Electronzeez:
Obalorla your are doing very great with this .


Nice work .

I can't thank you enough bro.
you've always been following all my posts.

HungerBAD:
I enjoyed reading this very enlightening post.

Had already concluded plans for a trip to Olumo Rock, and Badagry even before i read your piece.

Thanks.

Thanks bro. I'm glad you liked it.
I advice you don't waste more time regarding your travel.

prior to then, you can check out my own adventure to olumo rock:

http://www.nomadicnegro.com/olumo-rock-history/

It all started around 2am when I heard my tummy rumble in an unfriendly manner. It was in the early hours of my second day which I had planned on visiting one of the most popular monuments in Nigeria. I needed no cleric to tell me it was a running stomach.
I wondered for a while why stomach and nostrils have to run when in trouble but I couldn’t find any answer before rushing out to the backyard to allow them out before I messed up the mat on which I slept alongside peter (the first son of my host) and Segun (peter’s cousin who came to stay with them for some time).
On getting to the backyard, I remembered the joke we had after supper the previous night, that 80% of the houses in the village don’t have a proper toilet. So everyone was advised to eat with caution. Taking it for a joke, I recklessly devoured the bowl of semovita with fresh fish placed in front of me.


the white beast


The truth actually dawned on me as sweats crawled down my bony chest while the chirping of the crickets combined perfectly with my heartbeats to make a melodious beat- Sweet enough to make a hit track for any dead artist.
I jolted out of my reverie when I noticed something was about slipping out through my anus. I looked around, saw a black nylon bag which I had been given the day before to conceal the bread bought at Aradagun on my way to Ajido. That was all I needed!
* * *
I woke up few minutes past 11am after I had earlier woken around 5am to wash the plates and other utensils we used the night before. I swept the compound too.
Peter informed me about the little fault the car just developed. So I was happy I’d have more time to relax for him to rush down to Badagry market to buy a new fan belt for the car.
NB: The car belonged to peter’s dad. As an influential personality in the village, he was capable of owning an automobile.
I was really very tired.
We refueled the car at a nearby station after we got it fixed before jetting out around 2pm.

Arrival at The first storey building in Nigeria
Save for the faint inaudible noise emanating from the horns of automobiles on the main road. The compound could pass for a grave yard.
We had been directed to meet Sunday, a young lad whom I saw intelligence legibly written on his face the moment I shook his hands. He was going to be our guide for the day. He had just finished with a group of secondary school students who have come for an excursion. And with the look of accomplishment on the students’ faces, I could tell Sunday would do a good job.
₦200 was all we needed to pay per head to have full access to this monument.
Without wasting much time, Sunday motioned us to follow him into the magnificent edifice and we obeyed with keen interest. On getting inside, he officially welcomed us one of the most popular monuments in Nigeria. Then he started.

When and why did the missionaries come to Nigeria?

“Around the early 1800s when slave trade was officially abolished, it was still ongoing illegally in some countries. So what the British were doing to instill discipline on illegal dealers was patrol the high sea to intercept slave vessels conveying slaves from Africa to other parts of the world.

Hence, any slave being rescued during this mission (no matter the nationality) will be taken to the present day Sierra Leone, where they were being trained by missionaries. This is why this place is called Freetown. It belongs to nobody in particular.
The slaves that have been trained got their education from Freetown before returning back to their respective countries.
The ones from Nigeria, on getting back home, invited the missionaries down here to replicate the same missionary training. So these missionaries got here around 1842 while others came 1845.

The missionaries and their missions
The first missionary who came to Nigeria to preach the gospel was Reverend Thomas Birch Freeman.
Freeman was a missionary of the Methodist church who was deployed from Cape Coast (today’s Ghana).

How Freeman started Christianity in Nigeria
When Freeman got to Badagry on the 21st of September 1842, he immediately started preaching the gospel on that very day. Hence, that day was regarded in history as the day Christianity started in Nigeria.
The second missionary who came to Nigeria was Rev. Henry Townsend from the CMS. By the time Henry got to Badagry on the 17th of December 1842, Freeman had already gone to Abeokuta. Therefore Townsend continued preaching in Badagry till the 21st of Dec. 1842 when he met with freeman in Badagry. They agreed to do a joint service as they celebrated the first Christmas in Nigeria on the 25th of December 1842.





