HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

So Its 1:43am, I can't sleep because I am trying to come up with the best way to explain my absence.

But before I go on, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!😀
How did you spend your Christmas?  Hope you had fun, share some love and... Oh, how did it go with the Ichallenge??
Hope you gifted somebody??

Well, it's been 6days since I last posted.
I earlier told you you guys the struggle of blogging without a laptop. Phone would have been a very safe alternative but my phone has issues too.
But the great thing is that I'm working on it.

I wouldn't be as consistent especially for the next few days.
But I will try my best to update as frequent as I can. Alright?
Forgiven? Cool. Lol

May You always find a reason to be merry this holidays and forevermore.

ICHALLENGE: Gift a random person this Christmas.

Hello Monday!
How was your weekend guys. ?
I had a very spiritual encounter during the weekend. And i am sure i will live to tell the story one day. It was actually really funny how my room magically got flooded on Friday night. shaking my head***
But its all good.

Ahem. clears throat* Listen to this public announcement: If you know me and I know you and we know each other. This is officially asking your permission to publish incidents or stories that might have anything to do with you. lol. Don't sue me please. Thanks


How was Last week challenge? Did you take part? If you missed it please click here . Its never too late to do something positive. And if you took part in it, it would actually be nice if you send me an Email telling me how it went.

So this week's Ichallenge is inspired by Christmas and Love. Yes, still on the matter.
Its actually very simple.  Gift a random person this Christmas.
You can chose a random stranger or a random friend, just make sure you buy a gift for someone this Christmas. It doesn't have to be an expensive stuff. You can just buy recharge card, gift card, perfume, shoes, belt, anything, car sef if you want. lol.

So that's it for the challenge today.

spread the word!

CORNER STONE:

whatsup people?
How is the Ichallenge for the week going? How many people have you called from contact?
I called one of my friends and she was screaming. I had to cut the call and let her digest the situation, then i called her back.
it feels some type of way.

Today on corner stone, I read a very inspiring post  from Joel Osteen and I thought it would be nice to share with you guys:

In scripture, when the angel visited Mary and told her that she would be giving birth to the Son of God, Mary had a question for the angel. She said, "How can this be since I know not a man?" Mary was, of course, asking about the physical realm, but I believe we can look at this in a spiritual sense, too. God is saying today, "My promises are not dependent on who you know." You don't have to rub shoulders with certain people in order to fulfill your destiny. No matter what's going on around you, God will overshadow you to bring forth His promises! 

Instead of considering your circumstances today, why don't you consider your God? He loves you with an everlasting love. The dream He has placed in your heart may seem impossible, it may look too big, but don't overanalyze it or try to reason it all out. Follow Mary's example. Dare to say, "God, I don't see a way, but I know You have a way. Let it happen to me according to Your Word."

When thoughts come saying, "It's too late. It's impossible," ignore it. He always has an option we cannot see. He is saying today, "Every promise I've spoken over you, every dream I've placed in your heart, I will bring to pass." Receive His word by faith and trust that He is working behind the scenes. It doesn't matter who you know or where you've been when you are a child of Almighty God!

"The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…'" (Luke 1:35, NIV) 

Ahhhhh. that first paragraph got me so excited!! I hope this lifts your spirit!


Be Safe

LIFE CAM: This happened years back to me.

Praise the Lord!

Brethren, marriage is a good thing.

Hallelujah!?

If you"re single here, you should desire to be married!

However your desire should not be canal! It is a spirtual obligation!.

Praise God?!.

The Bible says that a woman is a help meet to the man, so if you"re a lady here and you"re a help meet to nobody, you"re wrong! You hear me? You are not fulfilling the scripture.

And if you're a man here, God said it was not Good for man to be alone. So if you are alone, you are wrong!

The congregation was a pack of enthusiastic Brothers and sisters. Pastor's preaching got them all excited as they were responding to every "praise the Lord"  and "Hallelujah" he called out.
Some people were overly excited they would have to "Whistle, clap their hands, wave their handkerchiefs or jump up, all these just to respond.

Picture me at one corner, somewhere at the back. Sitting in the middle of empty chairs. Actually i was in front, but the speaker was directly infront of me so i moved back, which was not as packed as the front.
So yeah, there i was.
Sitting motionless.
My face was expressionless too.
No one could read my  mind, i made sure of that.
Because in my mind, i was just as excited as the others. The Message was too clear and perfect i would be the Witch to not get excited.
But i didnt want to just show it.
It was hard trying to hide my feelings though. My God! So hard, because that's not even me. But i tried, i tried.

However, i laughed when pastor says something funny, i smiled when necessary.. I used my phone to take down notes! (I forgot my word note all because i was rushing). It wasn't as if i was just mean all through the message. Before you start judging.

