Why I Started Blogging…Why You Should As Well

I have been thinking how to start 2017. In other words, what I should first write about on my blog. It turns out I have earlier mentioned I will state why I started blogging, after Facebook popped up a memory of what I blogged about one year ago, in December 2015. Before stating the reason, I would like to say a very big thank you to all the sweet people who have read my posts. Your views, clicks, comments and the likes motivate me to continue. Thank you for your precious time.

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Back to the reason, it is simply because I like writing. I have loved creative work ever since I was in primary school, somewhere between my 5 to 10 years of age. I designed greeting cards then, by drawing, painting and writing different types of messages appropriate for the card. I created small comics, with fictitious stories. I wish I can find them today.

In secondary school, I did join the debating club. It allowed us to write our points and debate them with colleagues. I was still doing little comics in secondary school. When I joined the University in Zaria for a bachelors’ degree, I wrote for school magazines. I especially wrote Islamic articles and op-eds. I wrote poems as well. In my final year, I became the Editor in Chief of the annual magazine of the Muslim engineering students.

It was the same year I wrote my book, “Readings in Civil Engineering Foundation.” I cannot remember where exactly I learnt about blogging or WordPress, but it was during my transit at Bole International Airport in 2012 that I launched this blog, then named civineer.wordpress.com. I needed to find a space to keep writing. Not just books, but shorter articles. I did freelance writing, wrote for other blogs and even local newspapers.

While I haven’t been the most dedicated of bloggers, today I can smile I blog more often than during the first few years.

And it is what transpired mostly between 2015 to 2016 that gives me another impetus to continue blogging. On a faithful evening, I received a Facebook message from a Swedish professor who happened to be in Abuja briefly. He found my blog and enjoyed reading it and mentioned of our mutual interest in environmental sustainability. We exchanged about 8 emails between us that evening, and concluded by fixing an appointment the following morning, just before he flew out of Abuja.

Some time ago, someone said ‘Africans do not write’. I know people used to say that a number of years ago. Some said, if you want to hide money, put in a book. Because people here will never carry a book to read. So they say it is a problem of reading and writing. But I believe we are getting better, especially with innovations like blogging. Information sharing is also getting better. And that’s why it will be a great opportunity for many people to learn from you if you start writing, blogging or publishing.

We hung out a number of times with Per, the Swedish professor. We had different meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner. We attended meetings promoting environmental sustainability. I also met had the opportunity to meet his colleagues when they came to Nigeria in November last year.

All these won’t have happened had I not blogged. Who knows how many ‘dates’ I would have had, had I blogged more often. While getting dates is not what I aimed for, but blogging did connect me to other amazing people too numerous to mention here. I am wondering what beautiful things will come your way if you start blogging too. If you are curious as well, why not take a chance.

Need help figuring out how to start blogging? I am here to help. Do you write but not share them with anyone? Or you are the type that doesn’t think writing is yours? I would love to know about your thoughts on these.

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