinion/suggestions. It’s a skill I learned in my Cardiff days studying Political Communication. It’s also a better way of articulating my thoughts in a more comprehensible manner. However, I decided to move on to scalable writing, investing my resources in building digital communities for knowledge acquisition that will enhance the productivity of our teeming youths. I no longer fall for cheap dopamine and the vacuous validation of uncritical minds. Now I derive real enduring pleasure in reading stories from writers in our growing community, in seeing their enthusiasm as we chat during Talkshops and in the vision I have for younger people to be more productive by creating solutions that add value. The cmonionline essay competition was a baby step I took during the pandemic lockdown of 2020 to improve the waning literary culture in Nigeria. Through repetitions and iterations, we developed consistency in writing and we keep growing. Already a member of our community Oluwaseun Osanyinro has published a book and more members will evolve into published authors at the end of our current “A Book In A Year” project.  We are also evolving into digital creators, educators and multiple solution providers as we acquire practicable digital skills through various e-tivities. It’s a process, and even though progress may appear slow now, I am certain the tune will be different sooner than later. By embarking on this journey we will reduce the distractions in a fast-paced world and increase our focus which of course is essential for improved productivity. During our meeting, I narrated my Facebook story which informed this challenge. I also shared my experience with Communities Of Practice, a module in my post-graduate studies at UCC which exposed me to the importance of group work and collaboration. Future write-ups will have these stories but for now, let’s focus on what we can start doing. Much of what we have to do in 21 days is in the text you read. In between we will meet thrice to discuss and learn on Sundays 19/11/2023, 26/11/2023 & 03/12/2023. If you haven’t read the post please find time to read it here. Let me repeat number 6 which will form the basis of the final creative project that will win the 100k prize. Journal: Finally, get a notepad/diary, traditional or digital and write down your daily routine/experience. As hard as it may seem, endeavour to write some words each morning. 100, 200 or more words will do as the following 3 weeks may well prove to be a turning point. And what better way to appreciate it than to record it for possible systemisation, productisation and monetisation! ACTIONABLE TIPS: You can start doing any or all of the following that require zero capital. 1. Create a routine if you don’t have one already. If your routine is based on your current job you need to modify it to integrate your aspirations. Don’t spend all your time working to achieve another person’s goal. 2. Start sanitising your social media TL Follow those who post value and your interests. Interact, engage. Social media is a mirror that works on algorithms. Your input determines your output. I follow and unfollow people daily. If you constantly tweet values like writing and other skills I’ll follow you. If you repeatedly tweet frivolities like betting and porn I will unfollow you. Read this post to understand more. 3. Use a reminder to think twice before you act online. eg I have a stop sign as my screensaver. It reminds me to stop engaging in frivolities when I pick up my phone. 4. Start creating online. I’ve written about this here. The creator economy is huge and guess what? It requires zero capital to start. You only need digital skills. There are tons of free and affordable knowledge tutors to learn from. Podcasts, YouTube videos, courses etc. 5. Use tools that aid your consistency. eg I use Buffer to schedule my posts every Sunday. If I’m driving or sleeping my scheduled posts are uploaded. You can start with free versions of these tools till you feel the need to upgrade. 6. Start learning a new skill or something. As you would expect I recommend writing ie if you are not writing already. But there are many other skills, especially digital skills to learn for free. Email and social media marketing, graphic design, copywriting, public