But here's the thing.
I"m not ready for this marriage thingy.
I know it might sound weird or like a stupid joke. But again dont judge  me.

Honestly, i dont know why i"m not ready.
Maybe i"m just scared.
Scared of the wrong person, wrong time.. Wrong everything! You know.
I dont want to make mistakes.. Costly mistakes. Which is why "i jus dey my lane."

So even though i was feeling the message, i just didnt want to give the men the impression that i"m single and i badly need to get married!. Because thats not what it is!
I preferred to be in my corner. Not letting anyboody know if i was really single or engaged.

After the message, there was an alter call for the Single Ladies and gents..

1. "If you're single here and you have a desire to marry, i want you to come join me at the alter let me pray for you".

As he spoke, people made their ways to alter, some speedily, some slowly...

Me at my corner just sat down tight... I was more concerened at Why Majority of the people leaving their seats where Ladies!
I mean, where are the men to marry them?!
Does it mean that the gentlmen do not desire to marrry??

"Join me, join me. If you have a daughter or sister you also want to stand in for, you can also join us at the alter. Today, marriage doors will be opened in Jesus name!!

I still didnt move.
Half of the seats in church got literally empty..
One man infront of me,  kept on looking back. I knew he was looking at me, trying to fish out my 3rd finger if i had a ring on.
I"m sure he was wondering what this prettty lady who is of a "wifeable charisma and qualities" and probably single, is still doing at her seat.

At this point, i wished i had a ring, i would have put it right where he supposed!
I hid my left hand with my handkerchief and pretended i didnt know what was going on..

After the service.
As i stood up. He finally caught a glimpse of my left hand..
I had forgotten, i would have kept on hiding it.
Then our eyes met, i smiled and greeted him and he responded with a smile too...

As i walked home, i remembered how i always dodge sitting with my mum because she hasnt yet understood why i dont go for "Marriage Alter calls.
She thinks i"m a big joke for that. LOL!
She keeps asking me what will happen if someone comes for my hand in mariage.
(I"ll decline i guess)

Well,

I think marriage will happen when it will happen. Abi?
I just dont have the Desire yet.
Who knows where i can buy the desire?

IJE LOVE: Guys who request for their gifts back from their girlfriends? Why? Blog Visitor shares her story.

So my friend shared this story with me and asked me if i could post it and know what people think.
Now i count it an honor when people give me their personal encounters to publish. Its not easy and it doesn't happen all the time and hey, she really needs to hear from us so lets do well to drop our comments.

Here is it.

Babe, there is no need to publish my name naa, let me just go straight to the point.
I have a passion for photography and all my life i have always dreamt of becoming a photographer with my own world class studio and all, but i wanted to finish my BSC first. I am studying foreign languages. I met my boyfriend, or let me call him my EX because i broke up with him after this incident.
So i met him when in my 200l 2nd semester. Our relationship was very sweet except for the occasional character flops here and there from both parties. It was actually awesome, I would say 7/10. In my 300level, i moved in with him partially and we were playing the husband and wife role. Things got rosier. We would fight, make up like it was nothing.

One day, he came back and handed me a new Nikon camera. I was so excited because i had always wanted to own one of those Cameras. That was when i started noticing changes in his behavior. It was not like that was the first gift he bought me o, even though it was the first major gift. He gives me money, when i ask and he buys me clothes, and foots almost every bill. But after he bought the camera, he became overly possessive. He started complaining of little things and would always seize the camera whenever we have issues.

Little things like "why didn't you comment on my Facebook post? didn't you see my last picture? why didn't you like it?
''who were you talking to on phone before i walked in?
''How come there is no picture of me in this your camera, you're just taking other people''

Little quarrels like that. But the issue is not even the issues, its the way he always seizes my camera whenever he's angry, sometimes he would hide my sneakers and my favorite bag, all because he gave me money for them. After we make up, he would apologize and give them back.

So one day, he woke up one morning ad took my camera, i had a contract that day and when i was ready, i requested for the camera, he didn't say anything. He was giving me the silent treatment. I got so pissed off and we started exchanging words. I told him how childish it was whenever he does that and i told him i was tired of him. During the drama, i started packing my bags to leave his room. Guess what he said? right! He said i should leave my bag (my favorite bag actually), my fenty sneakers and one of my favorite sun shades. All because he felt i bought them with his money. I disagreed and he started dragging them with me. His neighbors gathered and he told them it was nothing serious.

He carried those items and locked them. I got so furious and since we were requesting what we gave, i went inside the kitchen to carry my pot of soup that i cooked the night before, i was about to leave with it but i had this devilish urge to do something crazy so i turned back, and emptied the pot of soup on is body. He raised his hand to beat me, God saved him, he didnt. After that, i carried my things and left.
The next day he brought my bag and other items to my friend's hostel and asked her to give it to me.

