The Inspiring Story of a Nigerian Blogger (My long journey to Becoming a Successful Blogger)
This is my story of how I started blogging. I hope this story inspires someone.
Congratulation to Maverick Excel. Maverick Excel
is one year.
One Year into Blogging. One year into self
discovery. One year into entrepreneurship. One
year into connecting with the most incredible
people alive.
Oh wow….
Cant believe that Maverick Excel is one year
already.
Indeed how time flies. It’s just like yesterday
that I started.
Here I am. I feel so happy because something
that started practically from nothing is gradually
turning into a serious business.
One year ago Maverick Excel was a mere idea, a
dream, a burning desire and now it’s all dream
come true.
I want to use this opportunity to give a detailed
report about my one year into blogging.
Keep reading. You’ll be amazed by my humble
beginning.
Why I Started Blogging.
There’s always a reason for doing a thing.
People do things for so many different reasons.
It may be for pleasure, satisfy a hunger, ease a
pain or for some to gain something (like money).
For me, it’s a story of self discovery. A journey
of discovering your purpose in life. And chasing
your dreams in spite of the many obstacles that
raised their ugly heads.
This is my long journey into blogging…
Since when I was little, I’ve always wanted to be
a doctor. I don’t think there was a particular
reason for that, I just loved being a doctor. As a
young student who was pretty good in virtually
all the subjects, nobody doubted my ability to
become a doctor.
I wrote my first JAMB (Joint Admission
Matriculation Board) Examination in 2013. As a
young school leaver I did well in both the JAMB
exam and the POST UTME (Unified Tertiary
Matriculation Examination).
Unfortunately, I didn’t meet up to the required
cut off mark for medical students, which was
about 250. I was about 26 marks below the cut
off mark.
Of course, my name was not in the first list.
I waited for the second and third. And yet, my
name was not shortlisted. Then, I gave up
waiting for a ship at the airport.
I was advised to wait until next year. Obviously, I
had no choice. So, I waited while I go look for a
job.
2014:
I applied again for the second time in 2014, just
like every other JAMBITE. This time around, I
opted for Pharmacy. I was told that Medicine
and Surgery was for the high and mighty. Those
whose parents were highly placed and connected
in the society.
Talk of connection, I had none. Well, except an
internet connection (*wink).
If at all I was to apply for medicine and surgery,
then I have to be super intelligent. Talking of
intelligence, I was, but not super-intelligent. That
reminded me of superman. I was not in any
mission to save humanity from some disaster.
I sluggishly applied in one glorified secondary
school (hahaha…..that’s according to my sister’s
husband….so-called university) in Nigeria to
study my supposed “dream course”. (Don’t ask
me the name of the university because I’m so
done with them).
Meanwhile, I also applied in a Polytechnic to
study Food Technology (food what?….. covering
face …..hahaha).
I didn’t study so hard like I used to when I wrote
the first JAMB exam. To be honest, I was
already getting bored with the whole JAMB
thing.
If you’re reading this post as a Nigerian, I need
not tell you the level of exam malpractice that
prevailed in my exam center. Everybody was into
it. Teachers and students alike. It was not a
matter of ‘what do you know?’ it was about, ‘how
much do you have?’.
Exam malpractice is a ferocious canker worm
that has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigerian
educational system. Until, something is done
about it, the rate of unemployment shall increase
to the extent that Ph.D holders will become
cleaners and gate men. Or worse still, beggars in
the street.
Looking around it seemed I was the only “foolish
guy” who was not doing what every other person
was doing in that exam hall. I felt lonely but was
never tempted to join them.
I’m not saying this to feel good or holy.
I, Promise Excel, personally and categorically
hate, detest and abhor exam malpractice in any
form, manner or shape. I am so confident in
myself that I can’t stoop so low to exam
malpractice.
When the result was out, I wasn’t so surprised,
because, like I said earlier, I didn’t study so hard.
With an aggregate of 171, I knew that getting
admission into the university was practically
impossible (well, except I had the money to
cheat and bribe, which i was never ready to do).
