A little wish list called Linda Ikeji and a pack of online trolls

Ah, where do we start the Linda Ikeji gist from? Where do we pitch our tent of intrusive semi-journalism?

Perhaps the best thing would be, like good stories to start from the very beginning.

It must have been a very bright day when Linda Ikeji’s blog became viral. I cannot say that I know how that happened precisely but one day, there was no Linda Ikeji blog and one day, it became a thing.
Even at her early stage of popularity, critics would always factor her basic blogger.com interface as an eye-sore. In recent times, however, these critics had to hide their faces because the not-so-aesthetically constructed website was just fine for her die-hard fans. And investors.
Perhaps it’s Ikeji’s fantastic business strategy more than luck that has kept her consistently on top of her game. Perhaps just like some would rather believe, Ikeji’s grace is quite abundant. And in the voice of some Nigerian online users, ‘I tap into that blessing‘  Through and through, whatever it works for the top blogger.

Range Roving through success

Fast forward to that day on December 6, 2016, when the internet broke the news of her new 2016 Range Rover Autobiography. Despite already being in a way popular since 2011, it would seem since that day in 2016, Linda Ikeji has never looked back on her success sprint.
Fast forward again to last year, when she clocked 38, internet users continued trolling her about getting married. Marvin Record’s top boss, DonJazzy went all shades of admiration for the top media personality on social media. (Err, it ended up as light humour and some pretty decent memes). The rave died down and the world was calm once more.
The world was still calm until two days ago,  pictures of a pregnant Linda Ikeji literally slapped us across our faces. Every gossip edia website took up the story and the comment sections went up in flames with opinions.
For the most part of the negative commentaries and trolling, critics fished out Ikeji’s philosophy on celibacy: Referencing the blogger’s constant reminder for ladies to remain celibate till they were ready for marriage.
What is more shocking is the use of words like ‘hypocrite‘ to describe the blogger’s pregnancy and engagement. With the deepest sense of disappointment, I read nasty commentaries from internet users insulting Ikeji for getting pregnant before marriage.

Get your philosophies right ladies

More than anything, I strongly hold to discovering one’s self solely. It’s fine enough for an influencer like Linda Ikeji to preach abstinence.
What is not fine is the lack on the part of her mentees. It’s fine to listen to philosophies of mentors but also, it’s way more important to convince one’s self to adopt these philosophies.
The difference between a truly aware individual and a crowd-follower is conviction. It is the presence of conviction that makes adapting to a philosophy complete.
What I’m simply trying to say is that Ikeji has every right to make her own choices. She chose to abstain from sex until she met a man she’s convinced is her Mr. Right. In her recent argument, she did point out that her teachings were for young ladies to avoid sex before marriage or assurance.
In her previous arguments, most notably a video from 2016, Ikeji warned young women never to sleep with a man for money. This advice was totally ironic to rumours about her sleeping with men for more business deals a few years ago. Again, Ikeji stood her grounds in that video referencing her journey to success.
In the 12-minute long video, she’d go on to narrate her hustle to wealth. She most specifically mentioned being pressured for sex at 17 by a man-in-charge which she refused. She recounts the countless businesses she ventured into for over 13 years.
In 2003, Ikeji contested in a beauty pageantry which she lost. She began a magazine business, a marketing and PR company, a reality TV competition, a 7-year annual fashion show, all of which failed. She even recounts that she wrote a book that never sold up to 500 copies.
In all of this, she concludes with admonishing ladies never to sleep with a man for money. Two years later, the top blogger announces her engagement just days before her baby bump photos flood the internet. To think that anyone would accuse a 38-year-old successful woman who decided she wanted a baby with the man she loves as hypocritical is absurd, to say the least.

In summary,

Linda Ikeji preached absteinance which she practised 38 years of her life. The depressing hands of strugging and hustle did not cause her to give her body in exchange for money. Striving for years to become someone of relevance, she did so with her head only.
Some social media users mocked he over the years to get married. She paid them no attention and went on getting more successful. One day she decides she wants a child: and biologically, abstinence cannot bring forth kids. She makes up her mind to have a family with her love interest, keeps it lowkey, announces her engagement and pregnancy. And all of sudden she’s a hypocrite? Really?
What you missed?
More than anything I advise that the huge takeout from the Linda Ikeji story should be genuinely in self. Hear the words of the wise, apply them in your own way, according to your life journey. Hear the wise words of Linda Ikeji about abstinence but make up your own mind how you want to apply that wisdom in your own context.
It’s no surprise that some women blindly misnterprete the feminist philosophies of celebrities like Chimamanda Adichie and Beyonce. Army of angry women refuse to get feminism straight and end up unmarried or sad. While Adichie and Bey cuddle up to their amazing husbands.
A word is enough for the wise. Let the anger go people. Be happy for Ikeji’s achievements and learn how to be mentored contextually.