Sorry for the long story, but i want to know, is this even normal? like are there guys out there who have this attitude. If yes, please come and tell this honorable house why you are like that?

chilight. please help post,
Yours faithfully, Anonymous.

***** ***** ***** ***** **** ****** ****** ****** ******* ******** * ******* ***** *****

Wow!
What will i say now? lool.
well, its so wrong to give a gift and collect it back. LIKE! SOO WRONG!! No matter what.
Even if its a house you gave, or car, or iphone100, its just so childish to request for it.
I actually heard of a guy that roofed his girlfriend's father's house, When they broke up, he went to the house and told the man that he wants to reroof the house with the latest roofing, The man got excited and removed the previous roof for the guy to come and put the latest one. Only to find out that the guy lied, he actually dissapeared and left the man roofless. LOOL.


Please comment your thoughts i don tire. lool

STAY SAFE.

Personality Test. I am ENFJ, what are you?

Hey guys. late post again.
So my sister sent me this really cool site. You can test your personality and know where you fall intoi.
I am ENFJ.
You can click on the site and check yours then tell me what you find out.

This is nothing like astrology. They just have a bunch of questions for you to answer and you will be scored according to the answers you gave .
Some companies give the test to their employees, to determine where they best fit in the company.
so check it out.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/jtypes2.asp

Linda Ikeji's first blog post.

Wow. this is so inspiring.
You all know the popular Linda Ikeji, the blogger wizard. This was her first blog post.
This sent a chill of inspiration down my spine.
This will be me one day right??
okay. cool. Thanks for agreeing.

Ok bye.

Hello New Week. The challenge for this week is.....

Hello, good afternoon.
I am sorry this post is coming really really late today.
I had a lot going on my mind today. Thoughts of how to get a laptop for myself so that this blogging ministry can proceed to the permanent site. You know.
Owning a blog without a laptop is not cute at all. Not exciting.. Singing *Dont cry for me Nigeria*

So i started a blog post and my phone froze and i lost what i was typing. I had to be angry for hours before i got myself to start again.
But that's by the way.

Soooooooooooooooooooooo,
How was your weekend.
Full of drama or no drama at all?

As for me, nothing spectacular happened only christmas Hair. Lol.
And dont tell me Christmas hair is overrated because its not.
**** ****** ****** ****** ****** *******
My condolences to everyone who lost thier friends, lectureres or Family members in the 3tragic events that happened during the weekend.
I"m talking about:

* Reigners Bible Church in Uyo  that collapsed, killing many and injuring others

* The Three UNIBEN lecturers and about 56 others died in a road accident involving a tanker that caught fire.

* The only reasonable shopping mall in Benin city, Phil Hallmark razing to the ground. Even though no life was lost.

Thinking about this whole thing contributed to the challenge for this week.
So on Ichallenge For this week, its all about connection, care, Love.
You know those family members, that aunty or uncle or relative,  or even friends, that we havent called for a long-time, lets say for months, or even years... we are going to call at them this week. Yes oo. All of them.
You can call one person everyday for the rest of this week or pick a day of the week and call of them. One by one.

Catch up with them, i know some of these calls might be awkward because i have some uncles that whenever i call them they think its to ask for Money. (Which is true most times) lol.
Calling some of them might be awkward, but i will do it.
Greet them and their families and not request for shikim.
Hehehe
So yeah... i challenge you for this week! Call a long time friend/ family.
Some of them might really need an encouragement or the feeling of being loved and remembered and cared for.

**** **** ***** ***** **** **** **** ****
May the souls of the departed rest in peace. Amen.
**** ****** ******** ******** ********
Have a great week!

PEN IT: BEANS WILL DO. (PARODY)

What "kills" creativity?

Over the ages people have given alot of answers, well i'm here to tell you a little story and by the end you will probably join the people who have given a lot of answers . Lol

My family is a very funny one . . .
I'm home right now with mumsy and popsy, just the three of us, and recently mumsy had to go visit my snr sister and her family to do some Grandma ish, which is cool . . .and yeah mumsy's mum is alive and strong, which makes us a 4 generation family alive and running, shows d blessings of the Lord.

So she went, lil sis is there too so it was a no brainier, two birds with one stone. Now, it is cool (with lower case letters all through) staying home with pops but the not SO COOL part of it is dat you get to assume the "wifey" roll with the cooking.

