#Nigeria business community

[ribax-marketing]

The Importance of an Online Business Community for Startup Success in Nigeria

Introduction

Nigeria's startup ecosystem is one of the fastest-growing in Africa, with immense potential for innovation and economic growth. However, the path to startup success in Nigeria is riddled with challenges. From limited mentorship opportunities to difficulties accessing funding and navigating regulatory hurdles, entrepreneurs often face significant barriers. Yet, amidst these hurdles lies opportunity—particularly through online business communities in Nigeria. These communities act as vital hubs for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and resource exchange, empowering startups to thrive.

The Role of Online Business Communities

What Are Online Business Communities?

An online business community is a digital platform where entrepreneurs, startup founders, and business professionals connect to learn, share insights, and collaborate. These communities are growing in popularity as they bridge gaps that traditional networks cannot effectively address.

Why Are They Important?

Support and Mentorship 

Online communities offer invaluable access to seasoned entrepreneurs and industry experts. These mentors provide guidance on business strategies, scaling operations, and overcoming challenges unique to Nigeria’s business environment.

Networking Opportunities 

For many startups in Nigeria, the hardest part is connecting with the right people—be it investors, collaborators, or service providers. A Nigeria business community offers the perfect space to form meaningful connections that can lead to partnerships and funding opportunities.

Knowledge Sharing 

Access to business resources, templates, and best practices—often shared freely in these communities—can help startups avoid costly mistakes and fast-track their growth.

Real-Life Success Stories 

Startups in Nigeria have shown the incredible impact of community engagement. By actively participating in business communities in Nigeria and internationally, many have gained early traction, secured funding, and expanded their networks. Today, these businesses serve as role models for other startups aiming to achieve success. 

One example is a small e-commerce startup based in Lagos. Initially struggling to gain visibility, the founder joined a vibrant online business community in Nigeria that introduced her to cost-effective digital marketing strategies. Within months, her business experienced a significant boost in sales, all thanks to the insights gained from her community.

Leveraging Digital Platforms for Growth

An online presence is no longer optional for businesses in Nigeria; it is essential. Digital platforms not only offer access to a Nigeria business community but also open doors to global markets. Here’s why they’re crucial:

Global Reach 

Online business communities connect Nigerian startups with international stakeholders, providing opportunities to scale and access untapped markets.

Professional Development 

Many communities organize webinars, workshops, and masterclasses, ensuring members stay updated on the latest industry trends and technology.

By actively engaging in online platforms, Nigerian entrepreneurs gain both visibility and credibility, critical components for business growth.

Choosing the Right Online Business Community

Not all online communities are created equal. Here are some tips to help entrepreneurs select the right fit for their startup:

Relevance 

Choose a community that aligns with your industry or business goals.

Activity Level 

An active community with vibrant discussions and frequent events is more beneficial than a dormant one.

Member Base 

Look for a diverse yet focused member base, including potential mentors, investors, and collaborators.

Accessibility 

Ensure the platform is easy to use and fits your daily workflow.

Some popular platforms include LinkedIn groups, Slack channels, and dedicated forums like Nairaland’s business section. Many Nigerian-specific communities, like Founders’ Hub, also offer tailored support for local startups.

Addressing Challenges Through Community Engagement

How Online Communities Tackle Common Startup Hurdles

Mentorship Gap 

Access to experienced professionals helps founders make informed decisions and avoid rookie mistakes.

Networking Barriers 

Online business communities provide direct access to investors, customers, and suppliers.

Resource Awareness 

Communities share information on grants, competitions, and funding opportunities, ensuring startups stay informed.

Support for Isolated Startups 

Entrepreneurs operating outside major hubs like Lagos or Abuja can use online platforms to break geographic barriers and find a strong support system.

Cost-Effective Marketing 

Community members often share tips on inexpensive but effective ways to market and brand a startup, saving members significant costs.

Technology Best Practices 

Being part of a community exposes startups to tools and technologies they might not otherwise hear about, increasing their competitive edge.

The Impact on the Economy and Innovation

Engagement in business communities in Nigeria has a ripple effect. A well-connected startup ecosystem spurs innovation, leading to the creation of products and services that address critical societal needs. Additionally, a thriving online business community in Nigeria can help attract foreign investment, boost job creation, and nurture an entrepreneurial culture that benefits the economy at large.

Conclusion and Call to Action

For Nigerian entrepreneurs and startup founders, the message is clear—don’t go it alone. The strength of a community can be the deciding factor between struggle and success. A vibrant online business community in Nigeria provides support, connections, and resources that are essential for growth.

Start engaging today. Explore platforms, introduce yourself, and tap into the wealth of knowledge and opportunities out there. Your future (and Nigeria’s economic growth) depends on it.

Join an online business community today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What are online business communities in Nigeria?

Online business communities in Nigeria are virtual platforms where entrepreneurs, startup founders, and business professionals come together to connect, collaborate, and support each other. These communities serve as hubs of knowledge sharing, networking, and resource exchange to foster growth and success in the Nigerian business landscape.

Q: How can online business communities in Nigeria benefit me as an entrepreneur?

Engaging with online business communities in Nigeria offers a multitude of benefits. You can gain valuable insights from experienced entrepreneurs, access mentorship opportunities, receive feedback on your business ideas, and stay updated on the latest trends and industry developments. These communities also provide a supportive environment where you can connect with like-minded individuals, forge partnerships, and potentially find new clients or customers.

Q: How can I join an online business community in Nigeria?

Joining an online business community in Nigeria is simple. Start by exploring various platforms and forums dedicated to Nigerian entrepreneurs and business professionals. Look for communities that align with your industry or business interests. Introduce yourself, participate in discussions, and contribute value to the community. You can also join relevant social media groups or attend virtual events and webinars organized by these communities to expand your network and knowledge.

Remember, actively engaging in these communities is key to reaping the full benefits they offer. Don't hesitate to ask questions, share your experiences, and seek advice from fellow members. Together, we can build a strong and supportive ecosystem that propels Nigerian businesses to thrive.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #19

May 17-24 2024

President Biden wiped out the student loan debt of 160,000 more Americans. This debt cancellation of 7.7 billion dollars brings the total student loan debt relieved by the Biden Administration to $167 billion. The Administration has canceled student loan debt for 4.75 million Americans so far. The 160,000 borrowers forgiven this week owned an average of $35,000 each and are now debt free. The Administration announced plans last month to bring debt forgiveness to 30 million Americans with student loans coming this fall.

The Department of Justice announced it is suing Ticketmaster for being a monopoly. DoJ is suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for monopolistic practices. Ticketmaster controls 70% of the live show ticket market leading to skyrocketing prices, hidden fees and last minute cancellation. The Justice Department is seeking to break up Live Nation and help bring competition back into the market. This is one of a number of monopoly law suits brought by the Biden administration against Apple in March and Amazon in September 2023.

The EPA announced $225 million in new funding to improve drinking and wastewater for tribal communities. The money will go to tribes in the mainland US as well as Alaska Native Villages. It'll help with testing for forever chemicals, and replacing of lead pipes as well as sustainability projects.

The EPA announced $300 million in grants to clean up former industrial sites. Known as "Brownfield" sites these former industrial sites are to be cleaned and redeveloped into community assets. The money will fund 200 projects across 178 communities. One such project will transform a former oil station in Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood, currently polluted with lead and other toxins into a waterfront bike trail.

The Department of Agriculture announced a historic expansion of its program to feed low income kids over the summer holidays. Since the 1960s the SUN Meals have served in person meals at schools and community centers during the summer holidays to low income children. This Year the Biden administration is rolling out SUN Bucks, a $120 per child grocery benefit. This benefit has been rejected by many Republican governors but in the states that will take part 21 million kids will benefit. Last year the Biden administration introduced SUN Meals To-Go, offering pick-up and delivery options expanding SUN's reach into rural communities. These expansions are part of the Biden administration's plan to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030.

Vice-President Harris builds on her work in Africa to announce a plan to give 80% of Africa internet access by 2030, up from just 40% today. This push builds off efforts Harris has spearheaded since her trip to Africa in 2023, including $7 billion in climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation, and $1 billion to empower women. The public-private partnership between the African Development Bank Group and Mastercard plans to bring internet access to 3 million farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria, before expanding to Uganda, Ethiopia, and Ghana, and then the rest of the continent, bring internet to 100 million people and businesses over the next 10 years. This is together with the work of Partnership for Digital Access in Africa which is hoping to bring internet access to 80% of Africans by 2030, up from 40% now, and just 30% of women on the continent. The Vice-President also announced $1 billion for the Women in the Digital Economy Fund to assure women in Africa have meaningful access to the internet and its economic opportunities.