How the first storey building in Nigeria was constructed
In 1843 Townsend also left for Abeokuta where he later returned to England to give a report of how things were in Nigeria. So he was sent back to Nigeria in 1845 with a mission party. This mission party included Charles Andrew Gollmer, Samuel Ajayi Crowther amongst others Alongside 4 carpenters and Labourers.
Gollmer had already designed the structure of the building before leaving England, so, on getting to Badagry, they erected the building in 1845 with the carpenters and Labourers playing a pivotal role.
That compound served as the mission house where different missionaries were based till 1978 when they all left.
There were about 10 major buildings (including a church and a boarding school) erected within this compound but all have collapsed except the mission house since it was the only one made with burnt bricks while others were just made with planks.
Though the major aim of the missionaries was to introduce Christianity, they included western education and even mechanized agriculture into their schedule.”

The materials used in constructing the building
Sunday concluded his storytelling in this room by showing us the materials used in constructing this monument.


the roofing sheets being compared

the exposed burnt bricks

the nails being compared.



We tried comparing them all to the building materials we have today and I couldn’t help as I shook my head in disappointment. The diff was very clear! These items were heavier and looked more reliable than what we have today in the country. I for once thought the standard organization of Nigeria (SON) should be scrapped.

Interior of the building
Within the building were six bedrooms, 2 palours and 4 stores while the toilet and bathroom were located outside (perhaps Gollmer forgot to involve a plumber in his plan… Lol)

one of the rooms



Sunday Said Those Labourers and Carpenters occupied 2 of the rooms till they left for England- leaving the missionaries behind while the missionaries occupied the rest.
We moved to the next room.

The historic Agia tree
Here, we were told about the historic Agia tree- An umbrella tree which served as a general meeting point (village) for the people of Badagry due to its huge nature and wide branches. This tree, according to Sunday stood 150feet high and about 30 feet in circumference.

the historic Agia tree

“Freeman on getting to Badagry discovered that beneath the tree was the best spot for his mission, so he preached Christianity there for the first time. They continued under the tree until they were given the parcel of land where the church building was erected in 1845. This land was given to them by the Mobee family.

Read about my sojourn to the ancient mobee family museum on www.nomadicnegro.com

This tree started showing signs of old age around 1930 when the branches started falling off. On 20th June 1959 it was blown down by a fierce storm at 11:45pm. It stood for about 350 years before its demise.” What a strong hero! I managed to say.
Sunday continued: “A monument called the Agia tree monument was later built to replace it in 1958, right beside the Badagry town hall- since the tree usually served as the town hall in its days.

the Agia tree monument



Today, it’s now been converted to a tourist centre where people from all over the world come to see (especially during Christmas)”.
I jokingly asked which church now lays claim to the monument and Sunday laughed as he replied that the place belongs to the community and not any church.

The first primary school in Nigeria
“While freeman and co were in Badagry”, he continued, “a couple named Mr and Mrs De Graft were in charge of the Sunday school which was later renamed St. Thomas primary school. It was established in 1845.
Mr Claudius Phillips (the first teacher in Nigeria) occupied one of the 6 rooms.

Mr Claudius Phillips. The school master. He was the head of the first school in Nigeria. He was here for 33 years


Negro inside Claudius Phillips’ room. At the top right is the picture of the first primary school in Nigeria and on the left is that of Phillips.

It started with the enrolment of 40 men whose average age was 45 years and each spent 12 years for their primary education due to the difficulty they faced before learning the English language.
After their graduation 12 years later, they were employed by the missionaries as interpreters and teachers. They were actually paid for their services. This payment was what endeared other people to enroll into the school- shooting up the literacy rate.
“Funny enough, St. Thomas school is still standing on that very spot till date”., added Sunday. “It’s now 171 years in session”.

the first primary school in Nigeria



As we ascended the staircase which was reconstructed in 1990, I was awed as I felt maximum comfort while ascending the strong wooden stairs.

below is what Andrew Gollmer and henry Townsend said about the building:




A slave called Ajayi
“His biological name was Ajayi”. Sunday started. He, born in 1809 inside Oyo state in a small village called Osogun. Ajayi crowther was captured at the tender age of 12 when the Fulanis invaded the small village during a war and captured everyone therein in 1821.
The Portuguese finally bought him in 1822 after several selling and reselling within Nigeria.
NB: slave trade at this time has been banned. Therefore it’s now an illegal act.

While on transit to Portugal, the British navy (as earlier explained) intercepted their ship on the high sea to rescue the slaves and also punishing the traders. Though, some of the slaves died during this rescue mission, but the survivors were taken to Freetown as usual for restoration.