Now initially, you get creative: you know stuff like boiled yam with sliced boiled eggs and stock fish infused vegetable sauce and a huge lump of smoked catfish, Stuff like that.
The proverbial "chicken peri peri".
But then at some point when you remember that you're the one to prepare the food, you loose all creativity and say to yourself, "beans!, beans will do."
"Every one needs a balanced diet or we have not had enough protein lately" . . .

At this point You start to think, " ah, if mumsy was here".
You begin to appreciate her efforts a little more, because when she was around and she asked, "What do u think we should eat today? Maybe beans?" And we would say, "Oh no, not beans" and we went ahead to suggest a meal and OMG was our creativity top notch, I mean, on a very unceremonious Tuesday afternoon in the middle of July, one of us could say stuff like, fried rice and salad with fried meat..
 And most of the time, she prepared it, wow looking back now that was really impressive.

Now most of you have not met my mum but she is an awesome woman and I'll give yuo a taste of her awesomeness . . .

So at some point she must have thought to herself mehn these children's demands are becoming outrageous what do I do? So she came up with the most Ingenious solution, next time she asked, " what do you guys think we should eat today?" as usual exotic foods were mentioned and we finally agreed on something like pounded yam and nsala soup with fresh fish and periwinkles.

The next thing she said was, "hmm . . . C (that's me) you peel d yam, set it to boil, wash d mortar and prepare to pound, J ( my elder sis) you get d fish, remove d scales, gut it, cut it up and prepare it for cooking . . . at first we didn't get d full picture, we just did as we where told but then as we grew older we understood.
We suggest the food, we did the cooking (at least most of it) though this translated to us being pretty good cooks which I must say is good home training.

 At some point when mumsy asks, "so what do you guys think we should eat" the funny answer became "Beans!! Beans will do, we all need protein". lol, and like so, she turned d tables around on us, now she let her mind run wild suggesting exotic meals, she'll say, "I was thinking something like coconut rice and chicken sauce" and we would say, "No no no no no, beans will do or maybe yam, yam and oil!!! We haven't had dat in a while, variety is d spice of life, u know?". My family is a funny one, won't you agree?

So now one of the most difficult things is not preparing your meal but figuring out what to prepare, you have to balance your appetite with your strength and time and off course consider what has been eaten before and what should be eaten later, where did all that creativity go?, now you probably can see why you can't pick mums on the streets. . .

So with this short story I have told, hope you have figured out your answers to the question, what "kills" creativity?

Yours
Buzugbe Chibuzor

CORNER STONE: Ever heard of "Black Prayer"?

18/07/2016.
From my Diary.
Wrote this after an instant miracle after praying.

............
Christianity would be boring if we dont constantly have challanges..
We need to "show off" "show ourselves" excercise the power we have as children of God because brethren, there is so much power in this thing o.

What are you doing?
You are broke so you can speak "The lord is my provider" and watch a stranger dash you money just like that...

You are sick so you can lay hands on yourself and speak "instant" healing...

You are struggling, so you can have total dependency on God and see how Jehova Over -Do will change your situation and turn your water into wine...

You are stranded, so you can call on the messiah and watch how he would divide that red sea and create a way for you where there is no way.

You are oppressed, so You can cry out to the lord  in prayer and watch him deal with your oppressors..

You are confused... so you can ask the lord for direction and hear him speak clearly to you...

Be anxious for nothing.. thats what the bible says. But if you ever find yourself anxious for somthing... spend sometime and pray in the holyspirit... pray till you have peace... thats why you are a Christian!

Whatever you want... wherever you find yourself, make use of your power! Biko. Don'tbe a dormant Christian and your power will just be there wasting.

Somebody threatens you with fetish words/practice.
This is actually the best part, no time to be scared! what are you doing with your power? wake up in the night do "Black prayer", if they are doing black magic, please do your black prayer....
Thanks to my friend precious ibik who is always using that phrase

Let me tell you how it works.: 
Black prayer is when you wake up in the middle of the night, Go outside your house,  stand at the junction where 3paths meet, and fire on in tongues!...
If you cant go to the junction no problem, you can just come outside your house.

Blast in tongues,  sing worship and praises to God! As you do that, God is busy whipping those people and thier powerless powers...

I dont understand why you should be scared. When you have a consuming fire as a God.
The next day, that person that threatened you will come and kneel down and greet you (thats if he survives it) and you will raise up your shoulder and answer him like a king answering his subject.

***** ****** ******* ******* ********
Shalom.

LIFE CAM: 2go almost ruined my life.

See this picture? that's a bad state. Very bad state. Be careful not to find yourself in this ever. Its just a 40% chance of you getting out.
If you think I'm talking about being drowned in water, please think deeper. Lol.
A lot of things drown people in life. wheewsh!
Let me give you an example: That ocean in the picture represents 2go. (A chatting application that was quite popular about  6-7years ago.)  And those hands? Those are of course my hands.
2go wasted 3years of my life. I mean wasted, drowned. pause, you know how fresh palm kernel is being processed until the oil is produced,? Exactly! that was how this application processed me.