The Senate approved Seth Aframe to be a Judge on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, it also approved Krissa Lanham, and Angela Martinez to district Judgeships in Arizona, as well as Dena Coggins to a district court seat in California. Bring the total number of judges appointed by President Biden to 201. Biden's Judges have been historically diverse. 64% of them are women and 62% of them are people of color. President Biden has appointed more black women to federal judgeships, more Hispanic judges and more Asian American judges and more LGBT judges than any other President, including Obama's full 8 years in office. President Biden has also focused on backgrounds appointing a record breaking number of former public defenders to judgeships, as well as labor and civil rights lawyers.

[dejwritesarchived]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀human, choso kamo

it's been two years since the fall of the jujutsu world, and now choso kamo is finally able to keep the promise that he made with special-grade sorcerer yuki. to no longer live life as a curse but as a human. just his luck; his bubbly next-door neighbor is the one that helped guide him through it.

♔ ˖ ✧ — general warnings: female reader, her/she pronouns, female anatomy described, black reader written in mind and their will be descriptors, modern au but also in jjk verse, kinda my own interpretation and theories on how jjk will end, super self-indulgent bc it's my bday, neighbors to lovers (is that a trope), love making yay, mention of other jjk characters, a lot of jumps that are separated by dividers btw, somewhat plot twist at the end // smut warnings: missionary position, hand holding, mentions of hickeys/love bites, usage of spit, big d*ck choso is a warning in itself, implied of oral (m.receiving), handjob // word count: 5.5k, minors dni.

YOUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR, CHOSO, WAS EXTREMELY MYSTERIOUS. He only came out of his apartment for a couple of things—going grocery shopping, possibly working, and jogging. You never saw him being friends over. You never saw him bring a lover over. Nothing. Your curious mind always wondered if he was just a loner; maybe he didn’t have any family members alive. It was just him in the small countryside of Japan, and he was just taking his very lonely days day by day. Or was it cruel of you to assume? It wasn’t really your business as a young foreigner just enjoying her youthful years of traveling. 

You’ve been everywhere, searching for a permanent home after deciding to step away from your actual job. Malaysia, Nigeria, Brazil—you have been traveling for a while, and now it seems you may have found your permanent home for good. The small town wasn’t as busy as Tokyo, but it got lively when the people got together to throw small festivals to celebrate things. If you recall, tonight’s festival celebrated the anniversary of the eldest married couple living in the community. Everyone was prompted to bring a dish, baked goods, or gifts. You took it upon yourself to make onigiri because it was one of the easiest dishes you couldn’t butcher without the eldest questioning your cooking skills.

With your best outfit, you glanced at Choso’s door and began your journey down to the main court of the community with your dish. You could hear the laughter and music of the people in the community as they were setting up. You could see the eldest couple, Mr. and Mrs. Aoki, slowly dancing to the music that was blasting through the speakers. Huge smiles on their faces caused their eyes to crinkle and for them to hold on to each other a bit tighter. Despite such a fast-paced song playing, they took their time indulging in each other’s company as if they wouldn’t have each other anymore the next day. 

“You look gorgeous,” You heard one of your friends, Hinata, say. 

“I can’t let you outdress me this time,” You joked while placing what you brought on the table with the other variety of foods. 

“It’s only room for just one hot person in the small community, and it seems like it’ll be me,” He responds. “Now it’s three,” He jokingly sighed in despair.

“Three?” You questioned as you were glancing over the drinks that were offered.

“You, Me, and your neighbor,” Hinata responded. He ran his fingers through his sandy brown colored hair before speaking again, “I’m so jealous. I’m stuck with Old Man Keigo as my neighbor.” 

“He’s not that bad.” You laughed.

“He knocks on my door at three in the morning, asking if I have seen his cat. I didn’t even know we were allowed to have pets.” Hinata sighs.

“Choso literally never leaves his place. I don’t even think he watches tv,” You responded. 

“Still better than Keigo,” Hinata answered. 

“Is it, though? You’re not curious about why he’s so lonely? If he has a family? Friends? If he wants to make friends?” You asked, and Hinata’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“Maybe he’s running away from his past life,” Hinata said while searching for a plate. “You should give him some food.”

“Why do I have to do it?” 

“You have an adorable, friendly face. Would you rather Old Man Keigo do it?” Hinata’s head motioned to the older man, who was nodding off to sleep in the corner. The children in the community managed to begin to place items on his lap to see how long he wouldn’t notice.

“The goal is to get him out of his apartment, not scare him in.” You grabbed the plate out of Hinata’s hand. “How am I supposed to know what foods he likes? If he’s allergic to anything?” 

“Hm, just give him one of everything. Now my lovely friend has arrived to help me get through this party. Toodles.” He disappeared in the sea of people, leaving you alone with a plate of food.

You knew he was most likely meeting with his local drug dealer, getting his weekly weed fix to get him through his work week as an administrative assistant at a law firm. 

You did what Hinata suggested, placing one of everything on the plate. You were positive that the amount of food on the plate would have been the same amount that the community's people would give him. Especially considering that some already whispered about him. They weren’t bad whispers or gossip but whispers of kindness. You remember Mrs. Aoki telling you how he helped her carry her groceries in her house. Or the young mother that lived in the home down from your complex told everyone that Choso taught her young son how to ride his bike without training wheels. So, if Choso were to finally leave his home—maybe he would see how kind everyone was and how this community was like a huge family. He had already been helping out around here.

As soon as you were done, you returned to your apartment. Your steps were slow and steady to prevent you from spilling food everywhere. When you reached Choso’s door, you mentally prepared yourself for what to say. Should you do an introduction first before giving him the food? Should you lie and say Mrs. Aoki told you to bring the food? What if he doesn't accept the food? Well, that wouldn’t be so bad. You were his neighbor who only said hi or bye to him, giving him food. He’ll probably think it’s been poisoned or something.

You knocked three times. Two times softly before a loud one that could be heard in the small apartment. You stepped back when you heard the sound of the door unlocking. When he stepped out with a towel wrapped around his waist, your heart glanced down in embarrassment. Your brown skin heated, and your heart felt like it was flinging around your chest like a balloon that had just deflated. You never thought a plate of food was so interesting until now.

“Uh, I’m sorry for interrupting your plans. I just thought that I should bring you food from the festival. Mr. and Mrs. Aoki are celebrating their anniversary.” Your words were moving so fast that he even was trying to comprehend what you were saying.

You took a deep breath before speaking again, “You never leave your apartment, so I thought it would be nice to get you some food. I wasn’t sure what you like, so I bought a bit of everything.” Your hands extended the plate outward, and he grabbed the plate out of your hand with the hand that wasn’t grasping on the blue-colored towel that was wrapped around his waist. 

Now that the plate was no longer in your hands, your curious eyes couldn’t help but take a peek at his body. His body was like it was sculpted by the best sculptor in Japan. The many Greek statues of God’s body used him as a reference if possible. 

“Thanks,” Choso says, and his lips curve into a sly smile before he returns back into the comfort of his own home.

With a smile on your face, you turned around to return to the celebration and Choso on your mind. The festival continued, and you even shared a rolled blunt with Hinata to end the night as you gossiped about random things. He asked about Choso and could tell by how your glossed lips curved into a smile that it went well. He didn’t question more of it since the intoxicating high of marijuana finally hit him. However, he did point out that he believed Choso and you would get along quite well. 

Hinata’s prediction wasn’t far off, considering two weeks afterward, Choso tagged along with you to go grocery shopping. You remembered dragging your shopping cart down the stairs loudly as he followed you. 

“What’s up with the cart?” He asked as he walked by your side; he noticed that you didn’t take the usual turn towards the community exit but instead went towards one of the elder's apartments.

“Oh, I usually go grocery shopping for some elders. It helps so I won’t have to carry all the bags from the grocery store.” You gave him a smile. “You have to work smarter, not harder, so you won’t have back problems in your early thirties.” You joked.

Choso’s lips formed a perfect shape ‘o’ as he realized how smart the idea was. The closest grocery store is about a fifteen-minute walk from here; it would make sense to have something that would be easier for you to carry your bags. His dark eyes followed you as you went door to door, asking some of the older people if they needed anything from the grocery store. You did with such a bright smile that Choso found his cheeks growing hot as he watched you respectfully bow before wishing farewells to your neighbors. 

Kindness, you had so much of it and weren’t afraid to give it out. Perhaps that’s why Choso admired you so much. You were like a ray of sunshine; he questioned where you were during the Shibuya, Culling Game, and other events that shook the sorcerer world. How could someone like you be so kind and bubbly when such events happen? He wondered if you had family members that died during the Shibuya incident. 

“I have three people's grocery lists and money. You know you don’t have to tag along if you don’t want to.” You said as you dragged the cart behind you. 

“I have nothing else to do, and I have grown to enjoy your company compared to your friend,” Choso admits as he walks by your side. “He’s a hyper one.” 

“Oh, Hinata? Yeah, you have to catch him when he’s off work. Other times he’s either high on weed or caffeine.” You chuckled. “I appreciate the company, then. It isn’t a lot of people around our age that live here.”