Ajayi crowther



How Ajayi became Samuel Crowther
Reverend John Raban was the one who baptized and converted Ajayi on the 11th day of Dec. 1845 when he was also given the baptismal name: Samuel Crowther.
Crowther was the name of one of the missionaries who trained him.
Ajayi after his baptism was sent to Britain for his primary education at St. Mary parish school, after which he was later sent back to Freetown in 1847 to study language and theology at the Furabay College.
Samuel Ajayi Crowther got married in 1849 to Suzan Thompson whose real name before baptism was Asano. She was a Muslim and they were both part of the survivors during that rescue mission. They both had 3 children.

How Herbert Macurley came into the picture
One interesting however was that when they were captured, Ajayi, Asano and another guy called Ojo were somewhat close since they were about the same age bracket. Over there in freetown, Ajayi’s baptismal name became Samuel Crowther while Ojo’s turned Macurley. Ojo had 9 children and the eldest was Barbinton Macurley. He was the founder of CMS grammar school- the first secondary school in Nigeria.
Barbinton later married one of Ajayi’s daughters called Abigail. Both of them then gave birth to Herbert Macurley- a man considered to be the founder of Nigerian nationalism.


Herbert Macurley

How the English Bible was translated into Yoruba
While with the missionaries, Ajayi had though them to speak the Yoruba language. This was what helped the successful translation of the English bible to Yoruba.
Gollmer worked on the vocabulary while Ajayi was busy with the interpretation because as at this time, Gollmer had started preaching in Yoruba without any interpreter, so it was in this room that Ajayi completed the translation, after which it was sent to Britain for translation.

– The English Bible and Yoruba Bible: 174 and 171 years respectively

The big blow which hit Badagry
In 1847, Ajayi left with Henry Townsend to Abeokuta while Gollmer remained in Badagry. When Gollmer left Badagry for Lagos due to some issues, the Badagry mission station then became a house station, while the new settlement in Lagos Became the new mission station. This is why the one in Badagry is the 89th diocese when it actually ought to be the first in Nigeria.


Rev. C. A. Gollmer



Ajayi Crowther’s death
Becoming a bishop in 1854, Samuel Ajayi Crowther died at the age of 82 in 1891 on 31st December.
Though he still suffered a lot before his death mostly due to some racial controversies about why a black should become a bishop. So he was deprived of many entitlements before finally dying of stroke”.

Lastly, we were shown the first modern safe in Nigeria which was installed in 1856


Sunday concluded his narration on a very emotional note. one would think he is directly related to Ajayi Crowther.
We ended it all at the well dug in 1842, Located beneath an almond tree within the compound. “This well till date has all the qualities of good water. It also served the people of the community”. Sunday bragged.While we were at it, some students rushed in, raced towards the well and started drawing from it to drink.


young school girls drinking from the well

I took few more shots with my camera phone, thanked Sunday very well for his time and patience before heading back to the car alongside Peter.
We really were anxious to explore the Badagry heritage museum. And just like the red beast knew our intention, it started immediately peter twisted the ignition key.

All of my adventures can be found on http://www.nomadicnegro.com/popular-monuments-nigeria/