What brought about this post?
Yesterday I was discussing with a friend of mine and somehow I mentioned that I spent3 years looking for admission. and then he asked; ''so what did you do with those 3years? I looked him straight in the eye balls, I made sure I caught them, and then I answered: ''2go''.
He looked confused, I saw that he looked confused because I could see a mixture of amused and shocked. LOL.

So back to my post. 2go dealt with me o. I lost my sense of being, sense of respon
sibility, sense of respect, it was crazy!

Morning, Afternoon and night, I was on my phone, I slept and woke up with 2go on my mind.
My mum got tired because I dodged chores and got  very bitter when she sends me on errands.
She complained to my aunties and uncles "all over the world" and they would call me on phone to scold me. I cared less. I was happily stubborn.

Let me blow your mind- One day, armed robbers came to our house and guess what gave me away? the 2go backlight. Normally when the app is active, your screen remains active, your backlight never dims out, so apparently I was 2go'ing outside my house, and I slept off...
 I forgot to go back inside and lock the doors, and when the armed robbers came into our compound, they saw the light from my phone telling them ''this way gentlemen'' and then they came to me and slapped me up! I was their tour guide for that night. I took them round the house and after their robbery, they grabbed me again and I showed them to the gate and they bade me good bye. sigh 
That would be the smoothest robbery in history.
It was that bad.
And I didn't realise what I was doing to myself. I didn't learn a skill, didn't bond with my parents considering that attended a boarding school and didn't get ample time to do that, didn't start blogging with all that Data! that one is most painful.

Imagine if I had started blogging with that time, or learnt a skill, or done something solid.
I didn't have motivation, nothing challenged me, nothing moved me, my only thought was to enter university and get to the highest star (rating) in 2go.
Looking back now, I wish I knew better.

If I could go back to those years, I would first; give myself a heavy knock on the head, learn a skill, start my blog, and delete 2go app from my phone. nonsense and ingredients!!

But there is a thin line between ''regretting'' and ''learning from your mistakes''. And I thank God for that option of ''Learning from your mistakes''.
I don't regret those years, something good came out of it after all, I discovered my hidden talent in one of the 2go rooms and made the most use of it. I'm very sure you are guessing what that talent is. hehehehe. but... lets leave that one first.

So back to the picture; 2go almost ruined my life, but thank God I survived it. I made it out alive. lol. And because of that, I have excellent appreciation for Hard work, Wisdom, inspiration, and any other thing in that family tree.
I want my existence to send out these signals especially to young girls.
Hence Ije.

Shalom!

IJE LOVE: A perfect Relationship.

Sat down for a couple of minutes trying to think about a perfect relationship. Wanted the blog post to have a really good opening but guess what? Its not coming. There is nothing in my big bag of ideas about a perfect relationship and what it looks like.
Different people see perfect differently. Define your perfect. What's your perfect?

What do you want in a relationship? For me I want ''Peace of mind''
Nothing like peace of mind.
I have learnt that you need to define your relationship, by yourself, have some thoughts and whenever you do that, be truthful to yourself.

I am going to end here because I am not even big on relationships myself, lol!
I just know that I want peace of mind, once I have that, I can deal with any other thing.
However, this post is just to bring to your consciousness (if you have been dreaming of a perfect relationship and always comparing your relationship with Peter, James and their girlfriends.) that: its an illusion. Really. Define Your perfect by yourself.

Shalom.

Blog schedule.

Hello Monday.

Wow, I'm finally getting used to typing with a proper computer keyboard. Lol.
It never used to be my thing, you know, I always felt it limits my flow, and freezes up my ideas, so instead, I preferred my phone. its very fast and somehow my flow is just swift.
So HURRAY for me.

Today, I am introducing the Blog Schedule. How we are going to be vibing for the next few..well, forever.
Feel free to bring up your suggestions in the comment section, or you can Email me.
Right now I need all Ideas and tips I can get.

MONDAYS:
ICHALLENGE. On Ichallenge, I put up a post and at the end, challenge my readers to do something for the week. Something highly positive. oh, the ''I'' stands for Ije.

TUESDAYS:
IJE LOVE: Like the name implies, basically posts about lessons learnt from  love and relationship. I will also be posting Emails from blog visitors on their experiences on Love and relationship.


WEDNESDAYS:
LIFE CAM: Life cam is a section were i post the interviews, success stories, life stories, etc. Readers can also share their life experiences for others to read and learn.

