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#JuneWritingContest: A Book In A Year Reloaded(N100k Prize)

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#JuneWritingContest: A Book In A Year Reloaded(N100k Prize) Here is another chance to win N100k by doing what you love. Recall that we formally started writing A Book In Year in June 2023. Before that, we had sessions and posts on how to achieve the task. But after my 2nd post on the challenge, we lost steam. So we will go again this year and for this month, we will write about our proposed book project as a precursor to other activities that will help us realise this goal. TASK: A short book proposal detailing the following. An introductory background to your book, why you want to publish it and why you think it will be a viable venture. A premise (if you are writing non-fiction, your story premise is the basic concept or thesis, usually identifying the need/problem and then proposing a solution). Your writing strategies/tools (Writing times/venue, target daily & total word count, MS Word, Google Doc, Scrivener, etc). Your preferred publishing pathway (Self or Traditional Publishing) and why you chose it. If you wish to collaborate then you MUST assign different colours to each author and highlight their contribution. Here is an example. As usual, you MUST publish your stories on Medium, LinkedIn, Substack or any alternative platform and then send the link to your published story to admin@cmonionline.com. You MUST also attend the peer review session and provide useful feedback to stand a chance of winning. The total word count of your story should be 1500 words ± 10% and the submission deadline is on or before Wednesday 19/06/2024 at 11:59 pm. IMPORTANT!!! Read, research and understand the instructions before starting. For further clarification, send an email to admin@cmonionline.com The winner will be determined by peer review on a date to be announced on our social media pages. GOODLUCK! If you enjoyed this, please share it and hit the follow button to join our community of digital creatives at cmonionline.com let’s grow together. If you wish to emigrate or collaborate, send an email to me let’s work together.

Blog, News

Winners: Easter Contest

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We published 12 entries for this Easter Contest which you can read here and the winners of the N100,000 cash prize emerged following our peer review on 16/04/2023. 1. The Igbo — Yoruba Mistrust by Chukwuemeka Oluka was the clear favourite as it received 3 nominations and was the most discussed story. The writer traced the political history of suspicion between the Igbos and Yorubas leading up to the recent events of the 2023 elections. He made an objective and balanced analysis before offering suggestions on the way forward; “Starting with Lagos, Igbo residents in Lagos and their host communities should realize that Lagos is better when the two tribes work together.” It takes courage to broach let alone do justice to this sensitive topic but Chukwuemeka has never dreaded uncharted paths. For that and the earlier stated reasons, his opinion piece wins the competition’s star price of N30,000. Congratulations Chukwuemeka. 2. Messindinho The Unfeeling Beast by Emmanuel Enaku got 2 nominations and was the second most discussed story. The writer who is growing into the darling of our community now owns this Messidinho character whom he has used in previous stories. It is impressive how he manages to show dexterity in each story. This time Messidinho plots to avenge a wrong by his friend while still finding time to indulge in his characteristic eroticism. The ruthless execution of his plan leaves the reader wondering what manner of character is this. Congratulations Emmanuel. This story wins N20,000. 3. Rotten Tooth by Kenneth Nwabuisi received 3 nominations. In this story about sibling rivalry Kenneth once again proved to be a wonderful storyteller. Narrated in a timeline, with great dialogue and expressions like; “No. I mean I understand how you feel, but I wouldn’t advise you to let this feeling grow. I may be unavailable for it at the moment because I’m currently seeing someone.” the fractious relationship and vengeful acts of two sisters will have you reading to the explosive climax. What a wonderful story! Well done Kenneth. This story wins N10,000. 4. TAMING tHE Thug! by Becky Peleowo had a nomination and I love the creative caption. Writing about the experience of a young man who reluctantly decides to be a political thug for the first time, the writer in some parts reminded me of Virginia Woolf’s stream of consciousness as her ink flowed through past events. She effortlessly brought one of the often overlooked causative factors of thuggery to the fore and wove an emotional tale that showed her creative talent. Congratulations Becky. I enjoyed this story and the last line was poignant. This story wins N10,000 5. Celebrating New Life: A Poem By Solomon Ekoja got a deserved nomination as the writer continues to prove his versatility. It wins N10,000 Thug by Victor Oladejo and Miracle: A Poem by Stephen Ayilegbe earns N10,000 each for consistency and courage respectively. The other entries were equally good and I loved the poems JUST WHY? by Becky and If I Were Jesus by Chukwuemeka. I haven’t written one in ages and I’m inspired to do so by reading these works. I vowed to be stricter in enforcing our rules and more capitalist in rewarding excellence, thus in line with the first part some entries were rejected for ignoring the instructions and not meeting our editorial standards but all writers were rewarded including those that had only one published entry. However, every day will not be Easter going forward. 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 Newross & Co who sponsored this contest. Congratulations to all!