“I noticed,” Choso responds. He shoved his hands in his leather jacket pockets. “I like it like that compared to the city.”

“You used to live in the city?” You asked as you stopped at the crosswalk. 

“Well, I work in Roppongi as security at some clubs. That helps pay the bills and such. I did live there originally, but it was too busy there. As if Roppongi never sleeps or something. So, I moved.” Choso explained while you two crossed the street.

You noticed that your arms kept bumping into each other with each step you took next to each other. It was like two magnets that kept gravitating toward each other despite being far apart. 

“You as a security guard? You don’t give me security guard vibes,” You chuckled.

“Really? My boss says otherwise,” He runs his fingers through his hair. “He said I look intimidating.” 

“Maybe it’s the mark across your face.” You motioned to your own face. “What is that anyway? A tattoo? Birthmark?” 

You watched as Choso rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. His cheeks staining the color of red before speaking, “Birthmark.” He says before his eyes averted downward in embarrassment. 

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” You nudge his side. “It’s cute.” She adds before skipping ahead to enter the grocery store. 

Choso followed behind you with heated cheeks as you held the first list. You were putting stuff in the cart you brought along. “Have you always lived there? Seem like everyone knows you.”

“Only for about four months now. I traveled a couple of places before settling here.” You answered. “I must say that Hinata did make it much easier. I was like you at first. All bottled up in my apartment, and then Hinata became my friend. The rest is history; Hinata even decided to set me up with one of his friends.” 

“And how is that going?” Choso asked. 

“He canceled the first two dates, and we’re supposed to hang out another day,” Your shoulders shrug as you look at Choso, who couldn’t quite comprehend how nonchalant you were taking the situation.

“What about you? Anyone special in your life? Met someone nice during your security gigs?” You asked while grabbing another thing off the shelf. 

Choso took the other list out your hand and started to search if any item on the list was in the aisle you two currently were in. You couldn’t tell if he started helping to avoid your question or if he was genuinely being kind. He reached behind where you were standing to grab something behind you. 

“I don’t really do relationships. Yeah, I have had flings here and there.” Choso explained. “So, there’s no one from my security gigs.” He chuckles. 

Your eyebrows raised in curiosity at his question, but you didn’t want to pry anymore into his business. You took the list from his hand and motioned for him to pull the cart. With a sly grin, Choso followed behind you. The dark-haired male was growing comfortable with you, and he couldn’t explain to himself the warm feeling he felt when he was around you. 

A DRUNKEN HICCUP ESCAPED your lips as you let your head fall into the palm of your hand. Your mind felt like it was spinning, and your body felt like it was a bowl of Jell-O. You brought the glass to your taking another sip of the intoxicating alcohol that you knew you had too much of. Finishing the last bit in the glass before letting your face collide with the table you sat at. You knew it was irresponsible to drink alone, especially considering you had to travel about five blocks to your house. But you didn’t think you would get stood up by Hinata’s friend. They were supposed to be here to walk you home and ensure that you got home safely. But they didn’t bother again.

You sat up, running your manicured fingers through your coils, before you saw a familiar figure walking by the bar that you were in. It seemed like he felt your drunken glare since his eyes met with yours when he turned around. Choso. You hadn’t seen him since he told you about his brother when you guys walked together to the grocery store. You watched as he raced to the door to approach you, and you couldn’t hide the foolish grin on your face. 

“Choso! Come, sit down and have a drink with me!” You shrieked, holding up the empty bottle of sake. 

“You’ve reached your limit, Y/N. It’s time to go home.” He says.

“But he hasn’t shown up yet. Hinata’s friend didn’t come.” 

“Just stay here while I pay your bill, okay? Don’t move!” His finger points at you, and you can only smile and give him a thumbs up.

You plopped back into your seat, watching as he paid for the drinks you had within the night. He returned and helped you up, but you stumbled back, causing him to grab a hold of your wrist to catch you. He noticed the short skirt you wore tonight and wanted to question if you were cold, but right now, he had to get you home. A long sigh tumbled from the dark-haired male before he unzipped his hoodie. He tied the hoodie around your waist and turned around. “Hop on.” He says, motioning to his back. 

“Choso, you’re going to carry me all the way home. You’re such a gentleman.” You happily sigh as you climb onto his back. 

He carried you in silence until you were so curious about why he was out so late. “Why were you out so late? It can be dangerous out here when the sun goes down, you know?” Each word that left your mouth was interrupted by a hiccup. 

“Says the drunk one; someone could have taken advantage of you if I didn’t see you.” Choso lectured. “You’re so irresponsible, you know?”

Your lips formed a pout as you wiggled your legs with each step Choso took. “I just thought he would show up. I’m sorry for my ir-responsible-ness.” 

Choso chuckles at your words, considering that you completely butchered the last part of your sentence. “It’s okay. But to answer your question, I just went to the cemetery to visit my brother. It’s much more peaceful for me when I go at night.” 

“Well, did you enjoy your visit?” You asked. 

“I did. I’m sure he’s tired of me bothering him, though.” He responded.

“Well, I wish I would have been able to meet him. If he’s as cool as his older brother, I’m sure I would have liked him and his company.” 

“He would have liked you also. Especially considering you being so nice to me. Seeing the good in every fuckin’ body. Including that guy that stood you up.” 

You grew silent. Choso’s words suddenly sober you up. You blink several times before speaking, “He promised he would come.” 

You found yourself repeating that phrase again and again. 

“I heard you the first time you said it,” Choso answered as he began to walk up the steps connected to the complex's top level. “Just wish you would see that the guy clearly isn’t interested in you.” 

“And how would you know that? You told me weeks ago that you don’t do relationships or haven’t even been on a date. Just hookups,” You backfired. 

“I don’t need to be a relationship expert to see that you deserve better than to get stood up in some busted bar that hardly anyone knows about as if the guy is ashamed and is afraid to be with a foreigner. Now, can I have your keys to open your door?” 

Silence overcame the two of you again. Why were you two so comfortable enjoying each other’s silence? Why was his silence so comforting? Why did it calm you down? Why did his words hit you so hard like that? 

“I think I left my purse at the bar.” 

“Seriously?” 

“I’ll just go wake the landlord up; I’m sure he has a spare key. Then I’ll just go get my purse tomorrow. I'm friends with the owner, so I’m sure she’ll put it up for me.” 

Choso didn’t say anything. Instead, he walked next door to his apartment, unlocking the door. “No need to be a nuisance to the landlord so late at night. You can crash here until the morning, and I’ll get your purse.” 

“You’re so kind. One day I will pay you back plus some.” 

Choso opened his apartment, and you were in awe at how he decorated his small space. Maybe, your mind was mentally hyping it up due to the alcohol in your system. But you felt at peace in here; it could have been because it smelt like Choso. A scent that you grew familiarized with the more you spent time with him. You noticed how clean his place was. He had a couple of plants in the corner that were clearly taken care of. He had a record player in the other corner with a stack of vinyl records. Your eyes couldn’t help but remember the small details in his apartment. So caught up in your surroundings you don’t even notice Choso kneeling down to remove your heels after your feet finally hit the ground. 

“I could have done that myself.” You said.

“Mhm, sure.” He sarcastically responds before searching his closet for something you can change in. He gave you a shirt and some shorts. “The bathroom is all yours.” 

You stumbled into the bathroom to change into the clothes. The shorts and shirts are clearly too big for you. Your arms wrapped around your waist as you glanced at yourself in the small mirror above the sink. You looked a mess, and you couldn’t believe that Choso saw you in this manner. Felt like he was viewing you at your lowest all because you got stood up by some guy. 

Choso seemed to be getting ready to shower when you were done in the bathroom. You swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in your throat before walking further into the room, “I can sleep on the floor. I am the intruder here.” 

“Nonsense, I don’t mind sharing the bed. Unless you’re like-“ 

“No, it’s not that. It’s just you’ve done so much for me tonight. Carried me home, paid my bill at the bar, now this.” 

“It’s okay. It’s kinda on my list to be kind to someone similar to how my brother would be.” Choso answered truthfully. 

Your eyebrows raised at his comment, but you didn’t argue as you climbed into the bed and got comfortable. You rolled over on your side and tugged the blankets further on your frame to attempt to sleep. Choso went on to take a shower, and minutes later, he joined you in the bed. The bed sank downward when he joined you, and you hated to admit that you wanted to move closer foolishly. You bet he was a wonderful cuddler; he had the arms for it. Before you could utter goodnight to Choso, the alcohol you consumed caused your body to finally relax on the fluffiness of the bed. Your eyes fluttered, attempting to fight your sleep until you finally fell into a deep slumber. 

When morning came upon you, you woke up and could feel an arm around your waist and warmth upon the back of your neck. If you concentrated hard enough, you could even feel Choso’s face upon the top of your coils. It took you by a shock that you didn’t fall asleep twisting your hair and throwing on a scarf, but then you remembered the events of last night. You remembered the piggyback ride. You remembered the talk about you being too kind and always seeing the good in everyone. You remembered forgetting your purse. You figure you were such a nuisance, so you had to make your grand mistake.

