Focus on personal lives of prominent women is distracting —Chioma Nnani

Chioma Nnani, award-winning author, ghost writer, producer and blogger holds an LLB  degree from the University of Kent in Canterbury and a Postgraduate Certificate in Food Law from the De Montfort University in Leicester. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Fearless Storyteller House Emporium Ltd, UK BEFFTA (Black Entertainment Film Fashion Television &Arts) 2016 Award winner, “Blog of the Year,” two time UK BEFFTA Awards nominee, Best Author Category and one of 100 Most Influential Creatives in 2016 by C.Hub Magazine, in this interview by TAYO GESINDE speaks on her life as a writer and blogger.

 

From Law to writing

My career has evolved from Law graduate, to someone who wasn’t sure of what she wanted to do because someone else stole her writing, to published author, to being offered my own radio show, to creative entrepreneur and CEO. To a large extent, there have been elements of responding to a need, which I think is basic entrepreneur stuff. Find something you’re good at, package it into a product or service for people who are hungry for it, and market it. Obviously, the actual mechanics and technicalities will vary from one person to another, one business to another and one industry to another. But that’s pretty much it – open your eyes and respond to an existing need or one that you anticipated.

 

My role models

I don’t have role models; everyone has her own demon, including those that people think are role models. I do have mentors –the late  Dr. Nkem Ezeilo was one of my mentors and her passing is one of the worst shocks and most painful losses I’ve ever had to endure. She taught me, among other things, the power of my mind … how to use my mind to create stuff, including outcomes that I wanted.

 

Challenges faced at the beginning of my career

Now that I think about them, there were a lot! The  two I can pinpoint are    bureaucracy (the Nigerian brand is specially designed to frustrate entrepreneurs) and time-wasters. I am not sure who’s advising the Nigerian government on entrepreneurship … if there is such a person, they are doing a poor job. The policies that exist are horrifically punitive; it’s almost like entrepreneurs are being punished because they’re trying to be entrepreneurs.

 

Inspiration for writing

Inspiration is everywhere!

 

Secret of your success

First, I define ‘success’ for myself; I didn’t go with (and still don’t) pander to anyone’s ideal of ‘success’. Unfortunately, some people keep chasing things that they think mean success, and end up doing weird things and they’re still dissatisfied. I sensed a long time ago, even before I could afford anything, that a house or bag or shoes or even perfect skin wouldn’t make me happy – no matter how much they cost. These things are nice; nobody wants to live under the bridge or go around town bare footed or whatever.

Having decided for myself what ‘success’ is, it’s easier and more realistic to aspire to and attain. I’m not afraid to work hard. I’m not afraid to say “No” to people and situations that do not serve me or my purpose, just because I’m trying to fake humility. I have no problem with saying, “Hey, you know what? I need help with X” or “I think I messed up a bit or a lot there with Y.” I’m tenacious about going after opportunities that I recognise. And to be fair, I am probably one of the luckiest storytellers in the universe; I have the best team around me, the fiercest fans in the world and there are some opportunities that come to me without me actually going to look for them

 

Other things I do aside writing

I run The Fearless Storyteller House Emporium Ltd with headquarters in Abuja but we have clients all over the world. We create, package and market quality reading, listening and viewing material of an Afro-centric nature. We have different departments/wings/units – “Author Services”, “Office Angels”, “Learning & Teaching” and “Services to Media” – that create different products and services from books to courses to audio, stage and screen material. I also have a Mentoring Club and I present a weekly radio show with a London-based radio station. The show is on hiatus till March. I also speak at events, workshops and symposia

 

The most defining moment of my career so far

Winning the 2016 BEFFTA (Black Entertainment Film Fashion Television and Arts) Award for “Blog of the Year” stunned me. The BEFFTAs are called ‘the Black Oscars’ and the award ceremony was held in London in October. I was in Nigeria when the 2016 one was held. I remember I went on Facebook the morning after at about 5 a.m and saw six messages. Even before I opened them, I knew. Yet, it still didn’t sink in because when I opened the first message and saw “Congratulations!” I sent a reply saying, “Wait, I won; are you sure?”

Winning a BEFFTA for blogging is ironic yet apt because I remember when I wanted to start my blogazine “Memo From A Fearless Storyteller” in 2015; I had some reservations about how it would be received because it’s not your regular kind of blog. It’s not what Nigerians know as blogging in terms of the reportage, the style and design, the scheduling are all different from what seems to be the norm. I was determined to do something very different, that I hadn’t seen anyone do before. I spoke with Ibukun Onitiju (who designed the blogazine) about it and he gave me some pretty solid advice and it was born in September 2015. Here we are, a year and some months later I won the award. The BEFFTA win wasn’t marking a departure from what I was known for; it was creating more. To get to the point where you are celebrated for something else, there are no words to describe it. For me, it’s a reminder of “Hey, you said you could do this multi-talented lark; now, you’re doing it”. The only thing that marred that for me was Nkem’s physical absence. She had attended the event in 2015,just a month after I’d started the blogazine that she was adamant I could succeed at it, only for her not to be there, when I won the award for it.

 

On why only few Nigerian writers are recognised internationally

I honestly don’t know. It could be anything. It might be their marketing advisers are whack, the authors might not understand that their book is just a platform as opposed to being the be-all and end-all, they might not even want international recognition. I don’t know; it could be anything.

 

Marital status

I’m pretty private about certain areas of my life because I didn’t come into the public eye as a result of who I may or may not be dating, engaged to, married to or whatever else. I find the focus on the personal lives of women in the public eye, to be distracting, it is unnecessary. But I will say that in the personal and professional aspects of my life, I am the Chief High Priestess of Delegation. I don’t suffer from that compulsion a lot of Nigerian women seem to be plagued by, to appear like super-woman. If I can do something, I do. If I don’t know how to or I don’t have the time, I outsource it … both on a personal and a professional level. Life is not that serious.

 

Advice to young Nigerians

Question everything! Stop accepting stuff and dogma just because “my father told me” or “my pastor says so” or “I don’t want people to think that I’m a bad person”. Don’t be afraid of using your brain; it won’t explode, I promise. There is nothing admirable, cool or sexy about ignorance, especially when it’s wilful. The question “Why?” will save your life, on so many levels.