February 25, 2013

Ordinary Ahmed Isah: Surprise Guest at iblog february edition

Hey everyone! I'm soooooo excited about this February edition of iBlog! It was a unique edition, coming during social media week! Social media is definitely trending this season, it's more than tech and tools, it's a culture! It's the way we live today.

If you missed last month's event, we hosted Supper blogger, Japheth Omojuwa. Our interaction with him remains memorable. Omojuwa shared tips that have optimized his use of social media.

Let me recap for the benefit of those who weren't there:

He mentioned that he sees his twitter followers as real human heads and tries to imagine the numbers by looking at the membership in his church. Your page views and subscribers aren't just stats, they are real human beings who are connecting with you from around the world.

He gives social media the commitment required of a real job, he tweets everyday and is a strategic commentator. He influences trending topics by starting the conversation. The first comments influences the rest of the conversation.
 
He said that incidents that route trafic to your blog can be planned to occur frequently, an example was attaching your growing brand to a big and known one. About the quality of content, he said it should be unique and also connect to people's hearts. Look out for the interest of your followers and amplify your content over multiple platforms like twitter and Facebook.

Watch the video for more here- http://www.omonaikee.blogspot.com/2013/02/watch-iblog-experience.html. We also had special appearance by OAP and my friend Meka Akerejola, (yes he's back on his feet) and of course, YOU!

Our guest yesterday, is no ordinary man even though he has an all too common name and insists he should be addressed as ordinary when he is called.

I first listened to his popular radio show along with over 10 million subscribers on the way to work. It was quite accidental. Every cab i entered in the mornings was tuned to 104.5 Crowder Love FM. I would listen to the show until my cab arrived at work then on my way into the office I would hear the rest of it from all the security guards who would also be tuned in and by the time the cleaners came I would get the end of it as they listened while doing their work. Initially i didn't know what the program was called or who the host was or the name of the station but I knew the cry "heeeeeeeembelembeh" and the reply "olololohhhh!"

I soon discovered an innovative and interesting show which I looked forward to every work day from 7am-8am. It was a mobile court of sorts which dealt with personal, communal and societal issues as reported by citizens. Like every reality show, it had the right blend of interesting characters, Barrister Agbolahan the in-house lawyer, Amaka the go-to person and other supporting cast members.

It didn't take long to decide that I had to meet him and invite him to iBlog.

He was kind enough to see me in spite of his busy schedule. It was obvious there was a lot on his mind. He told me he hadn't rested, he couldn't sleep well and he hadn't eaten that day. But he wanted me to eat on my visit and served me himself adding that he wasn't a gentle man ooo, he was only trying to impress me. But he already had.

It wasn't his appearance which was starkly different from who I had imagined. I thought he would be a fat guy with a protruding belly from which resonated those cries, calls and bellows he made on the show.
 
"ha hi ha hi ha hi hain eeiiiiiii hemmmmmmmmm berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlembeeeh"
 
I thought he would be semi educated at best, if not where did he pick up his "piecessed" not just broken English.

"Gu-do morninggi, na who me and am de vano, wetin be your contributed"

But his degree in theatre arts and masters in psychology is responsible for his epic, Gringoro slangs.

I thought he would be gruff in his appearance like he was uncensored in his speech "my mouth no dey wear pampers" but I met a well spoken and refined gentleman and he cleaned up really nice.
 
Still It wasn't any of these that impressed me.

In the time I was with him he received a lot of calls. The show continues long after it ends. It was late evening but the calls refused to close from work and go home. People wanted to tell him about issues that needed his intervention. To one he said after a series of grilling questions, I can't help you. "The story is not straight" he told me. To another he said you can help yourself. "I need to wake her up from that helplessness she feels" he said explaining why he answered her bluntly. I saw his point, the caller could rally help herself to solve what looked like a simple problem. To yet another he said go to the studio tomorrow and collect 10,000 Naira.

"How do you know he is sincere", I asked. " Do I need to?" He asked me this time. I reflected on it. He was right, help is help, if you want to help, help.
 
He spoke about death thrice while I was in his presence. Two times he was referring to himself. "They" were after his life he said. "Even if they get me, it won't stop". "It" was the growing awareness his show was bringing to the rights of Nigerians as a people. "Nigerians don't know their rights" he said, "The average Nigerian doesn't know the difference between his rights and privileges."

"They want to shut down my program, what did I say that wasn't true?". His show was off air recently, I thought his studio was being upgraded. "They picked me up" he told me. I remembered my nurse friend narrating how she saw him bruised at National hospital last year after an alleged incident with a government agency. "If what I am doing pleases God, let him protect me. I have no fear."

His third reference to death brought tears to his eyes, he didn't hide them from me. "She understands me". He was talking about his late wife. I noted he spoke of her in present tense. Perhaps to him she is present, I hoped he received comfort from this.

"If you want to be rich or if you want to impress people you can't do what I am doing".

I was impressed.

Ladies, Gentlemen, Who better to share how he has gained traffic of over 10million subscribers on the ground breaking radio phenomenon "Hembelembeh" than he.

It was an extraordinary iblog with Extraordinary Ahmed Isah, the voice of the voiceless!
 
I call him every woman's maternal son and every mans blood brother!
 
Our facilitator for the event was abujafood.com- Abuja’s Number 1 website. It is An Online City Guide blog for Abuja, an interactive business directory and a link between Abuja businesses and targeted leads. They showed us practically how to increase traffic to our websites and blog pages through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Videos and photos and highlighs coming soon, in the meantime download the february newsletter FREE here

Thank You's go to YOU and to all our supporters, abujafood.com, oodera.com, Buzz, Pearls International, Cognito Studios Photography see their work here and www.cognitostudios.blogspot.com, omojuwa.com, E- 101 magazine, Acada magazine, Juice place 2, www.2feetafrica.com and all the bloggers who blogged, tweeted and rebroadcasted. We thank thee! See you next month!


 
 
 
 
This event is powered by OMONAIKEE MEDIA COMPANY. Omonaikee Media Company creates media content for print, radio, television, events, online and social media and owns the iBlog franchise. Contact 08023550822 for inquiries, adverts, partnerships, services and license to operate iBlog in your own community.

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