Blog, Essays

Essay Competition Week 49.

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For #Week49 of the #CmonionlineEssayCompetition, follow the instructions below and write to possibly emerge as one of the winners of our N60,000 cash prize.

Blog, News

Topics: Essay Competition Week 46

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For #Week46 of the #CmonionlineEssayCompetition, choose a topic and write to possibly emerge as one of the winners of our N30,000 cash prize. Creative Short Story: A dialogue-heavy short story with the opening, “Your services are no longer required.” Research Essay: Bestiality as a form of animal abuse, its causes and effects on the society. Please caption your essay as you wish but please make it smart and brief. Important!!! The word count is (1500 )± 10%. Submit via email to admin@cmonionline.com on or before Wednesday 25/05/2022 at 11:59 pm.  Please endeavour to read our general rules before submitting your work. Pay particular attention to items 2 & 9 because many entries have been trashed for not following instructions. Also, read the changes made recently here. WARNING!!! PLAGIARISM will get you banned from participating in this competition. We are here to learn not to steal. We will publish the essays as they come. Please try to submit early to make our job easier. Share your essay widely and get your friends and family to read it. NB We have switched to peer review, so follow us on Twitter to participate in the spaces we host to determine the winners. The winners for #Week46 will be picked on 29/05/2022 Good luck!  

Essays, Opinion Articles

For better for worse by Collins Chibuike

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“For better for worse.” I personally never liked that phrase. I have attended a handful of weddings and whenever the couple make vows and use that phrase, I usually feel dispirited; not entirely though. I find the phrase rather awkward, not necessarily because of it’s implied meaning, but the literal interpretation the society gives it. Whenever a Christian hears ‘For better for worse’, he just casually interprets it as ‘Regardless of any situation’. It’s just a thing that have gotten into our psych and beliefs as a people. The implied meanings are clear enough, It just highlights the faithfulness and steadfastness that should exist among couples. It simply implies the virtue of being there for each other in times of joy and conversely, when sorrow knocks. Big question now should be, Is that really what practical Christianity interprets it to mean? It’s Crystal clear, NO. No, in the sense that the society are yet to decipher the disparity between “For better for worse” and “In all situations”, within the marital context. That’s basically the bedrock of all latent domestic abuses. Maybe it’s just a Christian thing? Well, No! I did my findings and the results were rather similar. The question was to describe what marriage is and entails. The traditionalist described marriage as a sacred institution; as a non refundable parcel, which when one opens, takes whatever he finds inside without questions or hesitations. A couple of researches here and there and I arrived at my conclusion. It’s a thing with Religion in general. All Faiths and religious denominations seem to have this unified point of view. Understanding marriage as a sacred union which can not be broken under any circumstance. That’s the common belief.  A clergy would conventionally advise a believer who laid complaints of domestic abuses to just pray over it and keep holding on. You almost never sees or hear them endorse leaving the marriage, regardless. This ideology is shared by basically all religious communities and eventually, the society at large. So, you just sit in and endure, remember your vow says ‘For better for worse’. You just deal with the ‘Worse’. That’s how people end up in marriages where they are constantly abused either physically, psychologically, emotionally and otherwise; and all they can do is just ENDURE. The society will devour you once you  nurse the slightest thought of leaving the marriage. Just like a one way thing, once In, no outs. Your odds are pretty tight. An abusive marriage or an abusive religious society? Unfortunately majority go with the former, suffer silently and die unnoticed. All because we are in an era where marriage is considered sacred and divorce a potential sin. This is the mindset religion has instilled in the society. Once you are in an abusive home, you just pray and ENDURE, maybe until it gets really detrimental to your health and you reach an abrupt end. No one will ever know what you were dealing with. For better for Worse you say? Well, when the worse is about bringing your end, pick the ‘better’ and leave. A matter that needs critical attention. Religion should never be the reason why anyone should stay in an abusive marriage.

