Nigerian blogger Laila Ijeoma, has said that she started her blog as a
prank. The owner of Laila’s blog is a mother, a banker and she enjoys
quite a large follower-ship online.
In an exclusive interview with Ademola Olonilua, of Saturday Punch, Laila, shared how she started her blog.
I actually started blogging in 2012. Lailasblog.com was birthed January 2013
I have always been a science student in school and I never knew anything
about blogging in my life. When I finished school, I just wanted an
outlet where I could share experiences with people and because of
that, I started a Facebook page called, ‘True love for my man.’ That was
the first social media account I used to gather people together and we
spoke about love and heartbreak. The Facebook page grew because a lot of
my friends joined.
I still wanted more, so I told a friend that I had the desire to run a
television show and she told me to visit a radio station instead. I
listened to her advice, visited a radio station and they gave me air
time to do a show about money because I also work in a bank.
I had to cancel the show because it was not easy running the show
alongside being a mother, a wife and a banker. All this while, I was
still holding on to the passion of growing a community of like minds.
One day, I stumbled on one of my colleagues’ blog at work and I asked
him questions about how it works. He showed me how to run a blog and
from there, I began to visit other blogs. I was so intrigued and I told
my colleague that day in the office that I wanted to start my own blog.
He helped me create the blog, I began blogging and ever since then, I
have had so much fun. I did not start it because I needed money, I was
gainfully employed. When I started and began to read people’s comments, I
knew this is what I had been looking for all this while.
It is crazy and quite difficult to explain it. I spend every free second
I have on my blog. I started waking up as early as 3am to blog and the
beautiful thing about blogging is that you can schedule your posts, so
even when you are not online, the post would still be uploaded on the
blog. That helped me a lot.
During my break hours, I would rush home, find out what is happening
around the world and begin to blog then I rush back to the office after
that. Then once it is 4pm, I quickly round off my work and by 6pm, I am
back home sitting in front of my computer, blogging till about 12am when
I go to bed. That is how I have been living my life because I am still
working for the bank.
It has to do with passion. When you want to succeed, as bad as you want
to breathe, then you would be successful. You would not even see
obstacles. My passion has been a driving force.
Also, I have a supportive home and a husband who is very caring. I have a
husband who helps out a lot at home and even on the blog and I am very
grateful. In fact, my kids even know that their mother is a blogger. My
family understand that I have two jobs and they all come together to
help me. They help out with whatever they can and this reduces the
burden.
When Toke Makinwa got married, I broke the story but I don’t think that
was controversial. Once in a while, I have had issues with some
celebrities and some other people. Also during the Olamide versus Don
Jazzy feud, I broke the story that it was Dangote that brought them back
together and Olamide prostrated to Don Jazzy. The story actually went
viral.
I think one that almost got me into trouble involved the wife of the son
of a very top Nigerian pastor. This top and highly revered pastor’s
daughter-in-law posted her bikini picture on her Instagram page and when
I saw it, I uploaded it on my blog.
Of course, I knew it would generate some controversies but I uploaded it
though later took it down after I had a change of heart. But
unfortunately, other blogs had already picked it. Later I got a letter
from the lady that I published her picture without her permission. It
was on public domain.
Yes I have and I am trying to remember them. The latest one was with
Toni Payne. I don’t know if it should be on print because these are
issues I have resolved. During the Toni Payne saga, she threatened me
and told me that she could circulate a false story about my husband.
When I became very serious with my blog, I had to get a writer to assist
me. Right now, I have two writers that assist me. They help me post
some stories when I am preoccupied with some other things.
That very day, one of my writers stumbled on a post on Instagram,
someone used a parody account and the name of the account was Thoni
Payne. The person blasted Wizkid and my writer thought it was Toni
Payne. So when my writer was uploading it on my blog, she credited the
statement to Toni Payne.
However, immediately she did it and realized her mistake, the post was
removed. All that time, I was at work and was not aware of all that was
happening.
It was when I got back home and I was going through my emails that I saw
a message from Toni where she was abusing me. She had already sent a
mail to my in-laws and my husband. She was able to get them by tracing
through my social media accounts. She told my in-laws that I was
tarnishing people’s image on my blog and they should warn me to take
down the story. I did not know she had sent a mail before that one.
Then I replied her asking what the problem was in a very nice manner. It
was at that point I scrolled down my mail and saw the first e-mail she
sent me where she wrote that I posted false news about her and I must
apologize or she would instruct her lawyers to write me, then she
attached the link of the story with the e-mail.
I went to my blog and realized the post had been deleted, so I called my
writer and she informed me of what happened. Toni Payne was insisting
that I apologize and I told her that I didn’t need to be told that she
deserved one.
I own the blog and accepted full responsibility for what happened. Then I
put up a retraction. Toni even sent me a picture of my husband to make
me understand that she did her job well. When she did that, I had to ask
if she was threatening me. She said that she was not going to do
anything like that but she added that one day I would get a dose of my
medicine.
I was very shocked when she said that. She said I had been writing so
many evil stories about her and that I was after her downfall. Which I
am not.
I am somebody that apologizes when I am wrong; we all make mistakes once
in a while. Even CNN and Daily Mail which I love a lot make mistakes. I
post the news and I never blackmail. If I am wrong, I would always
apologize but if you accuse me wrongly, I leave it to God because the
person is not worth my stress.
I was consistent in my work and in 2014, a particular company did an advert with me for a full year and it was worth it.
One good thing about blogging is that you don’t have to be in Lagos but
you have to be there to attend business meetings. You can blog from
anywhere and you can get fresh news anywhere as long as you have the
right sources, friends and connections. Sometimes strangers send me
stories because they like my blog. They say things like they want me to
be the first to break the story. That is how I get most of my stories.
No, I did not. I started my blog as a prank. I did not start my
blog because I wanted to make money. In 2007, I was earning as much as
N200,000, I was single and I was a big girl. It was not about money at
all. I started blogging as a prank; I even used a fake picture on my
blog’s profile. It was along the line that I realized that I
enjoy it. I love blogging. I did not realize that the blog would take me
to where I am today.
May God not let bad thing happen. When you get popular, you are exposed
to a lot of things. Even the people that are with you can sell you out.
Most of the stories that we post were given to us by inside sources. It
is people around celebrities that give the stories to bloggers. I don’t
think I am ready for such popularity. I like things the way they are.
It is the Pan African Humanitarian Award in partnership with the
Economic Community for West African States and World Leaders Forum,
Dubai, and I was nominated in the category of the most promising blogger
of the year. I was very excited when I got the mail because it is the
first international nomination that I would have. I also feel very
honored and humbled.