Ok, I need to be frank here. Travel blogging is about the hardest niche in the blogging sphere. Why? I’m sorry I really do not know because running a travel blog in Nigeria makes it more difficult for me.
As a budding travel blogger who’s been having a swell time doing so, I think it’s just fair that I share some tips that helped me with you.
I really hope they are helpful.
Below are 10 things you must do before starting a travel blog in Nigeria
1. Have a note book
You kuku heard me right. I actually mean you need as a matter of fact have a special note book where you will record very important information. Prime among them is usernames and passwords (I can bet you don’t know how many usernames and passwords you’d need to run your blog). As a complement, I’d advice you double save these information in one draft in your mail box.
2. Read popular books:
Doing this will help you with the following:
Learn different writing styles and ideas. The reason why I emphasized on popular books is because they became popular because many people have read it. Hence you can need to read it to tap some ideas which will help you sharpen your style.
3. Read other popular travel blogs
For you to be unique, you have to study the niche you are about entering. Know what their similarities as well as how they all differ so that you can stand out and be unique.
For foreign travel blogs, check out: Nomadic Matt (World’s most popular), Journalist on the run and Expert vagabond.
In Nigeria, the list is though, endless but the following will do:
Social prefect, Naija Nomads and Tripzapp
Don’t joke with forums too! Eat
www.nairaland.com and nct.com.ng like you’d do to your first meal after fasting.
This will save you from a whole lot of troubles. Trust me. nairaland’s travel section and nct’s tech space will give you immense knowledge in tourism and tech simultaneously.
So now that you’ve done the above, let’s go to the realest deal:
4. Think very well before choosing a domain name.
I have lost count of the times I have seen people regret their actions after making a mistake with their domain name choice.
Below are the following mistakes (using hypothetical examples):
Choosing a short-term name:
Bola is a 200level student of Unilag. She wants to own a blog where happenings in her school will be published. So she chose UNILAGHAPPEN .COM. awesome is what her friends will say before congratulating her on a feat. But what will happen if Bola graduates and worst still get posted to the north for her compulsory one year NYSC?
Choosing a restrictive name:
Wale loves Ankara so much that he chose to own a blog aimed at educating people on the in and out of Ankara fabrics. Hence he tagged his blog Ankaraville .com. can you guess what will happen if he suddenly decides to talk about Swiss lace or about aso-oke tomorrow?
Choosing a difficult name:
I wondered what Ekenne was thinking when he decided ekenixglobalfootwearx.com.ng is the perfect address for his footwear blog. When I asked him, he said he wanted to be unique. Then I went mute.
5. Have a steady flow of income.
Yeah! If you observe, there are millions of blogs in the world. A huge number of them have long been abandoned- this is why they will always occupy the bottom spot.
You can check the rank of your blog here on www.alexa.com
The reason behind this is because many blog owners only have a starting plan- no finishing. They don’t have a steady stream of income which will help them foot bills such as internet subscription, domain name renewal, gadgets fixing etc. please get a side job or a sure sponsor who can help you because if you don’t, you’d fizzle out in no time.
Some bloggers have a full time job while they blog at their spare time and when the blog starts bringing in money, they leave the job after saving enough to focus on the blog.
6. Be a slut on social media:
continue with the other useful tips here:
http://www.nomadicnegro.com/travel-blog-nigeria/

Ok, I need to be frank here. Travel blogging is about the hardest niche in the blogging sphere. Why? I’m sorry I really do not know because running a travel blog in Nigeria makes it more difficult for me.

As a budding travel blogger who’s been having a swell time doing so, I think it’s just fair that I share some tips that helped me with you.

I really hope they are helpful.

Below are 10 things you must do before starting a travel blog in Nigeria

1. Have a note book

You kuku heard me right. I actually mean you need as a matter of fact have a special note book where you will record very important information. Prime among them is usernames and passwords (I can bet you don’t know how many usernames and passwords you’d need to run your blog). As a complement, I’d advice you double save these information in one draft in your mail box.



2. Read popular books:

Doing this will help you with the following:

Learn different writing styles and ideas. The reason why I emphasized on popular books is because they became popular because many people have read it. Hence you can need to read it to tap some ideas which will help you sharpen your style.




3. Read other popular travel blogs

For you to be unique, you have to study the niche you are about entering. Know what their similarities as well as how they all differ so that you can stand out and be unique.

For foreign travel blogs, check out: Nomadic Matt (World’s most popular), Journalist on the run and Expert vagabond.

In Nigeria, the list is though, endless but the following will do:

Social prefect, Naija Nomads and Tripzapp

Don’t joke with forums too! Eat www.nairaland.com and nct.com.ng like you’d do to your first meal after fasting.

This will save you from a whole lot of troubles. Trust me. nairaland’s travel section and nct’s tech space will give you immense knowledge in tourism and tech simultaneously.


So now that you’ve done the above, let’s go to the realest deal:


4. Think very well before choosing a domain name.

I have lost count of the times I have seen people regret their actions after making a mistake with their domain name choice.

Below are the following mistakes (using hypothetical examples):

Choosing a short-term name:

Bola is a 200level student of Unilag. She wants to own a blog where happenings in her school will be published. So she chose UNILAGHAPPEN .COM. awesome is what her friends will say before congratulating her on a feat. But what will happen if Bola graduates and worst still get posted to the north for her compulsory one year NYSC?

Choosing a restrictive name:

Wale loves Ankara so much that he chose to own a blog aimed at educating people on the in and out of Ankara fabrics. Hence he tagged his blog Ankaraville .com. can you guess what will happen if he suddenly decides to talk about Swiss lace or about aso-oke tomorrow?

Choosing a difficult name:

I wondered what Ekenne was thinking when he decided ekenixglobalfootwearx.com.ng is the perfect address for his footwear blog. When I asked him, he said he wanted to be unique. Then I went mute.


5. Have a steady flow of income.

Yeah! If you observe, there are millions of blogs in the world. A huge number of them have long been abandoned- this is why they will always occupy the bottom spot.

