The Politics of the Nigerian Blog Awards

While on my blog rounds one morning three weeks ago, I got a message on Facebook from a fellow nominee that Feisty Pen had received 7 blog nominations at the Nigerian Blog Awards. The tone of that message set the pace for my perceptions towards the ensuing campaign.

Nigerian Blog Awards 2011



I am very grateful. This is a very special award because it is what I am about. Thank you.

Creative Planker Award; In the Lagos Flood

Planking; [verb] To lie down flat with arms to the side mimicking a wooden plank and usually in unusual locations. Activity not completed until picture posted on the internet and friends ooh and aah or hiss! (Feistionary)

All month long, it has clogged my news feeds; Twitter and Facebook (follow me on Twitter if you aren’t @chocberry). I’ve seen all sorts of pictures.

Like Funke Akindele’s suliaish pose

What I would do if I was deployed to Borno or Bauchi

Find out what Berry would do if she were deployed as a youth corper to these regions.

The Lagos Hawker; An Ode to Smelly Armpits

I am hungry. I’m in traffic on my way back from work. The cars crawl; every car has to brake at a certain water puddle in front. Causes a chain reaction. Traffic stretches for miles. My thoughts on traffic mechanics are interrupted by noises from my stomach. Then I sight him. He is carrying a carton of Gala. UAC’s Gala is faded glory but I will make do. I stretch out my hand and signal to him.

What's on your mind? Tell the Truth!!

Facebook asks you what’s on your mind. You type the first thing that comes to mind, but forget what is truly filling you up. Like you’re planning to kill your wife or you plan to cruise the United States with boarding passes that are not yours.

A few days ago, it was reported that a man, Arowolo Akande murdered his wife in cold blood and cut up her body, attempted to flee but was rounded up by the police. Everyone eventually looked him up on Facebook and gleaned all they could from his profile. They said his page was full of Bible Scriptures. I didn’t check because by the time I got to it, the page had been taken down.

Why I Blog

Hey,

How do you feel today? I have been wrapped up in the euphoria of the blog nominations but  snapped out of it when I realized that it is posting truly interesting and inspiring blogs that got me here in the first place.

I took up blogging in Oct 2010 amidst calls from my friends on Face book. I had written my first flash memoir on my birthday 23 rd Sept and some people thought they heard a voice there needing to reach the world. I've gone on to write these amongst many others.

Short Stories

Cold Feet,
Cock Crow At Dawn,
For The Love Of BlackBerry,
Kini,
ButterFlies In My Stomach,
Familiarly Pushy,
Small Pikin, 
My Three Patients,
Living, 
Mad World, 
Choir Blues (1)

 non fiction pieces

How Not To Be A Rat In My House
Dear N
Of Legacies And Remembrances
You Need Me To Feel Good
The Fragility Of The Artistic Ego
Humor's Limit
Association of Witches and Wizards... Seriously??
Correspondence Between Berry Feisty Pen and Mr Aliyu Umar
This Is Some Bizarre Stuff; Like Seriously?
The Perfect Church; How Perfect?

Pilgrim Progress on Ynaija.com

How Not To Be Spirit Filled
Will You Really Walk Past?
Who Do Men Say I Am
Let's Paint This Town Red
The Fourth Man In This Furnace
Too Young For A Legacy?
My Mess, My Growth
New Beginnings; Starting All Over Again
Thou Shall Not Compare

Opinion Pieces

Our Apathy, Our Undoing(Sahara Reporters, Bella Naija)
What Exactly Is Your Colour (234 Next)
Madam, Your Hair Is Due (234 Next)
Fela, Not Without Honour ( Bella Naija)
Lives; Not Federal, Not State (234 Next)

I blog to

Keep my creative juices flowing- It is incredibly difficult to keep getting better at writing if you don’t write. I mean, it’s really that simple and I owe whatever more I know about writing to the blogging experience.

Find an outlet to encourage and inspire- Sometimes, there are just words in my head that I feel I shouldn’t be the only one hearing so I blog to let out the voice.

I do not blog:

For popularity- I am not moved by the number of followers, the comments etc and certainly not blog nominations. Encouraged by it, but not driven by it. I simply love to write.

To belong to a certain clique or group- I actually cringe at the thought of being herded into some kind of clique. The group effect never quite got me. I am a professional writer and take what I do very seriously.

For financial reward- When I write my novel and get it published, then I would expect people to buy it and of course earn money as a result but this blog is sacred; like a scrap book of sorts and a repository of all I’ve ever written that makes sense. I will not blog just anything to get a certain number of hits or reduce quality so that the Google ads can be clicked on.

The 7 nominations are well deserved in my opinion. I would have felt like a fraud any way else.

Read this blog and then VOTE if you think Feisty Pen deserves this

I love you for free sugars