You attempted to wiggle out of his grasp, but the grip got a bit tighter. A subtle groan escaped from Choso before you wiggled your way to turn around to face him. Your lips gasp apart to stare at the sight in front of you. His black hair sprawled across his face creating the most reckless bed hair. You took in the way he let out a soft snore here and there. How long his eyelashes were. The birthmark that decorated his pale skin started from one cheek to across the bridge of his nose and to the other cheek. Your cheeks heated, seeing his eyes flutter open and catch you staring. 

“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.” You stuttered your words out in embarrassment before turning around to break eye contact. You’ve given up wiggling away at how close the two of you were, but he didn’t loosen up the grip either. Actually, he pulled you closer. As if he didn’t want to let you go. 

“Choso?” You asked as you could feel the tip of his nose on the back of your neck. 

Your skin was littered with goosebumps, and your body's hair stood up. 

“Hm.” He groggily answered. 

“I may have been drunk, but I do recall you mentioning a list. You said one of the things on the list was to be kind to a person the same way you would think your brother would. Is that what you’re doing with me?” 

“Yes.” 

Now you were back, turning around to meet his sleepy alluring gaze. “And you think your brother would do this? As in, cuddle his neighbor?” 

“He’ll carry you on his back if you were too intoxicated, but I don’t know if he’ll do this. I can stop if you want,” His arm detaches itself from your body, and your body suddenly feels cold without it. 

You grabbed it and put it back on your waist. “No, I’m okay with it. It’s just I’m curious to know why me. Why be kind to me?” 

“Because you’re kind to me. Always been kind to me.” He answers truthfully. His fingers brushed one of your coils out of the way, and those goosebumps returned again. 

“I know, but no amount of kindness equals cuddling and shit.” You said. “I’m not complaining because this is very comforting, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to be kind to me-“ 

“I think I’m in love with you.” 

“What? Choso, that’s such a-“ 

“I know, and I’m not expecting a response to that just yet. I know it’s quite hard to process especially considering that you’re most likely hungover at the moment. But I am willing to wait whenever you’re ready.” His eyes shifted closed as if attempting to fall back asleep.

“And what if I have a response to that right now?” You asked.

“Then, spit it out already.” 

When those words left his mouth, you rolled a bit closer to place a kiss on Choso’s lips. It started off innocent at first. Quick, subtle pecks before the kiss deepened. Before he pulled you closer, by the way, to taste more of you eagerly. Just as his strong arms brought you closer, you could feel his cock poking at your plush brown thighs—rubbing against you for some form of friction that caused Choso to let out a breathy sigh in between breaks of the kiss. Your hand climbed in between the two of you to rub at his hardened cock through the gray fabric of his shorts. 

“Shit,” Choso’s head fell back on the pillow after biting at your full plump bottom lip. 

The heated makeout session lasted until the two of you were breathless, and your mouth was wrapped around his cock until he began to feel your pussy around him. You tore each other's clothes off until they decorated the wooden floors. The taste of Choso stained your tongue, and you felt like you were intoxicated. Not due to the alcohol you consumed the previous night but to Choso’s actions. He kissed your neck and collarbone with his body on top of yours. The kisses on your golden skin made you whimper out for more, and for you to grow wet. His teeth bite down, and the gasp that you let out causes all the blood to rush to his cock. Choso’s fingertips tip toed in between your bodies to cling onto the fabric that was in between his callous fingers from indulging in toying with your clit. 

His plush lips kissed your lips, and in between the heated kiss that was causing Choso, he could only say. “Tell me what you want, Y/N.”

When you made eye contact with Choso, you felt so soft inside. Butterflies erupted in your stomach as you stared up at Choso. You lean up to kiss his lips, but he pulls back. “Tell me what you want,” He’s dipping down to kiss upon the bite mark he left on your flesh. “Use your words.” 

“I want you.” 

Those were the words Choso wanted to hear. In just a quick and eager motion, he’s pulling your panties down. Like a hormonal teenager, he’s letting his hardened, clothed cock rub against your wet folds teasingly. Your juices staining the cotton fabric of his grey-colored Calvin Klein briefs. You wouldn’t believe labeling him as a tease, but he drove you insane. How can he make you confess that you wanted him and edge you on until you can feel your own essence staining the inside of your thighs? 

He kisses you lightly, but it feels heavy and rough because it takes your breath away. His right hand tugged down his boxers fully, and you couldn’t help but feel your heartbeat increase at the weight of his cock on your abdomen. He hawks some spit in his hand to coat his cock in it, wanting to make this experience pleasurable and comfortable for you. With his fingers intertwined with yours, he’s sliding inside you. Choso felt how tightly you gripped at his hards, with your eyes squinted shut, getting used to his large size. 

“I’m sorry.” He’s repeatedly saying as he’s peppering your face with subtle kisses. His cock rested inside you until you finally opened your eyes. 

The once intense feeling of his cock stretching you out was replaced with the satisfying feeling of wanting more. Choso didn’t need to hear your voice to begin moving. His hips rotate forward into the cushion of your spread thighs. It was quite a sight to see how your pussy was swallowing his cock with each thrust forward or roll of Choso’s hips. However, the half-curse-half-human couldn’t think straight with how your moans echoed in his ear. They sounded so sweet, so wonderful. One of the most beautiful things he has heard after that band Tame Impala. His callous hands, you were sure had many sins imprinted on them, push your thighs apart just to tug his cock out of you.

“You’re going to make me come, fuck.” He said breathlessly. 

Even with his comment, he still pushed himself fully inside of you again. Surrendering in wanting you to feel full once more. The sound of his headboard smacked against the wall, and Choso was so grateful that you were his neighbor because any other person would have been knocking on his door for him to keep it down. 

You never really thought that this would happen. That you and he would cross such a line to express how you felt for each other. But you weren’t complaining; you enjoyed the way Choso’s hand grasped at every part of your body. You enjoyed the way his face was red as ever due to a mixture of the feeling of his cock being balls deep inside of you and exhaustion. Or how he let his fingers rub at your clit to send the most dangerous electric shock down your spine. 

“I’m about to come.” Your words tumbled out like a broken record. 

Before capturing your lips onto his—Choso says, “That’s what I want.” 

And with those words cursing your lips, you felt like you were on cloud nine. The enthusiastic feeling felt like you were tugging a rubberband back and letting it snap back into its rightful shape. The lower half of your body felt like it went through a slight shock as Choso fucked you through your orgasm. In your mind, you were screaming for him to just come inside you. But you knew that could have just been the bliss of the moment. As if he read your mind, he’s pulling just as his face scrunched up in pleasure. His cock twitches in anticipation as thick ropes of cum begin oozing out, decorating your tummy. The only thing you could do was admire the sight of Choso coming down from the fleeting feeling of busting a nut. 

Just like that, your relationship with Choso blossomed when his body collapsed next to yours, and the only thing that you could hear was your loud thoughts about a mere promise you made two years ago. But you knew that the only thing that mattered right now was the fact that Choso was happy. 

The autumn leaves crunched under your shoes as you walked around the cemetery. You grew accustomed to visiting here once every month since you managed to start the progress of that promise you made to him. When you finally found the tombstone you were looking for, you could tell that someone had stopped by possibly a day before you. Bright red tulips were next to his picture to replace the ones you put out a week ago. Placing the flowers down before kneeling to pay your respect, you smiled brightly before speaking. Quite odd to be talking to a tombstone, but you were sure he could hear you somewhere. 

You placed the flowers on the grave as you kneeled to show your respect. You smiled brightly before speaking to the tombstone that sat in front of you. It was wonderful to see that the gifts and flowers that were around still looked fresh. You assumed someone else most likely was here before you. 

“Hey, Itadori, it’s me. Y/N. I just wanted to update you on the promise I made to you.” You let out a sigh, realizing that you had lied to Choso.

You fed him some story about moving here to Japan after exploring the world, despite you technically already being familiarized with Japan. You’ve witnessed it all before deciding to leave the sorcerer world behind for good. Granted, it sat heavy in your heart, and you felt like a coward not helping in the gruesome war of taking down Kenjaku and Sukuna. But you had to put yourself first, which you wanted many of your friends to do. 