You can check the rank of your blog here on www.alexa.com


The reason behind this is because many blog owners only have a starting plan- no finishing. They don’t have a steady stream of income which will help them foot bills such as internet subscription, domain name renewal, gadgets fixing etc. please get a side job or a sure sponsor who can help you because if you don’t, you’d fizzle out in no time.

Some bloggers have a full time job while they blog at their spare time and when the blog starts bringing in money, they leave the job after saving enough to focus on the blog.



6. Be a slut on social media:

continue with the other useful tips here: http://www.nomadicnegro.com/travel-blog-nigeria/

Electronzeez:



Nice piece bro

Thanks for sharing this wonderful historical experience

THANKS BRO... i really aprreciate

bustykasa:
nice job

thanks bustykasa for reading the lengthy piece.

The amazing revelations I heard at the first storey building gave me more ginger to push peter into driving straight to the Mobee royal family slave museum and he gladly obliged.
On getting to the quiet environment which housed the museum, we met them at the entrance, all adorned in white and black branded t-shirts. What caught my attention the most were the girls in their midst. These girls rocked different colours and designs of bum shorts but in spite of this diversity, one thing unified them all- “their fresh laps” these laps could distract even the holiest man in that vicinity on that sunny afternoon.
While I stared at the laps, myriads of thoughts flooded my mind but I was called to order when Peter slammed the car’s door. I never knew that was the beginning of my woes. Peter had already parked the car, so he joined me by the narrow corridor which served as the entrance of the museum. We were welcomed by a group of guys whose eyes were too scary because it looked as though smoking was their habit. This marked the first turn off for me but I tried masking my disappointment with a straight face.
We greeted as expected and immediately requested for the cost of gaining entrance, which one of them replied #200 per head. Since we were two, I had to pay #400 for our heads, so we could gain access to the monument.
On getting inside, my second woe embraced me as I looked on in anger how these branded guys and girls we earlier saw were wasting too much time taking unnecessary pictures. I doubted if they really came for tourism.
They continued this for over 45 minutes while I hoped they’d soon finish, but I was running out of patience when it though seemed they weren’t going to stop, so I shouted at the guy who was supposed to guide us through the museum to hasten them up before he told me they came for a photo shoot and not for tourism. I kept my cool but was still visibly furious.


They kept begging me to give them some more time but I didn’t even answer till they finally left. It pained me a little that they were leaving because all along, I stole few glances at the girls’ seductive laps while I faked an unhappy countenance.

Then the museum attendant (one of those scary guys) interrupted my though of tapping one of the girls on her back side when he rushed in to run us through the history behind the Mobee Royal Family Slave Museum.



INTRODUCTION
he started by telling us that During the slave era, Badagry as a whole served as a slave corridor where slaves were brought from all over the country e.g oyo, Ibadan, Ogun etc to be exported to different parts of Europe.
In Badagry was also a market called Blekete slave market (established in 1502). On every Blekete market day, 300 slaves were being sold on the average per day and 17,000 yearly.
So anyone bought by the whites will immediately be branded using a hot iron to crest the name of the owner on the slave’s body, before being chained around the neck and feet for the minimum of 18hours daily (depending on how long a slave will stay before being shipped out) and marched on a single file to the point of no return (a location across the lagoon where the shipment will take place).



Material That Can Be Found Inside The Mobee Royal Family Slave Museum

We were firstly shown different sets of chains:
• A mouth-lock which was used in preventing the slaves from talking to each other and from eating the sugarcanes in the plantation.
How this works is that these metals will be inserted into the fire to make them red-hot before being inserted In between the lips of the slaves, leaving them to growl in pain while they work on the plantation.
• A hand chain which is used to hang any stubborn slave to a tree while others continue working.
• Hand cuffs for babies are used to chain kids together so that they won’t be disturbing their parents while working.


L-R: a leg chain, baby cuffs and hand chain for matured stubborn slaves




• A metallic staff of office which one of the servants of the chief usually carries along whenever the chief is going out. The sound which emanates from shaking the staff alerts everyone around that the chief is close by. So on sighting the chief, males prostrate while females will knee to show respect.

• cowries
I was meant to understand that the whites on their arrival don’t (and weren’t ready to) know how cowries worked in Nigeria as a legal tender, so they introduced barter system to settle the problem of exchange. To achieve this, they brought in items such as dry gin, canon gun, gun powder, mirror, camera etc in exchange for human beings.


A calabash containing cowries


He continued by telling us that a small canon gun is usually exchanged for 50 human beings while the big ones will procure 100.