THURSDAYS:
CORENERSTONE: This is where we discuss spiritual matters. Faith, belief, super-naturality. Et all.

FRIDAYS:
PEN IT: This section is for writers! I get to publish posts from writers who send in their articles.

Saturdays and sundays are for anything.. as the spirit leadeth..
So that's it, I hope it sounds good to you because to me this is GREAT!! **rubbing hands**



THANKS for reading. And don't forget to share your thought.

BLESS UP

''Nothing prepares you for waking up to a barrage of calls, messages and social media mentions'- Dr Pius Ojemolon. Uniben Graduate who got 19 Awards.

I saw a picture online of a young man holding up awards like he collected for his class people that were not around, really, I didn't think they were all his, I thought he took on behalf of people and decided to flaunt it or something, until I read the post. 19awards??? Omg! who is this guy?
That was all I could ask, till I discovered that I might have known him distantly. So I decided to talk to him and ask him a few questions.
He is a purpose driven young man and a very humble one. I remember I had to send him a question at 3am and he replied. So wrong and unprofessional of me I know, but I'm glad he took it well.

So meet Dr Pius Ojemolon. Who bagged 19 Awards including:
Best graduating student in Pathology,
Best graduating student in Pharmacology,
Best graduating student in Community Health,
Best graduating student in Obstetrics and Gynaecology,
Best graduating student in Internal Medicine,
Best graduating student in Surgery,
Best graduating student in the School of Medicine among others.
Prior to now, he has received other awards while in school,
He is from Edo state, Ekpoma to be precise.

PLEASE TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?
 I'm Pius. 23 years old. Recently graduated from the University of Benin where I studied Medicine and Surgery. From a family of three. Have an elder sister (who's married and resides in Port Harcourt with her husband) and a younger brother (who's doing his national youth service in Asaba). I lost my baby sister in April last year.
REALLY SORRY ABOUT YOUR LOSS.
Thank you.

SO HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN THIS SMART KID WHILE GROWING UP?
Well, something like that. I had good grades in primary and secondary school.


HOW DID GROWING UP CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR ACADEMIC PROWESS?
 My mum is a biology teacher and my dad is a disciplinarian of sorts. They always directed myself and my siblings to strive for academic excellence.

SO 19 AWARDS, HOW COME PLEASE? I'M VERY CURIOUS. WHAT DID YOU DO SPECIALLY?
I really don't know. There's nothing I can point a finger at besides the grace of God. That's pretty much all I can ascribe it to.

 

THATS GREAT BUT THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING. HOW WAS YOUR SOCIAL LIFE IN SCHOOL OR WAS IT JUST YOU AND YOUR BOOKS?
 Definitely not.
I have always been a socially active person, right from childhood.
I was strongly involved with the University of Benin Medical Students Association (UBEMSA) from my second year till I graduated. I was Director of Sports from 2012 to 2014, and a member of Congress from 2014 till graduation.
I was also my faculty's football team coach from 2014 till I graduated. Together, we won the Nigerian Medical Students Association Games Football Competition in Owerri in 2014 and came second two years later when UNIBEN hosted the competition. Also, we came third in the VC's inter-faculty games in 2015.
Anyone who knows me well enough knows how passionate I am about sports in general, and football in particular.

SO HOW HAS IT BEEN THIS PAST FEW WEEKS, SUDDENLY BEING IN THE SPOTLIGHT, HOW DO YOU FEEL? WERE YOU EVEN PREPARED AT ALL?
It has been incredible. Nothing prepares you for waking up to a barrage of calls, messages, and social media mentions. I'm just grateful to everyone for the reception. It has been overwhelming really.


WHAT ARE YOUR SUCCESS HABITS IF ANY?
I try to attend classes and postings as much as possible. I've been fortunate enough to come across lots of gifted lecturers and doctors who have impacted knowledge and character into my life. So, I kept going back for more.

DO YOU READ MOTIVATIONAL BOOKS? IF YES, WHAT IS YOUR BEST?
Not really.


WHAT DRIVES YOU? DURING TOUGH/DISTRACTING TIMES? LIKE, WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING?.
The thought of making my family proud.


WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE TO YOUNG PEOPLE?
Whatever path you choose in life, do whatever it takes to achieve your desired goals. Be dedicated and goal-oriented, and surround yourself with great minds. I'm blessed with wonderful friends and they have really helped me along the way.


OKAY. YOU TALKED ABOUT GOALS. ''DESIRED GOALS''. WHAT IS YOUR DESIRED GOAL?
To be the best medical doctor I can be.


SO WHAT'S NEXT? WHERE ARE YOU GOING FROM HERE?
Housemanship and Youth service. Those are the immediate next steps. Beyond that, I'm still weighing  my options.