Blog, FEATURES, Lifestyle

Success Journey XXV: Digital Holy Grail 

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Make friends over the internet with people who are great at things you’re interested in. The internet is one of the biggest advantages you have over prior generations. Leverage it.~ Patrick Collison Follow People Who Inspire You. In September 2022 after several Facebook restrictions, I decided to quit the platform since I’m not one to be gagged. I need my freedom to write and say whatever I want. Moreover, Facebook banter consumed a lot of my online time and I figured it should be channelled to more productive areas. By then I had built quite a sizeable audience there with a community of many real-life friends that I enjoyed chatting with, but every beginning must have an end because change is constant. I had to challenge myself on what has become an addiction and I also needed to build elsewhere (on Twitter) for reasons I stated earlier here. I did quit. But that was till Messi lifted the World Cup in December. Having jumped back in, I had to stay on for the 2023 presidential election campaigns. But in January I decided to leave once the campaign was over. At least till I establish a stable source of income in Euros so that when and if I return, I’ll be in better control of my activities there. There’s definitely no way I’ll spend income-earning time on social media. Long story short I quit again. My last post was on 31st March 2023. And while I still engaged on Twitter, the lengthy political back and forth was largely absent because I had little personal relationship with most of my followers on the app. It was there I came across @Dankoe and others who have helped shape my writing and productivity. To be clear, there is absolutely no rocket science in what these guys tweet. But what attracted me to Koe particularly was his unique style of point-blank, almost narcissistic manner of lacing valuable philosophical and productive words together. He’s a man on a mission and really worth following. I set my Twitter notification for ALL his tweets, started reading his newsletters and gulped down every episode of his podcast. Now if I close my eyes and you read out his tweet I will tell you it’s Dan Koe. The one thing you can do is to follow those that inspire you. It’s not necessarily about what products or services they have to offer. Actually, some of them have no service or product to sell to you. Their products/services are those inspirational words/actions they offer for free. For instance, I haven’t paid for any of Dan Koe’s courses. Why? Because I know what to do but haven’t been consistent in doing it till NOW. It will be different for a beginner though. I mean I have over 2 decades of experience in business. Many of his concepts are not new to me. But I hear him now and the next thing I’m off to the gym to condition my body and empty my mind. Or I read his tweet and one line hits. I’ll go back to a story draft that resonates with the line to develop it further just like I’m doing right now. Don’t follow people because the digital platform allows them to give themselves the title “influencer”. A lot of them are influencing rubbish! Follow those who truly inspire you with the value they dish out regularly. It doesn’t matter whether or not they follow you back. If your messages start resonating with them, they will reciprocate. The journey toward improved productivity begins with writing, which is why our writing community was birthed in 2020. So in appreciation of the camaraderie and support, we have received so far I want to put these 3 points on marble to serve as your Holy Grail. Get your own domain. I have repeatedly said this and it gets easier each day. There are loads of alternatives to Medium like Substack, LinkedIn, Quora, etc. Curate your work and start building your platform. Write! Just do it! Don’t wait till there is a reward or competition. Reward yourself and inspire others by writing regularly. Stop worrying about the audience because you can’t have one without consistency. But if you write regularly, the audience will surely come. Share and engage. Sharing is caring they say and the icing is engagement. Learn and grow by supporting each other. Share ideas, resources, and publications. Engage each other and take advantage of this community. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It is necessary to repeat this here; “Make friends over the internet with people who are great at things you’re interested in. The internet is one of the biggest advantages you have over prior generations. Leverage it.” You should see your online community as a team. The main characteristic of a team is that they are driven by a common interest/goal thus everyone has each other’s back. If there is a need for a volunteer, all hands should be raised. If we have no competition we should have 3..4..5 publications weekly from writers. If no one is leading 3..4..5 others should lead. Don’t believe the other person should do it when you can and should do it. It’s always easier when we support each other and activities in a community of practice are periodic so why shouldn’t you volunteer? Take a conscious decision to set and work towards targets. The worst gatekeeper is your monkey mind You can spend an hour worrying about a task that will take a minute to complete. Make an effort instead. Reduce overthinking and start acting! I’ll leave you with two seminal quotes. Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve. ~ Charlie Munger If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together. ~ Ratan Tata If you enjoyed this, please share it

Blog, Diaspora Diary.

Diaspora Diary: Why You Should Emigrate.