During this period also, “these canon guns served as different notifications whenever they were shot, and this was how it worked:
A canon gun is being shot thrice daily. The first shot is aimed at telling every slave that its time to go to the farm to work. The second shot is to alert everyone that work has started on the farm and the last shot is to warn people to stay indoors (that is after the working hours) as anyone caught after this period will be captured as slave.


A small canon gun seated between a calabash of cowries and a bottle of dry gin.


A big canon gun used in exchange for 100 human beings



I quickly thought within me that, so some people were actually free. If this is true, then it means our agonies were brought upon us by our selfish leaders. Because what this implies is that these chiefs actually have slaves which they in turn sell to the whites as slaves. smh

• Next was a horrible looking drinking pot with rough edges which sat at a corner of the room. It looked more like a cone. I was moved to tears when he explained how the slaves were meant to drink from the pot:

Watch the explanation in this short clip here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBAUCjfHfRk



TYPES OF SLAVES
• Then I was shown a picture of a castrated slave with a sorry look on his face. My guide further enlightened that there were 2 types of slaves in that era: Domestic and field slaves. The male domestic slaves were usually castrated to prevent them from having sex with the wives and/or daughters of their owners since they were always at home majorly for house chores. The field slaves on the other hand were the able-bodied ones who spend most of their time working on the farm.


A castrated domestic slave



THE HISTORICAL AGIA TREE
• Next was the picture of Agia tree- the giant tree where Christianity was firstly preached in Nigeria (in September 1842) this tree also doubled as the spot where Christmas was first celebrated in Nigeria.
Though it finally collapsed in 1959- a year before Nigeria’s independence after spending 350 years erected.

• Lastly we were made to know when slave trade stopped in various parts of the world after lasting for close to 400 years.


Dates when slave trade stopped in different parts of the world.

He was about rounding up by a closing remark when I pointed his attention to a grave inside the museum.

The True story behind the Mobee Royal Family Slave Museum

Chief Mobee was actually a popular and very influential chief who actively engaged in the slave trade during his reign. His real name does not have Mobee in it. I was about asking how the Mobee came about when he interrupted by telling me that during that era, whenever the white slave traders came around, he’d tell welcome them by saying “e mu obi je” in Yoruba. What this means is that they should pick colanut and eat. He never fails to do this every time they come. And since the whites don’t really understand him, they started calling him chief “mu obi” later it transcended to Mobee and before long, the name Mobee stuck. The family also adopted this name ever since till this day.
“Chief Mobee who was later succeeded by his son who played a pivotal role in ensuring slavery stopped in Badagry. When he ascended the throne in 1886, he welcomed the missionaries who helped actualized this dream of putting an end to slavery. He died on the 16th of October 1893.

Nomadic Negro beside the grave of Chief Mobee

Though we weren’t given the best of hospitality because the guide was visibly rushing to god knows where.
This reception is one of the major reasons why I listed Mobee Royal Family Slave Museum among the places I wont advice anyone who wants to tour badagry to visit.. I came to this conclusion when I visited Seriki Abass slave museum the next day.

We left there few minutes to 5pm after taking few picture even though it wasn’t to our satisfaction.
Peter ignited the car while I fastened my seat belt.

If you’ve been to (or would like to go to) the Mobee Royal Family Slave Museum, you can share your experience/anticipation.

Loads of other adventures are on www.nomadicnegro.com

TRADELYN:
After placing the URL on where you want the image to appear by copy and paste of the image, click on the next bar after 'A' bar in red and submit.

thanks a lot..gotten!

trade Lyn and macloaded
please I didn't get it o...
how do I get the image URL?

AkProsper:

place I want to ask
1. what's your average daily page view?

as at 2 days ago my average daily view was 40, but as we speak, it's 50 according to the latest Alexa ranking report.

AkProsper:

2. how many post have you made when you apply?

just 12 but the average words per post isn't below 1,000.

AkProsper:

Help me review my blog www.akprosperblog.com

I loved what I saw on ur blog. you are really trying. but if you aren't the owner of those contents, I withdraw my commendations.
I suggest you can spice things up by doing more research cos when you continue writing quotes, people will feel you don't really have something to offer.

thanks.

I think patience too should be added to the list

bloggers just like journalists should cultivate the virtues of patience.
success is built with time.
if you expect to blow within ur first year, you might get disappointed because this blogging shi can frustrate ur entire life especially during the first 2 years.

well-done @9jatechguy

this my blog got Adsense within its first 5 months.
my niche: travels and tourism
URL: www.nomadicnegro.com

patience is a virtue.