Creative Essays, Essays

The Birds Chirp by Ferdinand Princess Chinwendu

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  The birds chirped and the rays of the sun could be seen piercing into a dark room through a rectangular shaped window crossed vertically with thick bars possessing shadows which appears to be resting on John’s face. His overgrown beards really tell that he had been in this room for a long time. The dark room seem to become brighter as we see that John has two other inmates who were still enveloped in darkness at the other edge of the room. The morning bell rang signifying it’s time to wake up and continue the normal routine which involves bathing and eating, then after, manual labour. It was a Sunday a perculiar day the prisoners were given the opportunity to write letters and make calls to their loved ones after their manual labour. John could be seen in the long line waiting for his turn in his particular communication chamber. The men besides him chatted non-chalantly about women and the memories of when they last had pleasure. John seemed unperturbed by this as he was lost in deep thought about Christabel. The time ticked and two hours have past. It is now John’s turn to enter the chamber. He enters into the chamber without hesitation, greets the clerk who in turn asked him if he wanted to make a call or write to his family. John hesitated but finally chose to write. For some reason, John couldn’t write proper English as he is a school drop-out, but this didn’t give him a hinch of disturbing thought as it is not his first time writing to Christabel. He begins with the address stating. “No. 8 Chief Alum State, Enugu Prison, Independence Layout. Dear Kristabel, it’s been 10 years since I last saw you. I know it’s been difficult and uneasy ever since day one, I dey miss you so much, but the issue be say you never visit me, even to call self or even to drop letter. And the tin be say e been dey boda me too much. You know that I love you and the children. How them even be self. Hope una still dey find food chop. Are they still going to school , you know I haven’t been working. How’s the economy treating you. I’ve been suffering so much, the punishment dey too much and unbearable. Please abeg, kristimmmooooo, no leave me marry another man. I promise to find a way out of here, just give me small time. How your mum and dad, hope say them no dey force you to marry another man. No agreeoooo, my love no agree….” John stops as the pen seemed to stop working for a moment. He flinged the pen in a pendulous manner to aid flow of ink. Then again he continued ” …..you know that my friend Moses, I call am say make him give you money from my savings wey him dey in charge of, use am buy something for your self and the children…..” . As John continued to write endlessly, engulfed in so many things to share with Christabel, the clerk interrupted, reminding him about the time limit and encouraged him to write faster. John flings the pen once more and continues.” …. Pls still stay for me, no abandon me abeg and I promise to find a way out of here and finally stay with you forever. I so much Miss your touch and kisses…” “Oga your time is up” said the clerk as he collected the pen and paper forcefully from John’s grip, with a sad expression, John stood up as ordered and left the chamber.

Essays, Opinion Articles

Exploring The Effects Of Religious Beliefs In Abusive Marriages by Victoria Mbanasor.

