Top 10 Places To Visit in Lagos This Yuletide

December 18, 2016harold 1 Comment

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas in advance. Are you in Lagos, Nigeria (there is a Lagos in Portugal) for the yuletide and you are in want of places to visit? I have compiled a list of 10 places you could visit in Lagos, Nigeria this yuletide. They are listed in no particular order. I have been to most of these places and I am looking forward to visiting and revisiting them. After all, all write and no play can be boring as hell.

1. Elegushi Beach

Elegushi is located off Lekki expressway (off the 3rd roundabout. I think). It is one of my favourite private beaches in Lagos. Not that it is the cleanest or clearest. Nope. But the night life on the beach is spuflix (I wish that was a real word). I would recommend you go in the evening, rather than when the sun is high in the sky. There’s a N1,000 gate fee/person and N200 parking fee/car.

Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC)

The LCC has a huge tract of wetlands set aside for wildlife viewing, located at kilometer 19 along the Lagos-Epe Expressway. You get started by going through a long nature trial (you’d love this) which leads you into the thick of the forest, and then, to the canopy walkway, and then, to an open recreational spot. The canopy walkway is the longest in Africa. Access fee to the nature trail is N1,000, and another N1,000 to use the canopy walkway. The last time I was here, I thought I was lost after walking through the forest for over 30 minutes without seeing an “exit route”. It was interestingly scary. I will definitely revisit this place. Continue reading →

Blogging Masterclass for Beginners

September 22, 2016harold 4 Comments

So, in the past few weeks, I have been inundated with requests from newbies and wannabes about how to blog. I have had to tutor some on how to set up a blog, beautify it, maintain it, brand it etc. Whew! I had thought blogging was as simple as eating rice and stew, but seeing the yearning from a lot of people to learn how to actually set up, manage and monetize a blog made me realise it is not so straight forward after all. Well, as a newbie, that is always the case. Everything is always complicated. I remember when I started blogging too about 300 years ago, I mean, 7-8 years ago…the thing be no funny me. Starting from the dash board (too many layouts to figure out), to the language used (trust me, when I started blogging I did not know what a widget was…or even what a theme meant…or more embarrassingly, what header, tag, menu, category, host, plugin, sidebars etc were). They all came across as technical mumbo jumbos; stuff only geeks and Albert-Einstein-esques fellas could figure out.

But 300 years, I mean, 8 years down the line, I get to teach people how to hack the American Government website, sorry I mean, how to blog. And so far I have had sheer satisfaction doing so. My students have gone on to mentor others! Whew!

So you really want to learn to blog?

Introducing BlogCampNG

The year is running out and you’ve probably not learnt any new skill in the last few months. Nigeria’s economy is in recession and you are wondering what to do. Perhaps, you already figured out what to do and that is to take advantage of the world wide web but you dont know how to blog? Not to worry, BlogCampNG is here to rescue you!

Given the tons of requests I have had to deal with off late, I and some of the best Bloggers in Nigeria decided to organise a one day PRACTICAL BLOGGING MASTERCLASS tagged “BlogCampNG: So you want to blog?”

Are you an artist, caterer, interior decorator, photographer, event planner, musician, author/writer, fashion designer, beautician, entrepreneur, sales person etc and you don’t have a blog, but would like to? Have you ever attended any previous Blogging Workshop but all you learnt were motivational quotes and phrases? Do you want to be able to set up a blog, design it, beautify it, brand it, generate traffic to it, monetize it etc?

If your answer to the above questions is yes, then you have to attend this year’s BlogCampNG. We all know that blogging can be so tasking to someone who is just starting out and we know that there are so many questions related to setting up, building, managing and monetising a blog. The BlogCampNG workshop is aimed at teaching BEGINNERS/AMATEURS all the inner workings of blogging and to educate you to build, manage and grow your blog whether it’s just a pastime or part of your small business. And we shall teach you like we were teaching a nursery school student. You get what we mean? It will be extremely practical from the scratch! At this BlogCampNG, beginner bloggers will be given the tools they need to run a better, more successful and creative blog. The course will cover tips for creatively improving the design of your site, using social media to market your blog, monetizing your blog by working with advertisers etc.