TRADELYN:


Thanks, now to traffic...how's yours like?

40 views on the average per day. though this is low compared to others in the same niche but I'm happy. why? i'm sure I'd grow.

TRADELYN:
This is so crucial for anyone that wants to rank high, be popular and earn well.

i completely agree.

TRADELYN:
Many having huge traffic don't like sharing FREE.

true... some are trying to be cautious but for me, i'd continue to share what works for me.

TRADELYN:

Anyone with useful strategy should share please.

I do but I prefer whoever needs it to let us convers via Twitter pm.

@nomadic_negro is the handle.

here is how my traffic analysis looks like. you see why I said I'm optimistic?

gechyy2:
@op......GOD bless you...you are giving with all your heart.
though i dont have a blog yet but im working on it and by God's grace will be up in january..its gonna be a health blog and i'm really loving your analysis...kudos

hi gechyy2
I'm awed by your admiration.
I'm doing this cos I think the best thing a blogger can do is to try sharing what he/she knows with an open mind... the funny thing however is that what you think you know at times might be wrong. so wen you share, the least expected human corrects you.

deturla:


Many thanks for your feedback. They were constructive.

To answer question 1) 70% of my pictures are shot,edited, created by me. The remaining 30% are gotten from a graphics site where you can get pictures and graphic designs for "FREE". Reference or not.

that's a brilliant move. kudos to you.

deturla:

2.) I want you to please clarify. How do you mean too colours and shades. Is it the background? the header part or the homepage interface. Clarifications will allow me make effective corrections.

dunno if you can just pick another theme. to me, that colour combination doesn't really fit your niche. + they look weak.
e.g the topics written in white have another sentence in red written beneath them. it's making everything messy.

deturla:

Your number 3 feedback is the most confusing of all. Please explain more so I can work around it. For the other categories that are without content though. I am working on creating more contents for the categories. The new year holds great things, but what would you advise me do?

Remove the categories with insufficient content? or merge together with some other categories?

Your response would be invaluable.

Thanks a lot

merge weddings and events if you can.
do the same for Dee's lens and Dee's life lens

deturla:


Hi

I like your critical review of the blogs here, and I really admire your objectivity.

Although, I have been getting a lot on feedback on my blog, I'll need you to help do a detailed review of it.

I will appreciate your feedback.

www.deedeesblog.com.

Thanks.

first thing is I'd warn against taking the commendations from friends and family seriously. most of them are just to encourage you. Hence, if your feedbacks are coming from them, I want u to assume u aren't getting any feedback at all.

to your blog.
almost (if not all your pictures) aren't credited. did u design them all?

the layout of your home page too isn't that well structured. too many colours and shades to deal with.

lastly: though your scope is interesting but try going from basic to complex. why? you have too many sections And what dis did was to make some sections suffer from lack of content.

try working on them all

Lordsurh:
Ihave them too, if you checked via the mobile version you might need to swipe out the menu by the left to see the top menu. But all the pages menu are easily shown in the desktop version. I had to push the menu to the side on mobile to accommodate more texts and content.

oh... I never saw them

TRADELYN:

What of cases where one does not know the right source of the image...how to do proper referencing?
For instance, you see an image suitable for your post on Nairaland.

in that case, I really do not know but as far as I love giving credits I'd reference nairaland if that was where I curled the image. more knowledgeable guys can help us out.

Also, if I say...
Credit: Cnn, Punchng...isn't that enough since they are well recognised? Must one put the '.com' and which rule/policy supports this?

Well done.[/quote]

how will you feel if someone does that to u?
for me, I won't be too happy cos if you must use my intellectually property, try crediting me properly! at least u ain't paying.

Favvvy:
Pls help review my blog.www.ankaradivas.com

hi favvvy
if you noticed, k have checked scanned many pages on you blog and from my observation, you need to quickly work on the following:

1. your about us page is close to empty. try checking popular blogs so you can fine-tune yours to taste.

2. you do not have a privacy policy. do the same as 1 above to get 1.

3. those pictures on your site, please caption them alongside proper credit. and please try to reduce the number of pictures therein. pack ur pictures to ur blog's IG and Facebook pages.