IF YOU WERE TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD YOU NAME IT?
SCULPTED.

WHY?
I feel like I have been ''made'' by my family and friends.



THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. DR PIUS.
Oh, you are welcome.

For the strong.

Shout out to every strong person out there... including myself.
 May the source of your strength never run dry.
But i just want to tell you that, its okay to be weak, and vulnerable sometimes.
Its okay to have an outburst of emotions, to let people see your other side, your soft side.
Its okay to let your self be overwhelmed and marvelled and even suprised at situations/people sometimes.
You have bottled it up too much.
Sometimes just reach out to that soft kid in you curled up at one corner.
And just let it out.
You are human being, not a robot


Shalom.

Studied Medicine and Surgery For 8years but gave it up to run his own company. Dr Charles Akhimien. Co-Founder of MOBicure.

Dr. Charles Akhimien

I had the honour(yes! honour) of speaking with the Co-founder of  MOBicure, DR CHARLES AKHIMIEN.
I would gist you about MOBicure, but first, let me talk about Dr Charles for a minute.
Dr Charles is 28years old, studied Medicine and Surgery at The University Of Benin for 8years,but what you would find interesting is that he now runs his own company and has given up his medical career.
After all those years right?
Well, that is the purpose of Ije. Answering the "why" "how" and "what" questions that goes on in people's minds.
So he is the Co-founder of MOBicure, a social enterprise that provides mobile health care solutions for Nigeria. MOBicure's flagship product is the mobile platform called OMOMI, a mobile APP built for pregnant women  and mothers. it is the fastest growing online community for women and is being used by over 15,000women.

OMOMI has won series of international awards which includes:
Best Initiative, at the 4th Smart City Expo World Congress held in Barcelona, and was also one of the 47winners of the United States Of America Development Foundation (USADF) Business Plan Competition for YALI 2016 fellows.

For some of you reading, this is probably the first time you're hearing about something like this.

Truth is, there are people, right?  Doing things, innovating, and climbing their way to Zuckerberg. Another reason there is IJE.
Enjoy the interview.

SO HOW DID THE WHOLE IDEA START? OMOMI/ MOBicure?
The company was initially co-founded by 3 innovative, young people- two medical doctors from Nigeria (Drs Charles Akhimien and Emmanuel Owobu), as well as a software engineer from India (Raman Anurag). Dr Charles and Emmanuel have always shared a passion to change the world; to make it better than they met it. They both attended the same medical school (the University of Benin), and by their final year they had begun putting plans in place to start a mobile health company. However, since they didn't have the technological expertise, they needed to find a co-founder with the necessary technology experience and skills. While representing Nigeria at the Global Startup Youth 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Dr Charles met Raman, a software engineer and all-round technology genius. Talking over coffee one day about our OMOMI project, he decided to join the team and that was how the 3 of us initially cofounded MOBicure.
Now its just Emmanuel and I as the third cofounded has gone to other things. So basically Emma and I first thought of the idea of using mobile tech to offer health services for women and children that's how OMOMI was born.

AT WHAT POINT DID IT TAKE A NEW TURN? WHAT EVENT BROUGHT OMOMI TO LIMELIGHT?.
Hmmm.Well the Tech-I competition in November 2014 was the very first major competition we won and personally it was my first major event, I was representing OMOMI.

AND HOW DID THAT AFFECT THE GROWTH OF THE COMPANY?
Well, it gave us international exposure, it put us on the radar of the U.S. Government and it basically created this domino effect. So we got more international (U.S) links, more exposure, more access to funding.

 WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE SO FAR? AND HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO BREAK THROUGH IT?
Well the biggest challenge is visibility. People will only use OMOMI if they know about it and OMOMI will only make money if people use it. So marketing and getting the word out abut OMOMI has been the biggest challenge.

WHAT IS BEEN DONE ABOUT THAT?
Well we had to innovate around it. We employed a mix between online and on-the-ground marketing. So we had to leverage on social media; Facebook has been particularly successful also of late, Instagram as you know, because these women who use OMOMI are women who live on Facebook, instagram,  twitter, etc. We have also done on the ground marketing especially for the SMS service. Utilizing mobile marketers who we called ''foot ambassadors'' to sign up 6,000 plus women all over Edo state.

OKAY. SEEMS LIKE YOU ALREADY HAVE IT UNDER CONTROL. WELL, WOULD YOU SAY THIS IS IT FOR YOU?
Oh no! Certainly not. We have a long way to go. I have a long way to go. OMOMI is just beginning and we have barely scratched the surface. We are a company so MOBicure is beginning to start to make revenue, though little but it will continue to increase hopefully. We want to reach 5million women by 2020.