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We are not going to make progress. We are not going to develop. We will not be secure. We will remain poor. These are not curses. They are the most highly probable consequences of our social paradigms. Almost mathematically certain. No amount of prayers will stop this. ~Ayo Sogunro Before I write the 2nd instalment of American Wonder please permit me to do this important piece cum pitch. I know I shouldn’t be writing about politics in our Diaspora Diary, but let’s conveniently categorise this as a sociopolitical topic. The above quote from Dr Ayo Sogunro was part of his reaction to the debate over Tinubu’s certificate scandal, and you can read his entire tweet here. This story was specifically captioned to catch your attention, but I hope it will also persuade you to reflect and act. There are countless reasons why Nigeria will not make progress, but here is a poignant one, so read on. I recently met a wise guy in Vegas who aligned with the Sogunro’s position and illustrated it by analysing his experience in Nigeria before migrating to God’s own country. Here goes! The 62-year-old man holds a degree in Business Administration and worked as a banker for 22 years in Nigeria after about a decade of job hunting. He finally decided to check out like Andrew at 49 when he visited America in 2010. During that vacation, his interaction with old mates revealed that these guys were making steady progress while the reverse was his case back home. How you may ask. Here is the thing. Rising through promotions and salary increments in the bank, he attained a managerial position by 2004 and thought he had arrived. Who wouldn’t think so? A bank manager is an enviable achievement anywhere in the world. Well to the less ambitious folks, not necessarily our guy. While in the US, he discovered that his mates were able to set targets and meet them because they had stability in their chosen vocations. Consequently, they achieved more in terms of wealth, academics, and self-development. Particularly the last for this simple reason; Self-development doesn’t depend on money but if you attain a certain level of financial stability, you are more likely to start thinking about developing yourself and others. It was then that a stark realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. As he progressed in rank and salary, he was actually getting poorer in real terms because the combination of inflation and incessant devaluation of the naira continuously eroded his purchasing power. His situation was akin to the classic Fela hit ODOO ( Overtake Don Overtake Overtake) where the Afrobeat legend sang about a man who was saving to buy a fan. Go and look up the lyrics. Our guy told me that when he landed in God’s own country, he started as a gas station cashier in Atlanta while his wife did some courses and joined the healthcare sector. Having saved up some funds after 2 years, they moved to Vegas where he partnered with a friend to start valeting. Today, he owns a valeting agency and a vehicle salvage business. He said that in less than 10 years, he achieved more in America than he did in over 2 decades as a banker back home. When he finished his story he concluded thus; “Nigeria go survive is a soundtrack we started singing since childhood. Check am bro. The 70s was better than the 80s and the 80s was better than the 90s, it just keeps getting worse. Nigeria will not develop as it is PRESENTLY STRUCTURED. Anyone who tells you otherwise is deceiving you. It is better to go where you will make progress because you have only one life to live.” There and then I was reminded of another wise man, my good friend Tony Alika Igwebuike who told me in 2016 that the real value of the naira would be around N1000 to a dollar. That’s a story for another day but of course, he has been vindicated. Now it’s not as if there aren’t successful people in Nigeria, after all, Dangote, Otedola, Elumelu et al made it so why can’t you? The devil’s in the details if you ask me. But I can bet those three would have more than tripled their wealth if they put in the same effort and leveraged similar patronage in saner climes. The food for thought, however, is why the tech gurus who develop innovative solutions for real-life problems are now richer than merchants and bankers in the Western world. For my friends who will mockingly ask why I suddenly realised this after supporting Buhari. Well, some of us hoped that Buhari would at least start reducing the cost of governance, curb the insecurity, and improve our infrastructure. Those areas are supposedly his forte, or so they claimed. His record did not include economic prosperity. Unfortunately, he failed woefully in all areas. And yes including infrastructural development viz a viz the borrowing/implementation indices. Again I’m sorry to disappoint my other friends with an unpopular fact: If you give Peter Obi 16years he will not perform magic. The best he can achieve is some prudence in Aso Villa. I believe that the Peter I know will not sign off billions for Aso Rock kitchen and that’s actually a good start considering the rot in our system. But that’s about where it ends. He can’t possibly sanitise the entire executive controlled by a monumentally corrupt civil service. Then of course he wouldn’t dare the legislators because more than anyone he knows that would definitely end in his impeachment. You all know I’ve been an optimistic promoter of Nigeria. But who would have known that after 8 years of living abroad on earnings in naira, yours truly will need a job to sustain himself? Is €=N1056 a joke to you? My dear friend, I’m now satisfied to contribute my quota to the development of our country from the diaspora. I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic rather I remain hopeful. If any administration delivers any form of progress in the future, I will rejoice

Blog, News

Winners: #WritingContest

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We published 11 stories and 9 poems summing up to 20 entries for this #WritingContest and you can read them here. The winners of the N100,000 cash prize emerged following our peer review on 01/10/2023. 1. Solomon Ekoja tops the list with the most nominations, (3 for his poem One More Push and 1 for The Blame Game Analysis). I love the essay, it was written in a unique style and further shows the writer’s versatility. It is worth saying that only Solomon submitted 3 entries. Congratulations, you have won N20,000. 2. Victor Oladejo got 3 nominations, (2 for Notes On Nigeria and 1 for Sailor). We all know this writer is a talented and consistent veteran of our community. The poem which I describe as hybridized was brilliantly written. Additionally, the fact that the feature story was actually his first attempt in the genre is also a testament to the foregoing. Congrats Victor, you will receive a credit alert of N15,000. 3. Becky Peleowo also had 3 nominations for her brief but entertaining story Who Is Buchi’s Father. The writer also penned a poem Tetralogy Of Hope Songs which is equally as good if not better. Well done Becky, you have won N15,000. 3. Chukwuemeka Oluka had 2 nominations for his feature story titled Nigeria’s Turbulent Journey: Who Is To Blame. He wins N10,000. Congratulations! Faith Oyadiran, Emmanuel Enaku and Oluwaseun Osanyinro had a nomination each for Meeting The Mysterious (A Night With The Deities), My Father and Weapons Of Defence respectively. They have won N10,000 each. Oluwaseun’s story received the following plaudits from Oluka: For “Weapons of Defence,” much as it was laced with fear, the writer was able to infuse some pockets of humour into her story. Imagine when she wrote, “Had I been in my room, I would have plugged my phone.” That, for me, was sublime and off the chart. Now this is what we need to see more. Going forward we should be able to outline particular sections of a story that released the dopamine for us during our peer review sessions. And then ONLY those who attend the session will be eligible. This will promote transparency and improve our commitment to the process. Kenneth Nwabuisi and Victor Akintomide will be encouraged with N5000 each. Writers are urged to get creative with their captions. You mustn’t use the topic as your story title. Sadly one writer plagiarised and was banned from the competition. It is disgusting to see such behaviour. Writers who only send in entries when there is money to be won are more likely to flout the rules. We are NOT here to make money but to learn and improve in the craft we love. Please beware and say NO TO PLAGIARISM. Writers are advised to join our WhatsApp group to keep abreast of our activities by sending an email request to admin@cmonionline.com as only those who participate in our peer reviews will be eligible for the prize. Also, endeavour to get a domain of your own to start building your platform. Feedback has been sent to some writers and you can always refer to our free resources and this post in particular for tips that will help you to improve your writing. We thank everyone who participated in this competition and those who have been on the journey with us. Our special appreciation goes to Stanley Ugbo Okeke whose benevolence made this contest rewarding. Next up will be the BIG ONE..follow our social media pages for regular updates.