“Choso is doing well, just like you said he would. He’s okay, and he’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about him, Itadori. He’s adjusted to the human world quite well. He no longer feels like a curse but a human. ” 

​━━ ♡ ​TAGS // @maydayaisha @eiflawriting @violxtbxbyy @shirohyorin @kama-star @maxi8898 @calandra24 @tashniko @certifiedlovergir1 @alekstraszas @soumies @thismf7 @shyartnerd564 @longloes @succubusonthedoorstep @stunnababyyabyyy @comatosebunny09 @si00p

[readyforevolution]

Nigeria🇳🇬 is still the Giant of Africa not because of population but because of these impressive achievements 👇

Entertainment

1. Best actors in Africa

2. Best comedians in Africa

3. Best musicians in Africa

4. Best YouTubers in Africa

Sports

1. Best female footballer in Africa

2. Best male footballer in Africa

3. Best female basketball team in Africa (Nigeria's D'Tigress)

4. The most African Games medal winners

Business

1. Richest man in Africa (Aliko Dangote)

2. Largest single estate in Africa

3. Richest woman in Africa (Folorunsho Alakija)

Agriculture

1. Largest producer of rice in Africa

2. Largest producer of yams in Africa

3. Largest producer of tomatoes in Africa

4. Significant producer of cassava, maize, and sorghum

Energy

1. Largest producer of crude oil in Africa

2. Natural gas reserves

Culture

1. Rich cultural heritage (over 250 ethnic groups)

2. Vibrant traditional festivals (e.g., Osun Osogbo, Eyo)

3. UNESCO World Heritage sites (e.g., Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove)

Innovation

1. Thriving tech scene (e.g., Andela, Interswitch, flutterwave, sabi and more.

2. Innovators (e.g., Sim Shagaya, Jason Njoku)

Other notable achievements:

1. Nobel laureate (Wole Soyinka)

2. Renowned authors (e.g., Chinua Achebe, Ben Okri)

3. Successful diaspora community

In conclusion it is responsibility of every Nigerian to make Nigeria better🇳🇬

God bless Nigeria

#TogetherWeRise✊

#buildafrica🛖

#weloveafrica🖤

#OneAfrikaOneNation🫶🏻

#WeareAfrika🌍

#historyfacts🌏🗺️

#know9jabetter

African hype media

[thegildedbee]

Family/Laugh: May 12 & 13 Prompts from @calaisreno

The exterior nowheres that Sherlock inhabits can be charted by his footfalls as he wends his way through the precincts of temporary cities. The silent drift of assimilating interior nowheres, however, seems to leave no traces, even as he feels unseen changes taking hold. His suspension in the January North of a darkness that persists until late morning, and then quickly returns in the afternoon, intensifies his perception that he lives in a shadow-world, a lone dark figure extracted from the frozen rain that curtains his days. 

The patterns he seeks to capture as he hunts amidst the ones and zeros of cyberspace are likewise intangible – extended solitary vigils as his fingers command the keyboard to winnow through the tangle of codes – as well as tangible, of meetings with the technological mix of people here at Tallinn’s crossroads: software developers seeking the leading edge at corporate labs, security experts at NATO’s Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, the underground hackers who traverse the landscape of the digital realm’s hollow earth. Both the intangible and the tangible are intense efforts to spy glimpses of Moriarty’s covert presence in the spaces between the ones and zeros, summoning up the networks and nodes of the intersecting spheres of finance, and energy, and communications, as made manifest in trafficking, and counterfeiting, and hijacking, across the physical and human worlds.

He’s accumulated an abundance of leads, some he’s near-certain he understands, and others he’s yet to decipher – but it’s enough to reveal to him his next move on the chessboard: St. Petersburg. He’ll take the train from Tallinn, without needing to step out for border control, which is handled en route. He’ll be leaving Estonia under a new identity; he hopes to keep Lukas Sigerson in his back pocket for later uses, but it’s time to make his presence difficult to trace: it's time to step away from Mycroft’s grid. He’s left seemingly inadvertent clues to allow Mycrofts’s people to (think that they’re) following him, along a pathway that connects the nefarious doings of Mexican cartels involved in establishing meth labs in Nigeria for the Asian market. Their pursuit of him will be turned to good account in dismantling that nexus, even when they realize he is elsewhere. 

St. Petersburg is a hive of hacking activity, the physical site of the infamous Russian Business Network, which catered to the needs of cyber criminals. It’s not surprising that it is the city where Vladimir Putin lived, received his education, and joined the KGB, as an agent in its foreign intelligence wing, before tunneling his way to Moscow. Sherlock doesn’t believe that there are many degrees of separation between Moriarty and the dark internet of Putin’s hellscape. 

He arrives at the end of Tallinn’s usefulness on a Friday evening. As he packs up his kit in the office space he’s made homebase through a courtesy loan in deference to his Norwegian technology credentials, some of the younger workers have swept him up into their murmurating flock as they celebrate the coming weekend in search of alcohol, bar food, and music. In London, Sherlock would have begged off such a request, were anyone intrepid enough to suggest it, and he would have been unperturbed at whatever anyone might think. But he’s not Sherlock, he’s Lukas, at least for a short while longer, and although his persona is reserved, businesslike and uninclined to make small talk, Lukas possesses an average quantity of affability; and remaining unobtrusive is best accomplished by being amidst the motions of others, rather than making himself conspicuous by setting himself off from the norms of sociality. 

He did not, however, anticipate the karaoke session, which is putting a severe strain on the bonhomie he is channeling to Lukas, as it’s clear that he’s going to need to accede to accepting a turn in the spotlight, lest he put a damper on the good spirits of his companions. He nevertheless protests with a smile, holding out his hands, but any input he might have been able to exert on the decision-making disappears, when two of his impromptu friends conspire to tug him toward the microphone, explaining that all three of them will venture forth together, with a song they insist is dead simple to sing, and that the well-lubricated crowd will be delighted to join in with them in belting out the familiar refrain. Which is how he finds himself being carried along within a punchy, melodic stream that turns out to be excruciating emotionally, as the verses unfurl. He listlessly despairs, marooned, a hollowed-out laugh echoing inside his head in response.

. . . When I'm lonely, well, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you And when I'm dreamin', well, I know I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you. When I go out (when I go out), well, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you And when I come home (when I come home), I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who comes back home with you I'm gonna be the man who's comin' home with you . . .

He’s exasperated at the universe conspiring to keep him unsettled, to deny him the solace of alone protecting him. He fears that he is fated to have any social contact whatsoever somehow conjure home and reminders of John. The song ends to raucous cheers, and the enthusiasm surges on, and he’s being importuned to name a new song of his own choice before being allowed to return to the table. He looks at the smiling faces helplessly, immobilized by the churning cacophony playing hide-and-seek inside his guts, incapable of conjuring up the simplest of answers. Undeterred, they jolly him along, prompting him to think of a film he’s recently seen, or club he’s been to, or a favorite television show. At the latter suggestion, his mind does slightly slip free, and there is John again, teasing Sherlock into watching another of his favorite shows, Sherlock pretending to be annoyed at being consigned to such a fate. He turns to the young people, and raises his voice to speak into the nearest person’s ear to be heard over the noisy crowd, and says with a question in his voice, Peaky Blinders? He seems to have pleased them, as they fiddle around to pull the selection, bouncing in high spirits and punching their fists into the air, as the music starts, a bell ringing out, and the slithering deep tones speaking of the edge of town, of secrets in the border fires, of a gathering storm -- and a tall handsome man, in a dusty black coat, with a red right hand. 

As Sherlock listens to the song unspool, his mind wanders back to the show's themes, reminding him of a line of thought he’d been considering the last few days – that to focus singularly on Moriarty and faceless confederates is not quite the right way to conceptualize the dead man's web: that there must have also been family members in leading positions, positions of trust. One of the deep divides between himself and Mycroft originated in Sherlock’s refusal in uni to agree to work for SIS. Mycroft knew that he would never be able to trust completely any of the professionals who worked for him – after all they are spies working for money. To be sure, he wanted Sherlock to sign on to be able to appropriate his intelligence, but even more compelling was the fact that never having to question the loyalty of a brother would have made him an asset par excellence. Mycroft considers getting what he wants to be an inviolable law of the universe, and Sherlock doesn't think his brother will ever be able to truly forgive him for the rejection . . . especially given Sherlock's devotion to the inferior endeavors of dedicating himself to a life of metropolitan crime-solving. Family; family is what matters. A Moriarty is gone; but there are other Moriarties yet to be unearthed. ........................................................ @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @friday411 @peanitbear @original-welovethebeekeeper @helloliriels @a-victorian-girl @keirgreeneyes @starrla89 @naefelldaurk

@topsyturvy-turtely @lisbeth-kk @raina-at @jobooksncoffee @meetinginsamarra @solarmama-plantsareneat @bluebellofbakerstreet @dragonnan @safedistancefrombeingsmart @jolieblack

@msladysmith @ninasnakie @riversong912 @dapetty

.............................................................................

[anon-e-miss]

Alright, it's time to have a little conversation about dialogue and accents because I have now had more than one writer talking to me about the gutless anons they've been dealing with and it's time for me to enter the chat.

If you think the only accent that should be written in is how I am writing RIGHT now, you are both racist and colonialist and you can stay the fuck off my Tumbler, my Ao3 and ideally the whole fucking fandom because we don't need your shit stinking up the place.

Accents exist. We all speak with them. Mine is a Pacific Northwest thing. My mother's is more Prairie because, spoiler alert, she wasn't born on the West Coast. Meanwhile, I work with people and live around people from all over the world with all sorts of accents and they are all good and they are all worthy to be written in.