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  INTRODUCTION Gender-based violence in the home, especially in marriages, is the most pervasive phenomenon that cuts across every stratum of society and life in general. It is Nigeria’s most prevalent type of violence against women. Often invisible, shrouded in a veil of silence and secrecy until the victim suffers permanent disability, psychological trauma or death. It is a global topic that has recently began to be viewed as a criminal and constitutional problem, despite the fact that it has become a way of life in Nigerian society and is still culturally accepted. Women are frequently in grave danger in the place where they should feel safest: their homes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one out of every three women has been subjected to gender-based violence at some point in their lives. Many people’s homes are where they are subjected to a regime of terror and violence perpetrated by a supposed loved one. The need to address this issue which is threatening the safety of spouses and their fundamental right to human dignity has prompted this paper. Accordingly, this paper investigates the role of religious beliefs in abusive marriages. This paper focuses on gender-based violence against women in marriages based on the understanding that although women can also be violent, but their actions account for a small percentage of gender-based violence. According to a UNICEF report, violence in the domestic sphere is usually perpetrated by males who are, or who have been in positions of trust, intimacy and power. Therefore, it would seem permissible to focus primarily on violence against women. In the final analysis, this paper shall proffer practical suggestions to this malady. EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN ABUSIVE MARRIAGES Recently, following the death of Nigerian gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, whose death was alleged to be caused by her husband’s relentless abuse, a religious leader, the Internet went revolutionarily agog on the incredible influence that religion has on abusive marriages. To wit, arguments abound over the relationship between religion/religiosity and spousal gender-based violence leading to inconsistent and contradictory responses. While some netizens opined that religion is a protective factor in this regard and serves as the safest harbor for women as well as veritable orientation platform for men, others averred that its effect is insignificant and pointed instead to factors like economic and cultural power dynamics that gives men proprietary rights over women, cultural definitions of sex roles, customs of marriage (bride price), acceptability of violence to resolve conflict, general patriarchal stereotypes such as the belief in the inherent superiority of males and women as acquirable properties. However, while the social context of spousal violence in Nigeria is related to the traditional African patriarchal society that defines the gender power structure, religion plays a profound role in fanning its flames. This is accomplished in the following ways: Patriarchal-Induced Interpretation of Submission Religion is a reflection of the society and has inherited a society that has been wrongly taught the roles of men. Our patriarchal culture has influenced how we interpret the Bible, particularly the biblical idea of submission. The stipulation that “wives [should] submit themselves unto their husbands as unto the lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church” has been chauvinistically interpreted to mean dominance or rulership. A doctrine that was biblically in place to ensure mutuality of respect in marriage and prevent leadership conflict has been erroneously construed to render women as chastise-able properties. This shows how much of bastions of chauvinism and women oppression religious houses are. They exercise enormous influence and power over not just the teeming millions of devotees, but across every sector of the society, including legal lines. For instance, section 55 of the Penal Code which operates in northern Nigeria allows men to chastise their wives by reasonably caning or beating them (a provision that is founded on Islamic religious practices). More so, rape is still committed in marriage beds due to this patriarchal import! This jeopardizes the safety of women in such marriages. Stringent Religious Preaching of Forgiveness and Hope Marriage is deemed the combination of two forgivers, but this should not apply to abusive marital settings, especially where the violence is persistent. Unfortunately, faith is anchored on fundamentals of forgiveness. The risk of violence in Nigerian marriages is normalized because rigid concepts of religious beliefs in forgiveness and perseverance become more stringent. Religious leaders are often quicker to counsel a complainant that forgiveness is an endless religious journey and remind the victim of Christ’s stipulation of forgiving ones offender “seventy times seventy times” and how “the one who endures till the end shall be saved” than they are to give recourse to the victims plight. A survey of 5,700 pastors found that 26 percent of pastors ordinarily would tell a woman being abused to continue to submit and to “trust that God would honor her action by either stopping the abuse or giving her the strength to endure it” while 71 percent of pastors would never advise a battered wife to leave her husband or seperate. Many individuals have met their waterloo in marriages as a result of this stringent belief. Formerly, it was thought that partners stayed in abusive marriages because of lack of economic power, fear of being alone, and prioritization of the welfare of their children, however, late Osinachi Nwachukwu is a furnishing instance of how damaging the tendency to stay in abusive relationships due to spiritual principles are. Fear of Religious Ostracization Closely related to this is the fear of cultural and religious ostracization. Religion as a reflection of culture condemns divorce. One of the tenets of religion is that marriage is a do or die affair-an everlasting divine conjunction that can never be put “asunder” except in the event of death. Even contemporary educated, working class women that has all it takes to beat cultural and societal norms and shades in this regard are also victims of domestic violence

