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Stars light up the dark night. Stars ignite hope in hearts frail and lost in the midst of fear and uncertainty. I recall vividly that very evening, I’d received a Whatsapp request from a friend asking me to vote his essay entry which he submitted for an online essay contest. I decided to oblige his request unknown to me that this would set me off on a journey on which I’d encounter an awesome person.
Writing has always been a flare for me and my friend’s request only reminded me of it. If he submitted an entry, why can’t I? I pondered. That moment I paid Google search engine a visit and it ushered me into the world of Muhammed Abdullahi Tosin. Page after page I clicked and scrolled on my humble Nokia phone and was truly amazed by the many essay contests that were featured on his blog –NaijaWritersCoach.com. At that moment I thought to myself: here I was irking to write something, anything! And I never knew that such resource was available online. To be sincere I had always thought the essays posted online were only international essay contests which were often birthed in rigorous processes as regards participation. This thought shunned me away from hitherto carrying out this search and my writing zeal lay dormant in the interim.
Finding Tosin’s website then seemed as though a star had lit up the confines of my writing-mind and sent the darkness of my writing-latency parking. Not only had he devoted time to source and update young Nigerians, who loved writing, on the recent writing contests, he also engaged himself into coaching other people on how best they could improve their writing abilities. I simply fell in love with his creativity and further pondered the huge amount of energy and skill he must have expended into his blogging.
I leveraged the information available on Tosin’s website and submitted entry to an essay contest of which I became the first-runner up.
The excitement was thrilling! During the award ceremony I had the opportunity to interact with other participants who were also winners in their various essay topic categories; one thing stood out in our discussion – 90 percent of us got news of the essay contest via Tosin’s website. Also, since the contest was an annual one, we learnt Tosin had participated and also won second place position in the previous year. Unarguably, I realized the potency in pursuing one’s passion.
Abdullahi Tosin was impacting lives, especially the lives of youths. I imagined if he hadn’t been a star that illumined the path of many youths who relish writing, what would have been the stories of these young writers who now have a rich online resource on how best they can use their talents to make a living. I saw the impact in the lives of those participants I conversed with and what’s more, I felt the impact within me!
Consequently, I made a conscious effort to visit regularly Naija Writes’ Coach. As I read articles after articles I became acquainted the verity that indeed Tosin was touching lives. From the reviews and comments, one could see that many young people who otherwise would have been engaged in some vice or the other were constantly exposed to ethical ways of making money through writing and blogging. Think of making money while doing what you love!
He has written several e-books one of which boosted my zeal to keep writing; it’s called “Vertical Writing”. Inspired and encouraged by his articles and online tutorials, as I believe many others have also been, I ventured into opening my own blog. I now own a blog called InspireCrib.com which is a brain child of Tosin’s work. Many other people attest to this by the presence of their own blogs self-hosted online.
If there is a star I know, he is Muhammed Abdullahi Tosin. He is a young Nigerian, a lawyer, blogger, writers’ coach and social entrepreneur. I may not know him personally and I may not even recognize the sound of his voice but there’s certainly something I know about him, he is a Nigerian star who has the flame of entrepreneurship in the hearts of many young Nigerians and has given a voice to many who were once restrained by fear. He is helping Nigerian writers live their dream …and to get paid doing so.
Tosin is MAD! [Making a Difference], not only around me but the entire Nigeria.
Just as was stated in the film, “3 Idiots”: Follow excellence and success will chase after you. Tosin is showing many young Nigerians, especially writers, the path to excellence and it is most certain that success will chase after them.
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Uzor Michael C. is a young writer and an undergraduate of FUTO where he’s presently studying Electrical Electronic Engineering. He is 21 years of age. He is also a blogger and social entrepreneur.