If you think dialogue is written with colloquialisms and accents and tone is a problem, you are in fact a huge problem and you need to work on yourself.

Taking inspiration from a New Joisey twang? Cool! Taking inspiration from part of Nigeria? Me sorry Mama, I didn't it know it was insult... oh wait... It isn't!

The only time, the only time at all I would question the use of accents is when only the villains of the same nationality have accents but the heroes sounds American, I'm looking at you Disney.

Accents are part of culture. Being a Vancourite I sound different from a Newfoundlander. I sound different from a Northern Brit and they sound different than a Londoner. A person from Nigeria sounds different from one in South Africa or the Caribbean and it might blow your mind but there is not one "Chinese" accent, there are many and no reader or person has any business trying to erase them from literature.

When I write Polyhexians, for the most part I write them with the same accent, why, because that's the accent of their community. I write Prowl with a fairly formal way of speaking as an accent related to his neurodivergence because accents are also not just cultural.

Now, kindly fuck off.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Today I cant find one single positive thing to say about Meghan. Not even one. by u/RoohsMama

Today, I can’t find one single positive thing to say about Meghan. Not even one. When I was a baby SMM member I wrote a post asking everyone to say one positive thing about Meghan. I do this mental exercise just to “clear the decks” and make sure I only have good vibes. (One can imagine how downvoted my post was but people did manage to find at least one positive thing to say.)Today, I can’t think of any. Since that early post, Meghan has done so many unthinkable things. She mocked the late Queen in their Netflix documentary. She let her squaddies attack Catherine when the Princess of Wales was struggling with cancer. These people accused William of beating her to death because she cheated on him with another relative (who committed suicide for unrelated reasons) and so he could marry Rose HanburyShe traveled to other countries (Colombia, Nigeria) on quasi royal tours and had them foot the billThere is further confirmation that she bullied staff after the Hollywood Reporter article Even other celebrities (such as Oprah) are staying clear of her, and those who defended her have gone silent She claims to protect her children’s privacy but uses other people’s kids as PR props. The Uvalde stunt was just horrifying She still hasn’t communicated with her father Her association with charities is purely self-serving, such as the one with the Parents Network Her business ventures are shoddily done. Archewell’s paperwork is delinquent. She launched American Riviera Orchard complete with logo and webpage but it’s now stuck at the patent office There are shady dealings at their foundation with millions still unaccounted for They lied about being chased in NYC just so they can pretend to be like Diana and to regain British taxpayer-provided security She continues to use the race card to victimise herself and divides people rather than unites them She’s tweaked herself so much that it does her no favours and still wears her hair the same way with those loose strands Her fashion choices have slowly worsened through the years; when she was with the RF she had some good apparel. But none recently The businesses she supports are dodgy (ClevrBlends not upfront on ingredients sourced from China; those Cesta handbags cheat the African women who make them) She used to pretend to be vegan/pro animal life but is inconsistent with the values (uses leather goods, didn’t call out Harry’s cruelty to animals in Polo)Still lies constantly forced school kids’ parents in a New York elementary to donate to Archewell by buying her book and then silenced them with NDAsPublicises every small donation or contribution to a charity threatened to blab on her in laws by saying she hadn’t been made to sign an NDA marched in front of veterans at Invictus, while wearing shorts posed with disabled people while ignoring them the whole time made the Queen’s death about herself by demanding to be present (thus delaying Harry’s flight) and then being photographed at the Palace while the Queen’s body was being received; did fake crying, then did the curtsy she said she couldn’t do and more Everything I try to think of something nice to say, each one of the above facts came up. The only positive thing I can say today is that she and Harry have stopped having public appearances together. And that is a huge blessing. ETA: I just thought of another! She’s made Catherine even more beloved. Yay post link: https://ift.tt/otpy8kz author: RoohsMama submitted: December 21, 2024 at 07:52AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[have-you-heard-of]

Have You Heard Of?

“A man who would be intimidated by me is exactly the kind of man I would have no interest in.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie b.September 15, 1977

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an award-winning author and an influential advocate of feminism. She has captivated people worldwide with her powerful storytelling and her outspoken campaign for gender equality. She was born in Enugu, Nigeria, and was raised in an academic environment that surely nurtured her passion for writing. As one of six siblings she grew up in the university town of Nsukka, her Mother was the first female registrar at University of Masuka and her father was Nigeria's first professor of statistics, and later became Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the same university. She attributes her success in part to her parents for, encouraging her self-confidence and being supportive by always showing that they had confidence in her. She began studying medicine and pharmacy at the university school her parents worked at; though, writing seems to have called to her, as she also edited the magazine created by the medical students. She left her medical studies after a year and a half when at nineteen she gained a scholarship to Eastern Connecticut State University in America, where she graduated summa cum laude (with highest honours) with a degree in communication and political science and continued her passion for writing by producing articles for the university journal. She went on to gain her master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University, become a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, earned an MA in African Studies from Yale University, and she was awarded a fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. During this time, she has released numerous novels, including A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. She holds strong feelings regarding gender equality and is proud of her femininity, taking pleasure in fashion whilst grappling with the knowledge that she will be judged for the way she chooses to dress. Her belief is that you should be happy to be who you are, without being forced into a mould society has decided fits your gender. Refusing to conform to a female academic stereotype, she loves make-up and has been the face of Boots No7 cosmetics. Now married with a daughter, she splits her time between Nigeria, where she teaches writing workshops, and the United States. All in all, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a world-renowned writer, acclaimed academic, fashion icon, beauty queen and a feminist warrior we all should have heard of.

“If you criticise X in women but do not criticise X in men, then you do not have a problem with X, you have a problem with women.”

Books and Novels

Notable Awards and Honors

35 awards, 21 are literary awards, including: Future… Award (Young Person of the Year category), 2008 Global Hope Coalition's Thought Leadership Award, 2018 Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award, 2018 UN Foundation Global Leadership Award, 2019 Africa Freedom Prize 2020 Business Insider Africa Awards, 'Creative Leader of the Year', 12 April 2022 Influential people lists including: The New Yorker's '20 Under 40', 2010 '100 Most Influential Africans 2013', New African '100 Most Influential People' by Time Magazine, 2015 Fortune Magazine's List of 50 World Leaders, 2017 'World's Most Inspiring People in 2019' by OOOM Magazine Forbes Africa's '100 Icons from Africa', 2021 'Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Transformational Change', 2022

“Teach her to reject likeability. Her job is not to make herself likeable, her job is to be her full self, a self that is honest and aware of the equal humanity of other people.”

Trivia

Her childhood home was one formerly occupied by the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe

Beyoncé's song, "Flawless," features excerpts from Adichie's TED Talk.

Adichie thought she had invented purple hibiscus & was shocked to receive a call from her editor telling her they existed in America!

[ribax-marketing]

Looking for engaging online communities in Nigeria? Look no further than Riba-X! Best Online Community Platform in Nigeria, Our platform fosters meaningful connections and discussions. Join Now!

[ktempestbradford]

UPDATE: He's home and tweeting.

UPDATE: Ekpeki is on his way back to Nigeria.

This tweet says that he was denied entry to the US and was sent back yesterday. I don't think he's yet in Nigeria, which is why no one has heard from him so far.

Original Post

SFF Community, some of you may be aware of the situation regarding author and editor Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki. If not, the short version is that he flew into LAX on Thursday to attend the NAACP Image Awards Friday and has not been heard from since landing.

Obviously, people are concerned about this. Ekpeki is Nigerian, here on a famously fraught to acquire visa, and US CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) doesn't have the best reputation for treating brown people like humans.

CPB took his phone and that's probably why no one has been able to communicate with him. And some friends of his claim they contacted CPB and got confirmation he was detained by them, but no updates since. I've seen lots of people calling for action and contacting US electeds.

I don't think that will work. Unlike when Ekpeki got the visa, putting pressure on Congressbeings isn't likely to have an affect here because it may be that he technically broke the rules or at least ended up on the wrong side of not very well spelled out rules.

The "best" scenario is that CPB sent him back to Nigeria, though why he's been out of communication so long is a mystery to me. (If anyone has insight, please share.) Here's what may have happened, pieced together with what I'm seeing on Twitter.

Ekpeki initially got his visa to attend WorldCon in September. The B1/B2 visa is for business purposes and tourism and is valid for 2 years(?) but it doesn't mean you can stay in the US for those whole two years. It means you can come in and out for that time.

When you enter, you get a stamp telling you the date you must leave by, though you can leave before then. And as this article explains, sometimes the entry stamper will default to 6 months, as that's the longest, or specify a shorter timeframe.

After WorldCon, Ekpeki wanted to stay in the US to attend World Fantasy a few months after. Not a problem. At the time he indicated that he planned to stay the full 6 months, go back to Nigeria, then come back for ICFA. The timing of all this likely changed when he got the Image Award nomination.