Creative Essays

For the Sake of Love by Adebayo Pelumi

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  Mr Dublin is a very young and handsome man in his late 40’s. He works as a secretary at Grapefruit public limited company. He married at the age of twenty six and have two children. The name of his wife is Carolina and the names of his children are Mira and Sora respectively and they were both Female. Mira is a year two student at the university of ibadan, while Sora is in college school at Mayfield international school. Mr Dublin wife works as a part time house help. Everything is going well for Mr Dublin family until the day he was arrested and sentence to life imprisonment in which you will know why he was sentences in the letter he is going to write to his family while serving his jail time. Mr Dublin is seen in the prison yard crying profusely and thinking about his life and what brought him to the prison.He seems to be so engrossed with his thinking that he didn’t notice that one of the inmate named Stephen has been standing besides him for over fifteen minutes. The following conversation happened between them. Stephen: Hey. What are you thinking that much that is making you shedding tears. Mr Dublin: Stephen; I have been thinking about a lot of things and could not help but cried my heart out. Stephen: What, can you share me Mr Dublin: Did you know my family is really angry and disappointed in me. Did you know none of my family have come to visit me, including my mother since I came to this prison. My wife and my children didn’t want to see me or talk to me either. Don’t you see I am done for. I have been sentence to life imprisonment and now I don’t have any family to look upon. And did you know that what lead me to this prison is for their own benefit. How I wish I could explain that to them maybe I will be forgiven but how can I do that now. Stephen: Mr Dublin,there is actually a way you can make your heart or thought know to your family while in prison. You can write a letter to them and write anything you want to tell them in the letter and send it to them. Mr Dublin: Really. I don’t know. I thought all communication is being cutoff while in prison except visitation. Stephen: Mr Dublin, you can still write a letter. Go ahead and make your intension know to your family through the letter. I leave you now and please stop crying because crying can’t solve this issues. Mr Dublin: Okay. Thanks. Mr Dublin is seen sitting down alone at the prison yard focusing on the letter he is writing to send to his family. The letter read: Good day my wife and family. How are my children. My wife, hope you and my children are doing fine. Mum, how are you and others doing also. I know I am not worthy to be a husband to my wife and children again and also to be part of the family. I know it will be very hard for you guys and you all including my children are facing a challenges because of the mistake you or neither the children make. You know my dear wife, I have always love you and my children always and will keep loving you guys. Even though I am serving a life sentence in prison, my heart and mind is still with you and my children. I really did what land me into life imprisonment because of the love I have for you and my children and didn’t want you all to suffer. I know you guys might still not believe I did what I was imprisoned for but I am using this medium to tell you all that I am guilty of the offence. You guys are probably getting more angry with me or maybe feeling sorry after reading this confession and want to know why I did that. As I wrote in the first paragraph, my dear wife. I love you and my children and can do anything to make you and my children happy. My dear wife did you remember how they sent our children back from school and could not do examination with their mate because we could not pay their school fees. Did you remember how embarrassed you are because you could not do things your mate are doing because you marry someone with a low pay job. I know how hurt you are while people are blasphemy you and embarrassing you because of the part time house help you are doing. Though you tried hard to hide the pain but I can possibly read you because I am your husband. Mum, did you know lack of money to buy your drugs regularly makes your illness chronic and the only solution is operation which requires thousands of naira. I could not bear you, my wife and my children suffer, so I think of another job to do but no employment opportunity. I submit my CV to different companies online but no one call me for interviews for months; then I knew there is no job opportunity outside. After two years of hunting for another job without a sucess story; I could not think of any self job that can bring money fast than robbery. I said to myself, if I can successfully rob a rich man house a night, what I will get will be enough to take care of my family pressing needs at that moment and at least give you all the kind of life you all deserve. My dear wife do you remember the night we had a fight because I came home around 2am in the midnight. That night was my first operation and the money I got in the operation is the one that we used to clear our children debts at