The PRACTICAL course will cover topics like:

How to create/set up a beautiful WordPress blog from scratch

How to tag and categorize posts

How to share and promote posts

How to generate traffic to your blog

How to brand your blog

How to integrate your social networks (Twitter, Facebook Profile, Facebook Page and Facebook Groups, Google +, LindkedIn account etc) with your blog

How to choose the perfect theme

How to design a header image as an amateur

How to publish posts using your phone

How to manage comments

How to customise widgets

How to use your blog sidebars for advertising

How to upload pdfs on your blog

How to create contents

How to engage your audience

How to get your custom domain (www.yourname.com)

Etc Etc

PLEASE NOTE THAT this will be a very practical session, therefore, it is going to be a BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) workshop. So attendees are advised to come with their PCs. Internet facility will be made available for everyone. This is not going to be one of those Motivational events that you may have attended, it is a PRACTICAL WORKSHOP. It is also not going to be a GET RICH QUICK SCHEME/.WORKSHOP. It is a Practical Workshop on how to set up from scratch, build, manage, generate contents and traffic to a blog etc etc.
If this sounds like a workshop you will be interested in, please drop your email address in the comment section below. It does not matter if you do not have a web designing background. As long as you can open and close a laptop, this workshop is for you. Leave your email address in the comment section to signify interest. Thank you.

Revelation at #LiveYourDreams Conference: The reason why most people won’t succeed

September 17, 2013harold 1 Comment

So I was at the Live Your Dreams Conference at Terra Kulture over the weekend.While everyone was going there for a million reasons, I went there for just one reason: to be inspired and learn from the best. And oh, I was hoping to see Linda Ikeji too. She was shortlisted as a panellist. I wanted to see those smooth straight legs live and direct see her for the first time and maybe chat her up during recess. And oh, one more thing; I wanted to meet new Treps (a swaggerlicious word for entrepreneurs). At the end of the day, only two of the three wishes were fulfilled. I heard and learnt from the best and I met some really interesting treps. Linda didn’t show up as at the time I left. Her loss. She could have had my autograph by now.

The magnitude of the turn up was very impressive. The hall was actually filled to capacity.MC AK47 was sick. Really really funny dude and his co-anchor, Aderonke Adebanjo was ever sweet. The speakers, Idoreyen Enang, OC Ukeje, Ibrahim Suleiman, Steve Harris, Jimmy, Lanre Olusola etc were the perfect blend. They shared a whole lot of stuff you could never learn in school, not even in Harvard. Before you ask if I’ve ever been to Harvard, errmm…..wait…….

As I left the event, I had a new sense of direction. I mean, boys are BALLING things in this life by using their heads and I have been here dulling away my very big head. For example, Steve Harris revealed how he turned from N20,000 ‘poor’ to N450,000.00 rich ‘overnight’ by using just his smartphone. He sounded really believable and the method he adopted sounded genuine, so I have no reason to doubt him. Aha! You want to know how he did it, right? Get the video tape of the event. Ask Mr Bankole Williams or Continue reading →

Book Reading/Launch: Oladimeji Ojo’s MONITORED

August 12, 2013harold 8 Comments

On Saturday August 10, 2013 the most anticipated literary event in Gidi City came alive at Freedom Park, Lagos Island. It was the book reading/launch of Monitored, a debut novel by Oladimeji Ojo a.k.a ~~omo baba olowo~~ DMJ a.k.a Writers’ Stalker (@istalkwriters) . Feed your eyes with the shots taken by ~~award-winning paparazzo~~ HaroldWrites (except shots in which I appear. Those ones were taking by my protege). If my camera did not capture you, then you owe me fifty bucks.