My last and only option now was the
Polytechnic.
As much as I love food (who doesn’t any way?),
studying Food technology was out of the picture.
“Food Technology is a nice course”.
“Really?” “No, thanks”
Now, what?
Wait for another year to write the Almighty
JAMB exam?
Hell no!
I greatly admire the effort of those who write
JAMB exam 7 times and got admission after the
eighth time.
But, definitely, not me.
That’s pure madness (hehehe…as if there is an
impure madness). Doing same thing over and
over again, expecting a different result.
I couldn’t afford to place my bright future into
the hands of some hungry JAMB officials.
As far as I’m concerned, JAMB is a scam. A
multi-million dollar scam business in Nigeria. It is
the major obstacle to the progress of the
educational system in Nigeria.
I have come to the conclusion, that JAMB exam
is not for the intelligent. It is not a test of
knowledge but a test of the pocket. It is for
those who are comfortable in practicing
corruption with both hands.
Never measure your level of ability or knowledge
by your JAMB score.
JAMB is a scam and its officials are devils.
When I realized this bittersweet truth, I decided
to look for an alternative. Call it a life outside
JAMB exam. Yes, your right.
I started asking questions.
Why? How? When? What? Who?
The more question I asked, the less answer I
got. I was upset with the norm. everybody was
doing the same old thing.
“Go to school, get good grades, graduate and get
a high paying job (in one Telecom or oil
company)”
Talk about the “G-system”, everybody was
hypnotized into believing the same old news.
Why do I want to spend five fruitful years of my
life in school only to graduate and look for a job?
A job that’s not even guaranteed. Sounds like
modern slavery. No wonder they call government
workers, “Civil Servants” (civil=modern.
servant=slave) .
Oh no! Slave trade isn’t completely banned yet.
It baffles me, seeing the faces of many so-called
graduates whining and murmuring about their
jobs.
Aren’t they suppose to be happy? Is that not why
they spent five years in school? – To get a job!
I secretly became a rebel to the corroding
educational system in Nigeria. Until now, I HATE
school. But I love education (in the voice of my
blogger friend, Alexander
Orah….hehehe….perhaps, he’s the only sane
person alive in Nigeria).
In my pursuit for the meaning and purpose in life,
I started reading far and wide.
Poor boy like me, I couldn’t afford hardcover
books. So, I turned to the world’s largest library
– Google.
I read like a mad man. I downloaded every ebook
my 2GB memory card could take. I was always
with my little phone, browsing the internet like a
fowl looking for food in the mud.
Though, many complained that I was too
attached to my phone. I cared less.
I was hell-bent on searching for my purpose in
life. The two most important days in a man’s life
are the day he was born and when he discovers
why he was born.
That was how i started reading blogs when I
searched for terms like, “young entrepreneurs in
Nigeria”, “young millionaires”, “successful
entrepreneurs” and lots of other related search
terms.
My little adventure took me to many great blogs.
I discovered that I could do what I loved to do
and get paid for it. Isn’t that cool? And obviously,
only entrepreneurship could offer such a lifestyle.
Not some boring job.
Naturally, I’ve always loved writing and
storytelling. So blogging became the right option
for me to start with on my entrepreneurial
journey.
All this while I’ve been lying to myself. I wanted
to be a doctor – apparently, that’s what all the
cool guys were doing.
“Not in this 21st century” (in the voice of Robert
Kiyosaki)
I knew I loved writing (talk of English studies and
Literature in English, I was the best in secondary
school) and I could write quite well – I just
couldn’t bear myself to tell someone that I
wanted to be a writer.
“For God’s sake, you’re a science student”
“I heard that author were among the poorest
career people on earth”.
Another myth was that, “Africans, don’t read”
My passion for entrepreneurship and storytelling
(what a combo) led me to start this blog – the
fastest growing entrepreneurship blog in Africa.
Did i hear you clap? Please jam those cute
hands.
And now, more than ever, I want to be a
Storyteller – the greatest storyteller that has
ever lived in Africa.
Call me a storypreneur and you won’t be wrong.