Creative Essays, Essays

The Serial Killer’s Wife by Victor Oladejo

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  Dear Efua, You have no idea how long I have tried to write this letter to you, but I couldn’t because shades and voices now haunt me. They are in my head now, speaking nonstop, a man is lying in the pool of his blood close by, his blood, crimson red, is soaking my blue shorts. It is not Tinnitus, they speak languages I can understand, not just sounds. I’m not hallucinating, I can touch them, I can feel them, just like this man lying on the ground. His face is pale, snow-white. His mouth is open, as though he is screaming, but he is not. He is dead. He is from my past, yes, my past but they are so many I can’t remember who he is.  They ebb out of the shadows l locked them in, reaching for me, trying to suck me in. I’m trying my best not to screw this up like these papers, crumbled and lying in wait on the ground for this to join them. But I will try to hold myself till the end. I’m writing this letter to you because you are the only one I owe this story. You are the only one who will believe this tale because it’s your story, the story you share with them. This may be my last letter to you, and to me. But I beg of you, everything in this story is true. All of it. I have a horrible feeling that you might roll this letter up and throw it into the nearest trash can because the story I’m about to tell will feel so alien, so strange and dark and so different from my story, the one I shared with you for eight long years before I came here last year. Efua you have to believe my story and find another life, you’ve stayed glued to me for years, sending letters, sending love, but you know so little about me, so little, but I know a great deal about you, your secrets and the silent part of my story— our story. They haunt me now, perhaps they’ll set you free. 2. GREEN PLANET PARK SHOOTING–  I believe it was an accidental discharge, wife claims.  That was on the first page of the guardian yesterday, your interview on my case with Teju Greene on why my case should be reviewed and investigated again. That was when they came, the darkness. I held the newsprint in my wet palms, my eyes fixed on the front page, on your picture, on your expression, fear and pain in your eyes all frozen. Slowly the hard cement floor began to crawl with green creepers, grasses, and wildflowers. All at once, I was at the park again. You sat on the bench with Fred. The evening sun was shining, drowning both of you in its rich yellow light and the birds were tweeting away in the orange trees. I stood behind the tree, my hands on my camera, watching you both, waiting patiently to raise my camera and make a quick flash. Then seconds grew into, minutes into hours, then at last I was about to leave, I was about to believe you were innocent, then you stood and he pulled you to his body, buried you in it. Your lips locked in his. I looked away, something raised its head in me, then started to crawl to my heart and all at once began to scream: Kill him, Kill him, Kill him. So I whispered my prayers for forgiveness again for the oath of duty as a policeman, I was about to break. I waited till you left, then I walked to him. He was shocked to see me, his eyes red and feral like the eyes of a rat. There were more people in the park now, scattered under the trees. But I didn’t mind, they didn’t matter now, what mattered was the fiend staring at me, looking through me,  perhaps at the serpent that was still screaming. I smiled at him, just like I did when moments like this came. Then my hand found its way to my holster, to my little darling. I raised it, he screamed, then the couples close by started to scream, the whole park now screaming, even the tweeting of the birds was drowned out. “ Please I can explain, I can explain ”, He said, his eyes swimming in tears. I squeezed the trigger. The birds took to flight in the trees. He fell on his back. Then the sirens wailing, then fellow police everywhere, so I started to run and run…slowly the green grass and flowers started to fade away for the cement floor of this kirikiri prison, my fellow inmates in blue restraining me from squeezing myself through these iron bars. “He is mad! Maaddd!” they were screaming, they can’t see what l see, they can’t hear what l hear. I died again that day in the park, but that was not the first time I died, I had been dying before Fred. And you killed me Efua. 3. Your eyes were closed on the bed, the giant machines had green zig-zag playing on their screen. They were connected to you. Something was beeping too and the doctor was holding your hand, shaking his head. Then he saw me and smiled and said: “Are you ready?” “ Yes, I said. ” Then I donated my kidney when no one could, I did it because l loved you. Because meeting you was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. You survived, we married and I thought it would be: happy ever after. I was wrong. Five years of living with you, I was normal with a kidney, then it happened on that dreadful Saturday, l was driving back to the station to deliver my firearm when spasms surged through me from under my person. Then it spread through my body. I parked and held my

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