4. ur blog's URL is kinda restrictive too cos I believe you have more to offer aside Ankara.

u can hit me up for suggestions on how u can enlarge the coast- typing with my fone isn't too convenient.

smoothvee:




in one word...you are amazing bro!! Thank you so vsry much. I just wrote 13 more new unique posts.. will do the internal linking stuff too. I appreciate bro.

let's just try helping each other.

the ikung bushmen will say "live and let's live"

Olive64:
Thanks bro, You are really doing a great job here. Here's my science and health blog. I was just rejected by adsense again for not complying with adsense policies. Can you just review it and tell me what i've not done correctly, because it looks okay to me. I'm confused.
http://www.sciencehealth24.com

it would help a lot of you can munch the regret mail sent by Adsense so we could know what really happened.

but for the time being, try to properly reference your picture sources.
Google hates plagiarism... write :
photo credit: xyz.com instead of
photo credit: xyz

try meeting someone to do a logo and/banner for you.

Misterdhee1:

Thanks bro. Any other tip please?

for now, none

Misterdhee1:
You can help check my blog out also bro. www.sportsrepng.com. Thanks

you practically did well by making sporting news look different from all I've been used to. other guys dwell too much on football but for u...

"cari article" is supposed to be replaced with in "search"...

Lordsurh:
Review [url]smartgeek.com.ng[/url] pls. Thanks.

checked your blog... it's almost perfect! just try adding your about us, contact us and privacy policy page.

in case you can go the extra mile, get a heads. it makes it look like the bomb.
provided all your contents are urs.

peace

BiafranBushBoy:

Pls, can I send you a P.M?

why not? feel very free

BiafranBushBoy:

Nice... But my blog is not even up to 5 days old
So I am just starting
Do you think It would be a nice idea doing that now?
just asking sir

OK. if that is the case, focus more on making it better. I wish you good luck.

Onyejemechimere:
Help check my blog http://otownloaded.com
Launched early june

1.
from what I saw, a lot of hard work has gone into the creation of your blog. kudos for that.
but have you ever wondered why you haven't been approved by Adsense despite the fact that you have written close to 200 articles?
the reason is simple, you really do not have a niche. this is why it's been difficult coming up with an About us page.

what do u think makes u unique? Google need problem solvers which is why it's good to have a defined niche

2.
your home page is too long. try reducing the length. it gets boring and tiring to see something like an endless page. look at sites like nairaland and even Facebook, they have either a "show more button" or a numbered tabs to show visitors more.

I hope this helps you Onyejemechimere

BiafranBushBoy:


That number 2, what do you suggest. what niche do you think I should add to it?

3) You meant the story I wrote? I know it contained some sexual stuff, but how can I remove it without clearing off the story?

Thanks!!

concerning number 2
you can try sourcing for different writing competitions or events that entails writing and start doing small write-ups on them.

for number 3
dont forget the thread is about getting Adsense. therefore what this implies is that you can make money without Adsense if u intend going raw. trust me, sex sells.
a good example is zubby77 blog www.globalruns.com where readers pay to read.

BiafranBushBoy:
Please checkout this blog for me.

www.topwritersden.com

1. Absence of privacy policy. try checking up sites on google that help people generate this page for free.
2. i also feel the niche is somewhat restrictive. you might run out of content sooner than expected. try enlarging your coast.
3. for google to grant you adsense, i dont think they will appreciate the sexual content promotion you have on your blog. do well by reading adsense terms of service so as to know what and what adsence frowns at.
4. in a bid to make your site look busy and filled, i observed you added unrequired widgets like calender and co. please try reducing them.
the simpler the look of your site, the easier it is for people to navigate. google appreciates that a lot.
5. one of your topics is "memo of a a male sex addict"... please change the memo to "Memoir" they mean 2 different things.
6. try to also give credits to the owners of the pictured you borrow.


aside all the above listed
1. I must commend you for your choice of niche- its unique
2. your writing stile will also take you far- its captivating

smoothvee:
My blog www.tinygab.com a health blog... what do you think about the design.. and how many posts did u have before you were accepted bro

Good job there bro!
If you can observe from your back end, you'd see that I checked on close to 4 posts on your blog. These were what I observed:
awesome template and design. you actually killed it.
Unique niche and contents too

However, I'd advise you
1. reduce the number of social sharing fields you have there. They tend to be stuffing your blog.
2. Try infusing more links (internally and externally) intelligently into your works to achieve the following reasons:
- help you re-ignite old posts
- they help boost the number of page clicks too.
3. for the number of contents, I discovered you have on the average 600 words per article, so I'd advise you write up to 20 unique ones and lastly.
4. try to properly acknowledge the owners of borrowed contents. e.g when you borrow a featured image, reference it like this after each post

feature image credit: www.xyz.com

It costs nothing to give credit while it is also the least you can do to say thank you to the real owner of the work.

I hope these tips help.

GoodyOG:
ok i will correct all of those... thank a lot

you are welcome bro