WHAT’S UP 24!
The original plan was to do four highlights of what I did with my 23rd year on earth, but I want to use this medium to apologize to everyone who looked forward to some articles I should have posted on this platform in time past. The truth is I got involved in a lot of persuasive/political copywriting this past one year that I started thinking persuasion in all my writings. The motivation to write because I want to was substituted by that of writing because you all need to believe me. My recycle bin will probably be laughing at me right now because I am not even allowed to share the said persuasive writings I have written. Then again, I will laugh back at it this new age. I believe that apology will be accepted. I am just going to go straight to the review — because I want to…
THIN LINES
I thought I was finally going to reach the height of categorizing some people as enemies but 23 was tricky. I had people come into my life and yeah, people also left. 23 removed the magnifying lenses that I had been wearing; making me realize that the thin line I had thought existed in relationships was as a matter of fact thinner. But even at that, it is opaque and it is as 7ft tall (a fence). It got to a point that I had people sitting on this thin-tall-fence. But I got to realize later that these thin lines that exist in relationships are all about interests. And I also learnt that it is perfectly normal for interests to change over time. In all, I am grateful to God for the people I have been privileged to have in my life.
GRADUATING FROM THE UNIVERSITY
I still don’t understand why most people believed I was going to graduate from the University with a first class degree. I mean, I tried but I knew I wasn’t going to get it from my third year. However, it didn’t stop me from going after the best CGPA that I could get. My number one priority for most part of 23 was to take my academics serious and I must confess, I fell in love with Power Systems during the second semester of my final year. Second semester was the only time that I got a knack for the course I was studying but even at that, I was wise enough not to read outside the syllabus. By October 2018, I was done with my final exams. But I had to wait for four months to be able to defend my project before I could call myself a graduate. I should probably write about the frustrations that I encountered during the course of my project but maybe you should check my Linkedin account for that.
GRASSROOTS POLITICS
I fell in love with grassroots politics when I was in Lagos state. I remember how easy it was to get involved in political activities at freewill and was it fun? Yes it was. Sha, I carried my Rosh Gadol head to my hometown last December, hoping to take part of the 2019 general elections at the grassroots level but then I gave up on my first attempt — or was it the second attempt? On the first attempt, I attended a stakeholders meeting and the young men that were sitting by my left and right had pistols tucked somewhere below their waist region. As in, I saw it with my korokoro eyes. I probably should tell you that one of the boys was once my classmate in primary school, and he lost his right leg in a shootout that evening — cult clash. The second attempt was when I stood in the youth section of a crowd, watching a seating senator who had collected billions of Naira for constituency projects with nothing to show for it tell my people to vote for him for another term. I walked out of the rally that day, then some people started saying I am not loyal. 23 made me find out that grassroots politics is ruled by the people at the top. I still want to play grassroots, but I intend playing from the top this time around.
JOBS, VOLUNTARY SERVICES, FREELANCING
I don’t consider myself as a writer and I do not have the ‘I want to be a Soyinka’ dreams. Writing to me is a weapon in which a single sentence can change the course of history. 23 was a year I delved into so many types of writing. And to write, I had to read. For instance, in preparation for the 2019 elections, I had to read books on propaganda, media persuasion and I even crossed the line and read on manipulations. I wrote some few propaganda articles as a ghost writer and I think it made me realize how powerful written words are.
I took up a job as a volunteer at Wikipedia. I am not proud of how much I have contributed so far but I will try harder this new age. At some point in 23, I tried social entrepreneurship but then I think I got carried away with grants. I still have interests in social entrepreneurship though, but definitely not in 24. I was privileged to be part of The Mudia Project for a span of four months, during which I developed contents and taught a number of people content development strategy. I took courses online on big data but then I slowed down on it, I intend continuing in 24.
Then there is freelance. I got back into freelance writing after almost two years of being away. Of course, my freelance accounts had lost their relevance. I had to be doing 2nd party gigs. 2ndparty gigs are fun to me, I get to learn new things everyday but then the pricing is not as much as 1st party gigs. One of the highlight of freelancing at 23 was when my hard drive disk got fried. I lost a file worth a whole lot of money and there was nothing I could do about it. I learnt, so I am now using Google docs.
IT’S GETTING TOO LONG!
Quickly, what does 24 hold for me? Well, we will talk about the highlights next year. For now, I promise to make this space mine — because I want to.
