of april 14 2009

so on april 14, 2009 i set out to revive my blogging skills after leaving it to simmer as i was busy climbing the corporate career ladder. it was clearly a tough time and the only blog site then that was user friendly was yahoo. my blogging attempts were less frequent and as my world was close knit, i had not much to write about. i didn't want to write about my friends because i value their privacy, and i didnt want to bore people with what i thought were my pet peeves: "mediocrity in nigerian music", "the mass swindling called nigerian churches" and "political shenanigans". alas, these were pet peeves shared by more people than i imagined.


my first blog post was, as you may have guessed, on nigerian music. i had just about had it after watching some local channels play yet another psquare song that sounded like the last one etc and i flipped. yes, i have come a long way since then. i had decided from get-go to be bold and courageous and speak my (not always popular) opinion on any and everything...sometimes in the news, and sometimes just in my face. if i felt it, i'd say it. however, its not always that simple. over time, i have come to realize that if you irk people just enough, you will feel the pain of their lashing almost physically. the highlights of this 5 year journey have been the post i wrote on "mutiny scrutiny" and "blog awards my foot"...those were the learnings on what to expect when you put yourself out there, and how to deal with threats, insults and plain juvenile behaviour. the solution: just keep going. write one more blog post. apologize as appropriate but live to fight another day.

and so, today as i look back over the last five years, i can only be thankful for the friends who have kept me going, the readers who have loved and hated my views depending, the other bloggers i have inspired to start writing their own blogs, the loves i have found through writing my blog and those who find the courage to comment on my posts. i feel incredibly blessed that you are all still here. so, yes, i'll admit the blog could do better...i could go social and start writing about beyonce and kim kardashian to amass more readers...i could throw shade on celebrities to get attention...or i can just remain me, with my little brood of readers who know me and the place from which i write...who get my jokes and know when i'm being sarcastic. i think the choice i have made is clear.

and so, to celebrate this small milestone in blog-writing, i will be giving away a NGN20,000 (Twenty Thousand Naira only) prize to the following category of people: (i) first ever commenter (ii) most commenter overall and (iii) best follower - for this you must be a follower of the blog. the grand prize will however go to the reader who can convince my panel of judges why we should make a NGN100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira only) donation to a charity of his choice. Once we choose the winner, we will make the donation by cheque to such charity in addition to the following prizes which the winner himself will take home:

1 (One) unit Blackberry Z10

1 (One) unit bag, plimsole and stiletto

(may vary from items shown)

NGN20,000 (Twenty Thousand Naira only)

At our discretion, a cash prize of NGN150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only) may be given as grand prize in lieu of items shown above. Judges decision is final.

Submissions should be sent to simplyoroquesview@gmail.com  between April 14 2013 to May 31 2013 and the winner will be announced right here sometime in August 2013. yes, you can spread the word.

Again, thanks for all your support y'all. and here's wishing for another 5 years of writing. see y'all around peeps.