Blog, Diaspora Diary., FEATURES

Diaspora Diary: American Wonder Part I

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Come and see American wonder, come and see American wonder! ~ Anon This post was delayed by a combination of jet lag, COVID and lousiness but finally, here we are. I could have captioned it “How To Migrate To America” or one of the numerous Hows to get hits but naaah, that has never been my style because I write for a special audience. Yes, a growing community of friends, writers and other creatives who appreciate my versatility and not-too-recent transition from political opinions to texts that add real value. So American Wonder will be a multi-part treatise that offers information, tips and resources on migrating to God’s own country. If you grew up in the nostalgic 80s Nigeria like I did you will be familiar with my opening verse which is a song commonly recited by journeymen while performing tricks. It was so popular that the audience would often sing along as they watched and those who witnessed American wonder often turned out to be streetwise. I think we should seek out the originator of this song and give the person a befitting chieftaincy title because America is indeed the land of plenty. Oh yes, it is so vast and rich that a single state can match countless nations in size and GDP. Little wonder the average American is usually confident and willing to tread where eagles dare without trepidation. In global competitions, their athletes howl and bark with authority as if the trophy is already in the kitty. A friend joked that it is so because they already feel like winners since national tournaments like the baseball championship are referred to as the World Series. You can’t possibly enumerate the things that are different and unique to Americans. From the light switch to the confusing date order and non-metric measurements. There are drive-thru restaurants everywhere, and then you have huge coffee/soda cups and endless refills. The iconic yellow school buses are kings of the road, don’t mess with them. And then you have the annoying but cheaper price tags that are exclusive of taxes. Why not just include the damn taxes?! From the expansive George Bush Intercontinental Airport to Dallas and Las Vegas, 9 out of 10 vehicles are trucks. With a population of about 332 million, America has almost 300 million registered vehicles as of 2021. These people practically drive to the restroom! It is no wonder President Bush Jnr once declared that “America is addicted to oil”. Yet they have oil. And in abundance too. States like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas have some of the cheapest gasoline prices in the Western world. But the sweetest thing about the country is the Americans. They are hospitable and incredibly friendly to strangers. And not just that, they are boisterous about it. It seems more like a rule than a deliberate innocuous attempt to make eye contact when they say hi or good day. At the shops, cashiers strike a conversation with new faces like they are regulars and the person next to you in a queue will likely ask how your day is going as if you are the next-door local. It is too palpable to miss and curious as always I asked a cashier at the Ross branch in Richmond if her pleasant demeanour is a part of her or the job. Her reply: “I would say both, you ain’t gon get hired in this country with a straight face”. At Sugar Land Texas, I sauntered into my hotel lobby after jogging in the morning and was disappointed to discover that breakfast was already over by 9.30 am. I asked the young man seated in the dining hall if I could get a few bites for my family upstairs. He replied that he was an applicant waiting for an interview. Casually dressed in a jumper, denim and trainers, I thought he was inappropriately dressed for the occasion. To my amazement, the beautiful and exceedingly nice receptionist beckoned him over to a corner and immediately started the interview. I overheard everything, and the guy performed excellently. I would later ask the receptionist if the dress code isn’t a consideration for such an exercise, to which she replied “It is, you can appear casual or formal, but we are trained to focus more on what’s inside.” Profound! At Main Event Grand Prairie, the barista requested my ID and I was mirthfully asked if my grey beard didn’t count for something. “Sir, you coulda walked in here with a cane and I would still ask for an ID, it’s the law”, she replied with a very warm smile. Again I had to ask if the courteous manner came with the job or her upbringing. “Of course, it’s part of the job but out there you are likely to see me smiling a lot more”, she said this time with a throaty chortle. Yet in another instance, I was told not to worry as I reached for my wallet to pay for filling my tyres. “It’s just air, you don’t have to pay for it”, he said. It’s not that I don’t get free air at gas stations back in Ireland, but this guy particularly reminded me that the best things in life like air should be free. A lady who sells drinks at the iconic Welcome To The Fabulous Las Vegas park offers a free snack for each drink and repeatedly announces that the peanuts shouldn’t be missed. I politely refused mine because I had a cough. Minutes later my daughter who savoured hers went back to buy another pack and she told her “You can have your daddy’s pack, it’s still free”. For her candour, I felt I should tip her as we left the place. Her daughter informed me that she was on a call in her car. I looked and saw her in a hybrid Hyundai. Surprised that this woman who hawked drinks in a park owns such a nice car I could have left with