Regardless, he went back to Nigeria for a week, I believe (this is fuzzy and my sources aren't good, so I welcome corrections) before coming back to the US. And this is where I think he made a mistake. Again I point to the article I linked above.

Twitter user DuertoD pointed out something called Visa Carouseling, where a person leaves the US for a short time to then come back and get another 6 month stamp. It's apparently not really allowed to do that. (He goes into a bit more detail here.)

The thing I don't know is whether this is stated anywhere in the documentation. As in, do they say you have to be gone for a certain period before coming back explicitly? Or is it one of those fuzzy things that are up to whoever is working the desk you get to that day?

At any rate, DuertoD also pointed out that Ekpeki said publicly he intended to stay the whole 6 months and also that he had to buy a return ticket he "wouldn’t need", meaning that when he entered the US the first time the US thought he was leaving on a certain date, yet he didn't.

I do not know the details of when that return flight was supposed to have been. From what I gather talking to folks, open-ended stays on this visa are not to the US gov't's liking.

Complicating this whole thing is that a group of trolls have been stalking and harassing Ekpeki for a while now and I know they were aware of him going out then coming back into the country. It's entirely possible they maliciously reported him.

It's entirely possible that CBP wouldn't have noticed or cared on a normal day, but did once they'd been alerted. Also entirely possible they wouldn't have cared if they'd been alerted if Ekpeki wasn't Black, or Nigerian. There's a whole constellation of annoying possibilities.

The reason I said that I don't think getting Congressbeings involved will help is that, in the end, CBP may be entirely within the law to have detained him over concerns of Visa Carouseling. And his rights, such as they are, are very limited from what I understand.

I've heard that there are some efforts by a lawyer to help out, and that may be why Ekpeki isn't already tweeting that he's been sent back to Nigeria (which would be a "best" case at this point… cuz being in CBP custody as a Black person is cause for concern).

In this case, it may end up being a sad but not tragic outcome for Ekpeki. Others who've been flagged for this have been barred from the US for a time, and maybe that will be the case for him.

Thinking to the future, I'd like to see SFF community entities do some work around this whole US visa process and how we can help writers and editors from marginalized groups and countries navigate this better. For now, I hope we find out soon that Oghenechovwe is okay.

If I have any of the details or legal stuff wrong, please let me know! I want to spread good information and will update this post accordingly.

ALSO NOTE: The trolls I mentioned have been all up in the twitter replies and may come here as well. Do Not Engage With Them. They find harassing and provoking people fun and exciting. Block or ignore.

[humanrightsday]

How human rights are a pathway to solutions, playing a critical role as a preventative, protective and transformative force for good.

Since their adoption in 2015, many developing countries have made remarkable strides towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, a troubling disconnect persists: economic growth alone does not guarantee the alleviation of poverty or inequalities, the climate emergency accelerates, and the destruction of our natural world continues. As we mark Human Rights Day 2024, we are reminded that human rights are not abstract ideals. They are vital tools for addressing these pressing challenges and advancing dignity and justice for all. 

In conflict and crisis settings, where violence and forced displacement prevail, human rights come under acute threat. Women and children are especially affected. In such contexts, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works to support human rights solutions that strengthen accountability, protect communities and foster peace, recovery, and stability. This includes partnering with National Human Rights Institutions, which often represent the frontline defenders of human rights. For example, in Nigeria, UNDP collaborated with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to support the National Human Rights Commission’s Human Rights Dashboard and Observatory to enable real-time tracking and analysis of human rights violations, directly support to conflict-affected populations. Local initiatives also remain key. That includes women in Somalia who are being supported to lead peace efforts including assisting those facing violence, discrimination, and injustice. “I have resolved numerous local disputes…I feel motivated when I see I have been able to change people’s lives positively,” says Fatuma who led a local Peace Working Group.

As the accelerating climate emergency threatens the ability of current and future generations to enjoy their right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, UNDP is focusing on access to justice, working with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and OHCHR to help communities claim their rights. Moreover, in countries such as Belize, UNDP’s Climate Promise is supporting national climate change dialogues that comprise of key groups like civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and women's organizations, ensuring that everyone can have a say in their climate futures  -- advancing climate justice. The private sector also has a pivotal role to play. UNDP supports the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights including to advance sustainable practices that protect the environment. Indeed, technology offers both risks and opportunities to advance human rights. The Global Digital Compact aims to create an inclusive, open, safe, and secure digital space that respects, protects and promotes human rights. Tech-enabled UNDP tools like iVerify and eMonitor+ deployed in over 25 countries to monitor and address false narratives and hate speech show the potential. It is now crucial to adopt a rights-based approach to technologies like A.I., addressing ethical challenges, protecting data, and tackling biases to mitigate risks today and unlock immense benefits for the generations to come. 

The Pact for the Future reaffirms that the three pillars of the United Nations – sustainable development, peace and security, and human rights – are equally important, interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Remove one, and the balance falters. Alongside our partners from the UN and beyond, UNDP is dedicated to bringing the Pact to life. In many ways, it calls for a re-think of how our global community plans, acts, and thinks together for the future, concertedly creating a more continuous thread of actions that will shape the world to come. That involves embedding human rights into every aspect of our work to help realise a future where justice, equality and opportunity stretches beyond the far horizon.

Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

This Human Rights Day, 10 December 2024, we focus on how human rights are a pathway to solutions, playing a critical role as a preventative, protective and transformative force for good.

[nerves-nebula]

Nigerian living in Nigeria here and I really really don't think you should come over. We are currently in a very very anti trans and anti lgbtq period. If anybody were to find out you were trans you'll be super unsafe. I know this advice is unsolicited and you didn't particularly say you were coming here but as a queer trans person who's unable to transition and is currently stuck in this country, I feel increasingly unsafe and things are getting worse.

If you were to come, you probably would have to make sure you pass as a woman really really well and have backup plans to leave the country quick if you were found out.

I've noticed ppl have started to pay more attention to how I dress and noticing me binding my chest and dressing masculine, no one paid that much attention to that a few years ago but now ppl can't seem to shut the fuck up about it

We have a thriving queer community here, we are small yes but we know how to find each other. The problem is they are no laws to protect us and the average person thinks we are devil worshippers. Ppl who get caught by the police have to bribe their way out of prison and it isn't even the police you have to worry about, it's the ppl around you.

The beard thing can be passed of as genetics if it isn't a full one, we have a lot of women with facial hair, but if you give of any hint that you aren't cis you'll be in trouble.

And it also depends on the area you would be visiting too. Gated communities tend to mind their business and it easier to be a moderately rich queer person than a poor one. The rich can choose where they can go and who they can interact with while poorer queer ppl have to interact with ppl who are more likely to hurt them

If you're sure you can pass as a cis woman then come if you can't and you don't have any support systems that would protect your best interest in the country then I advice you stay in America. Nigerians barely ever protest(at least ppl outside unions) yet average ppl were protesting the legalisation of gay ppl just this year

The climate here is complicated, we have very popular trans and queer influencers that have millions of followers but it isn't that hard to find a video of a transwoman getting beat up. If you're rich with parents that'll turn the other way you're must likely good if not sorry for you 🤷🏿

If you do think you'll be able to manage I don't mind helping in any way I can

thanks for giving me the general vibe, it's definitely something i was wondering about so i genuinely appreciate it. i think i can still pass for a woman (one with a slightly deep voice but tbh it's no that deep. I've still got breasts and everything so at most they'll think I'm like. a masculine looking cis woman, idk)

I dont have like a full BEARD beard i think i'd have to shave what i do have cuz my sister, who has already visited with my dad, says i prolly got too much facial hair to pass it off as genetics.

the issue i'm worried about is my dad telling people i'm trans. i don't even know if he knows that i'm transgender or what, but he knows i'm on testosterone.

I wouldn't come over if I didn't think I was safe. and that's the issue that i'm grappling with cuz I'm not entirely sure what my dad will say/do. i don't think he'll beat me or anything since he hasn't done that with his other, way more volatile and argumentative children. that's like, not a fear i have about him. but i'm not sure if he'll tell the people around us about me or endanger me in some way.

my inclination is to say no, but he and my mom have done equally awful stuff when i thought "surely they wouldn't do that" so I'm not sure. I don't think my dad is rich, but i don't know exactly. he has a lot of connections and has worked in the government and when my oldest sister visited, she said he had armed guards that escorted them everywhere. so that's probably a good sign? but that was a few years ago.

i wouldn't go by my real name or pronouns there, that's for damn sure, but I'm worried I'd forget the little things about me that show I'm trans. for example, my favorite jacket has a trans flag painted on it and my backpack has a pronoun pin. those are easy to side step obviously, just remove the pin and don't bring the jacket- but I'm worried about little things like that slipping through the cracks because i'm not used to hiding them.

