Happy Birthday, but will I start writing again?

Happy Birthday to me; Big age of 28.

I still recall growing up and getting confused and anxious when asked what I wanted to become. It was always a difficult question because I didn’t really want to become anything the people who asked the question wanted to hear. I would go on and smile and then the adult asking the question will be like “Mama Ebuka, this one go be Doctor. E dey always read every time, e too like book”. I struggled to understand the correlation. Did Lawyers read less? Did scientists read less? Did accountants read less?

Anyways this article does not end with me being a Doctor. No, it doesn’t. Back then in Benin city, Upper-Sakponba to be precise (This is for Ikhas and my friends who will never agree I am from the streets; I was born there Fgs) where I had my formative years, Books were my escape. I loved reading- History, Novels, My Book of Bible stories, New English Readers, Complete sports, Vanguard newspapers, The sun, and even Dear Bunmi - I consumed everything and when I read sentences that were twisted in novels, it gave me so much joy seeing figures of speech or when I found a new “big” word synonymous to the word I regularly used. I looked forward to new terms in school growing up, I loved new textbooks and especially new novels. And Oh I loved the smell. Because I liked words and books, it made primary and secondary education easier for me, cause words stuck with me and I understood sentences and stories faster - I coasted in a lot of subjects; I read and passed- maybe until Mathematics. Maths never made sense to me- Still doesn’t.

Slowly I started to graduate to African history and novels and then I found Chinua Achebe and immediately fell in love- With everything. Not just his books, but his life. He was important but simple, never dug too much into ideals, and the characters in his novels were always deeply flawed - His stories introduced me to anti-heroes. He didn’t try to force the ideas of his characters on you, he presented both sides and showed you how the color from both sides can mean different things; you the reader made the choice. Diplomatic and cynical, he didn’t give in to too much hope and he was a simple man till the end. Oh and Agnostic too, never gave into the definitism, that is atheism. He always found a way to leave room for learning, for questions; Nothing was definite nor black and white. He had strong opinions also, which were mostly about Identity, freedom, and Nigeria. He fascinated me- He still does and that’s when it struck me- I wanted to be a writer.

Then life happened. and I work in Tech and I’ve written maybe 7 articles in 6 years. A poor return for what maybe was my first interest. The in-betweens for that story are for another time.

I have always enjoyed words and putting my thoughts in ways that I think are interesting and the million naira question is why have I written so few times since I started my career? I am still searching for that answer. Maybe I will find it, maybe I won’t but I’m 28 this year - An adult, maybe in the prime of Adulthood and I am maybe more determined to do the things I enjoy, more often. Or Maybe It’s Just Birthday Hormones. This User is determined to make sure it’s not hormones.

Today, I’ll be older by one year but deep down, I feel much older. It’s what life experiences can do eh?

In all, I am grateful for my years on earth and my new experiences. This year I migrated to the United Kingdom and I am looking forward to more experiences. I hope to contribute a lot of my learnings to the tech community here. I felt honored to be recognized as a Global Tech Talent by the UK and It has inspired me to keep believing in the value that I add and the work that I do. Over these past 7 years, I’ve done incredible work at a start-up and my professional and personal growth has been inspiring, even to me.

But I hope to have more dimensions to my life than work, this year. I want to do a lot of the things I really enjoy. I want to add value in different ways than one, to my community and environment. I want to learn a lot of new things beyond my MBA and I want a more robust life experience overall. I am starting off with the basics in the things I enjoy and love, such as writing, and with my Newsletter which you’ll subscribe to, we will connect and you’ll be beside and in front of me as we transverse this year. I most likely will not be an Achebe, and neither will I quit my career for writing but ill write and share a lot more on ink.

I hope you too, can be excellent with the work you do, and add more enjoyment to your life every day by really doing more things you enjoy. I think that by doing that, keeping your mind open to learning, and “giving”, we touch the essentials of life.

To 28 & re-discovering our lost loves.

- So I tried so hard not to talk about Peter Obi and the elections coming up in a few days’ time, as that’s all I tweet about. But Vote for Peter Obi.

I believe he is the best choice for changing our dynamic and our political status quo. You can search my tweet catalog for a plethora of other reasons.

Bye, and hopefully I write again soon.