Blog, FEATURES, Lifestyle

Your Values Become Your Destiny: A Book In A Year Month II

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Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny. ~ Mahatma Gandhi LEADERSHIP: As a growing boy, I perceived leadership from a limited political prism. I believe it was the same for most of us. My model leaders were Mandela, Azikiwe, Awo..Ahmadu bello..Lincoln..Churchill..Martin Luther King..Sankara etc But with maturity, I realised that we are all leaders. There are social..religious..traditional..educational groups where you can lead. We lead friends and we lead our families too. The most important leadership, however, is self-leadership. When you are able to influence your thoughts towards laudable objectives and act to achieve them you will likely want to encourage others to travel that path. And in doing that, you build other leaders. We cannot build our own future without helping others build theirs. ~ Bill Clinton To lead we must participate. That’s what leaders do. They don’t sit in the back row. No! They learn, grow, volunteer, contribute and inspire others. I urge everyone to lead. Don’t wait for me or the other person. This is a community for skill and knowledge acquisition. Share your thoughts, ideas, writings, resources, tips, jokes etc. PARTICIPATE & LEAD. There are millions of books out there on leadership but for the purpose of our community and what we want to achieve, I recommend Tribes by Seth Godin. If you can’t get hold of it now check out a wonderful summary here. It’s a small but powerful book. Seth’s words will spur you into passionately pursuing your goal and sharing it with others. Getting them to believe in you as well. There are noble ideas and causes around which we might organize. But to achieve them, we need to be out there, making things happen. We can do it if we refuse to live with the fear that we can’t. If we aren’t afraid of embarrassment or failure. MORE ON OUR VISION: I previously outlined our vision thus: To be the leading platform for FREE and AFFORDABLE digital skill acquisition. To this end, I have reached out to a friend who is an experienced academic, writer, communication expert and thoroughbred professional for a potential collaboration. Of course, we all know the meaning but as usual, let me illustrate with my experience. When the volume of submissions for our essay contest grew too large for me to handle alone, I sought assistance from a young Nigerian, Chukwuemeka Ibeh, a staff writer with Brittle Paper.Brittle Paper. I never met him in person but his work impressed me. The power of the written word! In any case, he was too busy so he recommended Daniel Ogah, another brilliant young writer. You all know the great work Daniel did assisting me before he took a break to focus on his studies. That’s the type of collaboration I want to engage in going forward. Whatever venture I build now must have a system that can be macro-managed remotely because I’m a traveller. I can’t afford to be physically rooted in one location and the internet makes it possible. If my friend gets on board we may be launching before the year winds or early next year and we will definitely need capable hands. So guys if you have WordPress skills get ready. If you wish to learn then ask and I will send resources. It’s easy and in a short time, you can be proficient. PLATFORM/AUDIENCE: I mentioned consistency and platform as requisite factors that will help us achieve our vision. Let me hammer a BIG POINT again. To build a platform you need to have a domain of your own. Please get an account with Medium, Substack or some other platform. If you have noticed I publish almost all my stories on Medium as well as cmonionline. You need a personal domain to publish. Please do this. I’m surprised that many of you haven’t done so. How difficult is it? Then get active on social media. Frankly, I can’t imagine what any serious person wants to achieve without this. We live online and mostly on social media. You don’t have to waste time like I did in the past..no be strategic. You can check out Buffer and similar tools that can help you manage your social media accounts. Social media is addictive so you need to be careful to maximise its use to your advantage. It took me many years of wasting precious time to realise this. These days even though I still chat nonsense at times I’m more conscious and deliberate with my posts. Now let me elaborate more on platform building using Twitter as an example. Those who know me well know I spent years on Facebook. I built a large following there mostly by writing about socio-political topics. But at a point, I realised I had to take a break for two reasons. 1. Because it was a time-consuming addiction and 2. It was time to build a brand by doing more productive and scalable writing that needed Twitter. I will return to Facebook later because my audience is still there. That’s the great thing about building an audience..you will have loyal readers who keep asking after you when you take a break. Those years of building will not go to waste. The leverage of that audience must be converted from potential to kinetic. But for now, I want to concentrate on Twitter. You may not know but Twitter isn’t exactly similar to Facebook even though both are basically for engagement and connecting with people. Twitter has some specific attributes that make it suitable for my intent. It had more of the demographic I sought. It offers a faster way to reach a wider audience. As writers, we want to excel and also get published. But that is half the job as we learned from Bolaji who spoke to us on this platform. Marketing your book requires the same effort as