[horizon-verizon]

The despair and emotion liberals expressed about Trump’s win, such a profound contrast to their cold indifference (or worse) to a year long genocide, shows so starkly the racist hierarchy of lives that, behind their sanctimonious moralising, fundamentally underpins their worldview.

I'm Black but not the descendant of chattel enslaved people, but bc I am Black/a colonial-affected and have already said what i said about the PoCs who voted fro Trump. I've come to realize that on the Black side, the jokes I've seen everywhere online about Palestine becoming a parking lot or glass or the clear-non-joke form this one Black woman about Palestine is now "done" bc 3rd party voters ruined it for themselves have the main goal of staying ahead in the capitalist race towards building equity and capital for themselves.

Here's the thing. Yes, producing money and capital for the Black community as well as supporting other Black businesses amongst themselves is very important since historically others never do. this is facts. Problem is that people are claiming that Palestinians deserve to be steamrolled and lose their homeland...when:

there are Black Palestinians, Black Muslims, mixed race Arabs and such....they don't matter? What about the Ethiopian women Israel sterilized...sound familiar? The children in West Africa, specifically Burkina Faso, the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, & Ghana, are working in cocoa factories for about 60% of the globe's chocolate supply. what about incarcerated Black American people forced to work--and definitely going to in California at the very least--as they also cannot vote while they earn false wages?

by going to McDon and Starbucks, you're essentially speedrunning the genocide that many of them weren't trying to offset i the first place, so this false sense of ungratefulness as if they were the ones who supported all along) is manipulative. It's still supporting companies that given the chance and years later, WILL have all the laws and means to go after Black people, so you're speedrunning your own demise and break down of community and use of capital. I realize that Black people have moved different and supported themselves through Jim Crow and all...why are you helping that to come sooner or guarantee its arrival? Funny, bc this is the logic they've used to argue for Kamala.

who, btw, doesn't really need the support she could have directed towards Palestinians or used to build a platform that was more aggressively anti-Republican.

some Black folks have gone out of their way to travel back to African countries and feel their "motherland" (this used to happen more often, it's slowed down now, but a sentiment is still there)

many African peoples and countries have very conservative and ult-Christian views while also facing colonial patterns of exploitation even years down their moment of independence...hello, Congo, Sudan?! Ghana, Nigeria, etc. do these populations have to be perfect in order to gain life-saving advocacy that sometimes doesn't even need you to join a protest or get out of bed?! Were they even fundraising for these Black people? I will answer, I have literally seen people say only descendant-of-chattel-enslaved-people-black-people, which with American Black people also coming from many religious Conservative backgrounds that are heavily homophobic, transphobic, sexist, etc., it shows that if they don't advocate for African black people like they refuse to do for Palestine anyway, that they simply want to play the capitalist game similar to how many Black people in history have only reached to be included in indigenous registries and tribes to obtain rights to certain lands...(yeah indigenous people have also been racist/antiBlack or engaged in such to try to protect their own identities under thee U.S. government....but all this is an example of that divisiveness that's killing everyone)

One creator said that they are leveraging their privilege to escape present genocide and complete erasure (bc Black Americans may have been literally bombed as well as killed and raped, too...but also Palestine is getting WIPED OUT without their original home...you'd think you'd find some similarity, commonality, solidarity if it's about land loss, but no). this doesn't mean that people shouldn't be looking side-eyed at every PoC Trump voter, nah, hold them to the fire (I expected nothing less from both white men and women). Which means start conversations, argue, berate, tell them about the consequences of their votes and the histories that mirror out own time. but I earnestly believe that just because Black people didn't vote for Trump, some right now expressing anger (rightly) are really helping white supremacy when they call for deportations and "jokingly" put up numbers for ICE. Biden may have fucked up for Kamala by being so late, but Kamala messed up by including Republicans...which ironically mirrors PoCs voting for Trump, right? some black people and many of Trump's PoC voters actually have something in common there.

It's so fucking crazy, bc rising xenophobia and racism basically speedrunned Germany and Italy towards fascism.

I remember thinking, like a lot of people before the elections, that the hate in the Black diaspora was twisted on both sides bec the whole point is that it's divisive.

[aishabellasbigblogofeverything]

i think fatphobia in black spaces is really, REALLY bad lately. people will always just be coming for anyone who's a bit big. ESPECIALLY black men to black women. all my uncles and my grandpa being like oh you need to lose weight. oh you're a bit fat. like shut up???? it's none of your business and even if i was fat that doesn't make me less of a human being

Thank you. What’s interesting is that in some African cultures, such as Nigeria, it’s considered the beauty standard for women to be fat. So we should accept fat as beautiful in our community as well.

There’s also a lot of Fatphobia in certain lgbtq spaces and that makes me uncomfortable as well.

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 3x3

Good lord. This episode was like being on the Scrambler at the fair. You know the one, you sit in the little seat at the end of a big arm like a spoke of a wheel, and the central machine spins steadily, but because of the position of the arms, and I don’t know, physics, you kind of get flung from point A to B, then B to C, then C to A again, but it’s a slightly different A than before, a slightly different spot, and it goes fast and your surroundings are blurry but then there are little moments when you land at each point where the movement pauses and you can see clearly, just in time to propel someplace new again. 

The Scrambler was always my favorite ride. I’m too chickenshit for huge rollercoasters, I get irrationally angry (terrified) if upside down, I don’t want to be splashed with water, etc., but also I’m not a baby. I liked being disoriented. And I think I really liked this episode. 3x1 and 3x2 were both awesome and I was cruising along feeling very aware of what show I was watching, and tonight I was absolutely watching the same show but the fucking great needle drops and the whole weird energy of the thing left me—to overdo the stupid metaphor—scrambled.

I can’t believe my last pre-s3 fic included Ted having bad feelings about Precious Moments figurines in a rental house and then it turns out actual Ted’s actual mom collects them!

(Weird bullet to start with? Well, I feel weird!)

The boys (adult men who coach AFC Richmond) just want Julie Andrews to boss them around and punish them. I get it. 😌

Ola’s! I’m so excited for Sam and I love the vibe of his restaurant and I love that he’s getting to do this communal, home-oriented endeavor that connects him to so many things about both Nigeria and the UK right as his football club is becoming a cult of personality. 

Everything with Tish was so unsettling. I love that Rebecca was trying desperately to play the whole thing for laughs, but then it was genuinely chilling. I have so many (strong) feelings about Rebecca and motherhood, and I’ve felt this whole time like it was incredibly important to her character’s journey that she is never going to be a mother, exactly, even though I’m just a human girl and I would love to see her stepmommin’. But tbh I am HERE for seeing what happens precisely because she was angry about the premonition, she didn’t bite back her feelings, she called the vision cruel. I’m going to need to rewatch and listen to every word that Tish says but I am! Losing! It! 

Zava is great as a device and I’m loving that Jamie isn’t having tantrums but is instead using his words (to great effect!). He’s standoffish but he isn’t being a total prick. And I’m very :eyesemoji: about these early morning trainings with Roy, and, you know, what purpose Roy is going to find there beyond helping to mold Jamie. I really like that most everyone else is very much not immune to Zava, and I like that there’s a logic to that—they’re winning, they’re thriving, they’re a surprise success story. 

I am obsessed with Ted’s obsession with Dr. Jacob and how he’s continuing to call him Dr. Jacob. I completely get why it’s so upsetting and bewildering. I would be a basket case. Also I think there’s something incredibly perfect about the terrible foot they start off on (restart, anyway), with Dr. Jacob doing the stupid Trump impersonation and just really putting his foot in it. I guess there could have been worse ways to choose to answer the phone, but it’s difficult to think of one! And Dr. Jacob might not get much screentime, but we get so much—the cringiness of the realization it’s Ted on the line. The cozy homey Kansas kitchen. The busy lived-in domesticity, interrupted. And then he’s in this fugue state for weeks, obsessing, and there’s Sassy. I kinda love that he tells her up front about Michelle and their ex-therapist; they clearly haven’t seen each other in a long time, and that’s the first and only news he thinks to tell her!? Yikes. 

Shandy! Yes. (And Roy wanting to do the interview. HELP.)

I have every feeling in the world about Colin and his boyfriend. I absolutely love—I mean, I hate it for him, but I love it for this story—that he’s seemingly secure in his sexuality in terms of understanding who he is, and is closeted because of the world he lives in. Colin and his absurdly noticeable car and hiding in plain sight among the casual gay jokes of the world he lives in. My heart was in my throat over Trent seeing them. My hope is that we’re going to get confirmation that Trent is also queer, and that all this is going to have something to do with the book he’s writing (hopefully in a good way rather than a horrific way!), especially since the audience hasn’t heard Trent pitch his book project and we really don’t know much of anything about the kind of story he’s looking for. TIME WILL TELL, I GUESS. 

I’m sure there are a million other things, but to be entirely honest my entire brain is just the words “shite in nining armor” over and over and over again. Maybe my brain will come back online tomorrow, or maybe it won’t come back until May 31, or never! Goodnight!