BRILLIANT. SO HOW DO YOU PLAN TO REMAIN FOREVER?
Oh, keep breaking new boundaries, Keep solving problems and soon... changing the world!!

WHAT/ WHO DRIVES/MOTIVATES YOU?
Well I am motivated by success. Just the idea of success motivates me. I always say 'I inspire me' but many people take this the wrong. This is not me being braggadocios or prideful. it is just me telling myself that I cannot wait on anyone to inspire me. My inspiration has to come from within, and I think that's what young people today lack. External motivation is good and all, but what happens when you are alone and no one believes in me? what happens in your ;night watches'? This is where you have to inspire yourself; this is where your motivation becomes your responsibility

GREAT! BUT DOES THIS YOUR NEW STATUS AFFECT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PEOPLE? DO YOU GET THE POPULAR ''YOU HAVE CHANGED'' PHRASE?
Well not really. I am still the same person. I do the same things I talk d same way. Yes I am busier now but I still have time for people.

OKAY SO YOUR JOURNEY FROM THE SMALL STARTUP GUY TO AN INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNER, WHAT HAS IT TAUGHT YOU?
That all dreams are valid. If you work hard and have a plan, a clear plan, chances are you will succeed.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT GROWING UP AND HOW IT AFFECTED WHO YOU ARE TODAY?
Well I grew up in Benin. I had a sheltered childhood. I spent most of my time reading. But I have always been a very motivated person even as a child. I have always wanted to be different. As early as JSS 2, I was already doing something different. I started the first Press Club in my secondary school and I started reading the news everyday in the school assembly for one whole year. I had to wake up at 5.30 am everyday and listen to bbc radio and write down the news and then by 7.45 in the assembly I would read the news to the whole school.

THATS HUGE. THAT REMINDS ME, YOU WON AN INTERNATIONAL WRITING COMPETITION ONCE. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
Writing is my first love actually. In April 2013, I won the prestigious World Environment Day Blogging competition for 2013 organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and I subsequently represented UNEP in Mongolia as the official blogger for the for World Environment Day 2013. I think this actually remains what I am most proud of. I cant explain why but I was really elated and it meant a lot to me at the time because I was losing a bit of confidence in my self and I felt I had lost my way and become like everyone else but winning it reminded me of who I really was and it was really the singular event that changed my life.

ABOUT STUDYING MEDICINE AND SURGERY FOR 8YEARS AND NOT PRACTICING, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WASTED THOSE YEARS?
No I. Don't feel so. I'm still using medicine  but in a non-conventional way. So it's not a waste. Medicine taught me hard work and discipline. Two virtues that you use today even in running MOBicure.

HOW DID YOUR FAMILY TAKE IT? WERE THEY DISSAPOINTED?
My mom was very supportive. I was raised by my mom alone so it was largely her opinion that counted.

WHATS YOUR LIFE PHOLOSOPHY?
Existing is not enough, make a difference. Maya Angelou  once wrote. ''My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style''. I absolutely  believe this and have done so for the last three years.

SO WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS?
Having a clear plan. Perseverance (sticking to your plan) Motivating yourself always.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK?
Harry porter series.


ANY SUCCESS HABITS?
Start your day early! Have quiet times. Times when you are all alone by yourself and you shut out the world. It helps to put everything in perspective


THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME DOCTOR CHARLES, WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE TO STARTUPS.
It's all about the problem you are trying to solve. Businesses should focus always on the problem.  And how they are solving the problem.


......................................................................................................................................................................
You can download the OMOMI app here. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobicure.omomi

IJE. Life is a journey.

Excited about this.

''IJE'' is an Igbo word which means ''movement''  or ''walk'' or anything that involves moving from one place to the other.

IJE is a platform where i get to interview people, young or old, who is doing or has done something fascinating/ captivating/ intriguing/ mind-blowing/ (insert your own word) and those who something intriguing has happened to. People who have inspiring stories in the sections of Business, sports, entertainment, fashion, and life in general.

These people get to share their stories on IJE, the little crumps that made the whole.

IJE is aimed at inspiring, entertaining and challenging the readers/audience. In IJE, we are all about positive vibes.

The vision is to do more than OPRAH WINFEREY. And i am definitely going to have her on IJE one day, please take note that i said it. 

Well for now, i am starting with this blog. I am working on getting a Youtube channel soon, and also make it a proper TV show. The amazing thing is that i am going to be giving my readers a chance meet with their role models and asking them questions themselves. Just like Ellen.

 So If you know anybody that should be on IJE, please contact me.

And ride with me, as i make IJE a Den for great people. 

Stay tuned for THE FIRST PERSONALITY. And take note: IJE will not bore you!