Blog, FEATURES, On This Day

On this day 325 AD: The Council of Nicaea agreed on the Holy Trinity and adopted the Nicene Creed.

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On this day 325 AD: The Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical debate held by the early Christian church, concluded with the establishment of the Holy Trinity and the adoption of the first uniform Christian doctrine known as the Nicene Creed. As the early Christian church grew in the Roman empire it was also beset by so many crises. The most controversial emerged when Arius, an Alexandrian priest, questioned the full divinity of Christ arguing that, unlike God, Christ was born and had a beginning. Many Bishops perceived the teachings of Arius as heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls. What began as an academic theological debate spread to Christian congregations throughout the empire, threatening a schism in the early Christian church. In May 325 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine I, who converted to Christianity in 312, convened a meeting of all Bishops across his empire at Nicaea (in present-day Turkey) to resolve the crisis and urged the adoption of a new creed that would settle the ambiguities between Christ and God. On August 25, 325 AD, after marathon deliberations, an estimated 318 Bishops, agreed on the equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity and asserted that only the Son became incarnate as Jesus Christ. The Arian leaders were subsequently excommunicated and banished into exile and the Nicene Creed was adopted as the unified statement of belief widely used in Christian liturgy till date.

FEATURES, On This Day

On this day 2014: Dr Stella Adadevoh died in Lagos.

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On this day 2014: Dr Stella Ameyo Adadevoh died in Lagos, thereby paying the ultimate price to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria. Born in Lagos in October 1956 to Prof. Babatunde Adadevoh, ex-vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos, Adadevoh’s great-grandfather was the Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay (himself the grandson of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first African Anglican bishop). Adadevoh was also the grand-niece of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. She attended the famous Corona school Yabaand Queen’s school Ibadan. She got her medical degree at the University of Lagos before proceeding to obtain a fellowship with Hammersmith Hospital London. She returned to Nigeria, married Afolabi Cardoso and lived most of her life in Lagos. She spent her last 21 years at the First Consultant Hospital in Obalende, Lagos Island, where she correctly diagnosed Liberian Patrick Sawyer, Nigeria’s index case of Ebola in July 2014. The Liberian denied contact with an Ebola patient, even though his sister had died of the virus. Once Adadevoh suspected Sawyer might have Ebola, she quarantined him and contacted the authorities while she created a makeshift isolation centre for treatment. Adadevoh kept Sawyer in the hospital despite his desperate attempts to leave. His claims that he had malaria fell on deaf ears. Adadevoh also turned down the Liberian Ambassador’s request to release Sawyer for a business conference in Calabar. Through her action, Adadevoh played a key role in curbing the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria. However, on 4 August 2014, it was confirmed that she had tested positive and was being treated. Adadevoh died on the afternoon of 19 August 2014. Her body was decontaminated and cremated. Her family obtained the ashes and held a private funeral on September 12, 2014, in Lagos. She is survived by her husband and son. The Adadevoh Health Trust @drasatrust was founded in memory of the Nigerian heroine. May her soul continue to rest in peace.

Blog, Diaspora Diary., FEATURES

Diaspora Diary: Why Honesty Is Your Best Path To Migration.