And I have never been surer about what I want
to be/do in life than now – Storytelling.
I want to tell the African story in a way that’s
unique to me and resonates with the African
continent. My love for her intoxicates me. I love
my Africa.
This is the why of Maverick Excel.
Don’t tell me you’re bored because I still have
more story to tell.
How I Started:
Blogging was not something I jumped into. I
studied it for over 6 months before I decided to
start a blog. There was no article or blog post
that I didn’t read. I wanted to be sure of what I
was going into. Within that 6 months of learning
about blogging, it took me up to 3 months to
come up with a domain name.
I tried over 100 domain names, either they were
taken or they sounded dry or were too long.
I was not only looking for a domain name but
also a brand name that will stand out like
facebook.com or forbes.com.
One day, I was skimming through the dictionary
in search of a domain name when this beautiful
word jumped into my face – “Maverick”. I quickly
checked the meaning. Oh wow…I couldn’t agree
more to it. That’s what I wanted my blog to be –
the blog with unconventional thoughts.
I just attached my name to it and
taaraaaaah…… ”Maverick Excel” was born.
I checked the availability on godaddy, it was
available. Buying it became a challenge because
I didn’t have a MasterCard. I went to the bank
the next day to order for it.
Finally, Maverick Excel was bought in 2014. At
that time it was purchased, I didn’t have a
laptop.
What will I blog with?
I had no idea!
I just went ahead to create a facebook page , a
twitter handle and a gmail address for a blog that
existed only in my imagination.
It was around Dec, 2014 that I bought my first
ever (fairly used) laptop from a friend. This was
from the money I realized from selling my
Blackberry Bold 5 and the pocket money from my
uncle.
So I used all the money I had in this world to buy
a fairly used problematic laptop. Afterwards, I
spent almost half the money i used to buy the
laptop to repair it.
At that time I was still working as a laundry boy.
Needless to say that my salary was a joke. I was
working from 7am to 11pm. I knew that if I
continued working there, I’ll never host my blog
or have the time to blog.
I resigned and went to search for another job. It
wasn’t long when I got a new job. In fact I got a
teaching job a day after I resigned. No, I’m not
luck, I’m blessed. Yeah (in Nicki Minaj’s voice).
When I got my first month salary, I immediately
went to Blue Host to purchase a hosting
package. At the point of checking out, I was
unable to complete the purchase. Perhaps, due
to insufficient fund.
I went to godaddy to purchase their Hosted
WordPress package. It didn’t turn out well. I
terminated the service and asked for a refund. I
received the refund after two weeks.
Thereafter, I went to Namecheap to purchase
the hosting package. They refused to activate
my account. Their reason being that I was from
a high risk country. To activate my account I
needed to send a scanned copy of a government
issued ID card. Unfortunately, I had none.
I never gave up.
I was ready to do anything to launch my blog.
After being disappointed by this companies
abroad, I decided to come back home.
“I’m coming home, I’m coming home, tell the
world I’m coming home”.
After a long research, smartweb.com.ng was my
last bus stop.
After so much drama, I finally installed
WordPress via softaculous for the third time in a
month. The first time I tried installing wordpress,
I spent almost 20hours doing that. Talk of
tenacity.
When I Started Blogging.
I started blogging officially on 4th March 2015.
That was the day I published my first post.
First Post:
Read my first post. It wasn’t too bad for a
beginner.
The Greener Pasture You Seek is Here!
Thanks for taking the time to read this super
long report. Please show your support by
dropping a comment below. If after reading this
report and you refuse to drop a comment, it’s
like coming to my birthday party without telling
me a happy birthday.
I have a dream. One that is bigger, higher and
deeper than me.
Soon, Maverick Excel shall be the hub for all
Entrepreneurs across Africa.
Thanks for being part of that journey and dream
This is part of a long report I wrote on my one year in blogging.
If you want to read the whole report, check it here>>>
http://maverickexcel.com/congratulation-maverick-excel-is-one/
If this story resonates with you, please click the heart button below so others can see it.
Thanks