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If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.~ Virginia Woolf In his younger years, Okoro was your normal guy man. Smart, suave and sophisticated. He found his way to Europe after graduating from the University and joined friends who made money the usual way: thru deals! He enjoyed the fast lane and soon married an upscale lady. It didn’t take long for that union to crash. The collapse of his marriage rang the first alarm that man shall not live by bread alone. It was becoming clear that his lifestyle as a bachelor won’t cut it if he wants to be a responsible family man like his dad before him. Some things must be ditched. Okoro decided to do real business. He will ship goods back home to Nigeria and sell them for profit. The business progressed and soon enough he was introduced to a beautiful working-class lady in Lagos. Their relationship blossomed and was enough to pull him back home for good or so he thought, after all, he already has a growing business. Our man flew back home, had an elaborate wedding and started building a family with a child coming the following year. However, as the years flew by, the economy continued on a downward slope. Once again the thought of relocation resurfaced and having discussed this with his wife they agreed that being an American citizen, she will move first with their kid and he will join them later. She moved and filed the necessary papers for him. After a couple of visits to the embassy, the visa officer invited Okoro into the inner room for further discussion. As he was led through a hallway, his heartbeat felt like an Uber driver ploughing around a parking lot in an endless search for a free space. He didn’t know what to expect but something didn’t feel right. In a small room with scanty furniture Okoro sat with palms on knees. He just didn’t feel comfortable. The months that passed since his family left suddenly paled in comparison to the infinite seconds that ticked by. His confidence was at the nadir since his embassy sojourn as the young Afrasian officer started the conversation. “Your application has been approved”, he said pointedly. “Thank God!” the exclamation escaped Okoro’s breath before he could hold back. “But… there is a caveat. You must prove your genuine identity before the visa will be granted”, said the visa officer in a flat tone to his chagrin. Our man was perplexed. He didn’t seem to understand what that meant. He had supplied all the required documents to prove his eligibility. Hesitantly he stuttered, “Sir, but sir please can you explain….” The visa officer cut him short. “Mr Kojo Abotsi” Okoro froze! With a sardonic smile, the visa officer said, “Our investigation revealed that you have multiple identities. You have to prove that you are either Okoro Uzondu, Kojo Abotsi or any of the other aliases you took up. Consider yourself lucky to have been accorded this privilege. I see you have a young family that needs you. It is now up to you to convince us that you also need them. Have a good day” Those stark words will remain vivid in Okoro’s memory for the rest of his life. He didn’t know how he left the embassy. The drive back home to Lekki also didn’t register in his mind. All he could remember was waking up in the evening to see several missed calls from his Missus. When he called back, it was well worth it as the soothing words of encouragement from her reignited his hope that it will just be a matter of time. His visa is only being delayed not denied. Thus the wearisome journey to prove that he is Okoro Uzondu began. Firstly, he will travel to Aba to gather the necessary documents. And each was to be verified by a notary public approved by the Embassy. Luckily his birth cert, baptismal cert and FSLC were all in his mother’s possession. The old lady had carefully filed all the original documents for each of her children. Okoro had them notarized and sent to the embassy. After 2 tortuous months, he got a reply. They needed notarized originals of his WASC and degree certificates too. He was also requested to get reference letters from his teachers attesting to his good character. In addition, he should include any other document that will support his proof of identity. He didn’t have his original WASC so he had submitted his secondary school testimonial, statement of result and a sworn affidavit. How the hell were all those inadequate? Another trip to Aba was inevitable. On reaching Aba, Okoro was informed that the WAEC branch office moved to Umuahia ages ago. Good Lawd! Knowing the frustration that comes with public services in Nigeria he anticipated that his stay will be extended by God knows how long. The next day he was in Umuahia and was shocked to learn that WAEC had his records intact. After a small fee, a certified true copy of his WASC was handed to him. To fulfill all righteousness he also paid for a copy to be dispatched directly to the Embassy via courier. He managed to get the addresses of his former teachers. One was retired to his nearby village in Ukwa West Local Government Area while the other, a gracious old lady still ran a nursery school in Umungasi. Both wrote in long-form confirming that he was an obedient and promising young lad. He also took pictures with them as advised by his friend in the US and gave them envelopes as tokens. By the 3rd day, he was back in Lagos, got copies of his first degree and WASC notarized and then mailed the parcel of documents along with old pictures of school activities with classmates, siblings and friends. His sigh of relief was laced with “America here I

FEATURES, On This Day

On this day 1989: Sam Okwaraji slumped at the National Stadium.

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On this day 1989: Super Eagles midfield maestro Sam Okwaraji slumped on the pitch during a world cup qualifier at the Lagos National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Born on 19 May 1964, in Orlu, Imo State, Nigeria, Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji had a successful career in Europe. Within a four year period (1984–1988) he had played for AS Roma, Dinamo Zagreb, Austria Klagenfurt, VfB Stuttgart and SSV Ulm. He was playing for these clubs while studying. Okwaraji is a qualified lawyer with a masters in international law from the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome. On 30 April 1986, playing for Zagreb he scored 3 goals in a friendly game vs NK Budućnost Hodošan. Okwaraji made the Green Eagles squad in 1988 and at that year’s African Nations Cup he scored one of the fastest goals in the history of the championship against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. He played until the finals where the Eagles lost to Cameroon by a lone goal. Tragedy struck on August 12, 1989, when Okwaraji collapsed ten minutes from the end of a 1990 World Cup qualifier against Angola in Lagos. He died from possible complications of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at the young age of 25.

FEATURES, On This Day

On this day 30 B.C: Cleopatra committed suicide.

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On this day 30 B.C: Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt and lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony committed suicide after the defeat of her forces against Octavian. Cleopatra, born in 69 B.C., was made Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, upon the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, in 51 B.C. Her brother was made King Ptolemy XIII at the same time, and the siblings ruled Egypt under the formal title of husband and wife. But Cleopatra soon had a dispute with her brother, and a civil war erupted in 48 B.C. Just as Cleopatra was preparing to attack her brother with a large army the Roman civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great spread to Egypt. Pompey fled to Egypt after his defeat but was immediately murdered by agents of Ptolemy XIII. Caesar later arrived in Alexandria to restore order in Egypt. To win him over so Cleopatra travelled to Alexandria and was offered as a packaged gift to Caesar. The powerful Roman leader fell for the alluring Egyptian Queen and interceded in the Egyptian civil war on her behalf. In 47 B.C., Ptolemy XIII was killed after a defeat against Caesar’s forces, and Cleopatra was made dual ruler with another brother, Ptolemy XIV. Caesar and Cleopatra then frolicked for several weeks together before Caesar departed for Asia Minor. In June 47 B.C., Cleopatra bore a son and named him Caesarion “little Caesar” claiming he was Caesar’s. She later joined Caesar in Rome with her son. Cleopatra lived discretely in Caesar’s villa outside Rome. She returned to Egypt after Caesar was assassinated in March 44 B.C. And soon after, her brother Ptolemy XIV died, likely poisoned by her. She then made her son co-ruler with her as Ptolemy XV Caesar. With Julius Caesar’s murder, Rome again fell into civil war, which was temporarily resolved in 43 B.C. with the formation of the second triumvirate, made up of Octavian, Caesar’s great-nephew and chosen heir; Mark Antony, a powerful general; and Lepidus, a Roman statesman. Antony took up the administration of the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, and he summoned Cleopatra to Tarsus, in Asia Minor, to answer charges that she had aided his enemies. Cleopatra arrived in Tarsus on a magnificent river barge, dressed as Venus the Roman god of love. She seduced Antony, as she had Caesar before him and returned with him to Alexandria, where they spent the winter in debauchery. In 40 B.C., Antony returned to Rome and married Octavian’s sister Octavia in an effort to mend his strained alliance with Octavian. But the triumvirate continued to deteriorate. In 37 B.C., Antony separated from Octavia and travelled east, arranging for Cleopatra to join him in Syria. In their time apart, Cleopatra had borne him twins, a son and a daughter. According to Octavian’s propagandists, the lovers were then married, which violated Roman law restricting Romans from marrying foreigners. As Anthony’s image suffered because of failed military campaigns in the east he managed some successful against Armenia. To shore up his image he staged a victory march through the streets of Alexandria alongside Cleopatra on golden thrones. Again Octavian propagandists interpreted the spectacle as a sign that Antony intended to deliver the Roman Empire to foreigners. Following more years of tension and propaganda attacks, Octavian declared war against Cleopatra, and therefore Antony, in 31 B.C. Octavian’s brilliant military commanders gained early success. On September 2, 31 B.C their fleets clashed at Actium in Greece. After heavy fighting, Cleopatra fled and set course for Egypt with 60 of her ships. Antony then broke through the enemy line and followed her. The disheartened fleet that remained surrendered to Octavian. One week later, Antony’s land forces surrendered. Octavian reached Alexandria and again defeated Antony. In the aftermath of the battle, Cleopatra took refuge in the mausoleum she built for herself. Antony believing that Cleopatra was dead, stabbed himself but a messenger arrived, saying Cleopatra was still alive. Antony had himself carried to the mausoleum and begged Cleopatra to surrender to Octavian before he died. When the Octavian arrived, Cleopatra tried to seduce him, but knowing her antecedents with Caesar and Anthony Octavian rejected her entreaties. On August 12, 30 B.C. rather than surrender to Octavian, Cleopatra decided to commit suicide. She brought a poisonous Egyptian serpent to bite her on the breast alongside two handmaids who died too. Octavian then executed her son Caesarion, and annexed Egypt into the Roman Empire.

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