Only a few people ever get to live the life of their dreams and make money from the things they love doing. One of such individuals is Maazi Ogbonnaya, a Twitter influencer who describes himself as a storyteller, teacher, and author.
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Ogbonnaya took the unconventional path of becoming an Igbo teacher, a path which turned out to be the best decision he made and has led to a blossoming career. At present, Ogbonnaya has published over 25 books in Igbo and written a total of 58 manuscripts in Igbo, comprising both published and unpublished. It all started with a strong passion for the Igbo language and the will to follow it irrespective of other people’s opinions.
His Story
Ogbonnaya made the decision to study Igbo prior to his admission into the university. He had resolved not to inform his family members of his plans knowing full well that they would discourage him. When it was time to register for JAMB, Ogbonnaya filled in Igbo and Linguistics as his first and second choices. This was unsurprisingly met with reproach from friends who advised him to rethink his decision and opt for a more lucrative course. Ogbonnaya went on to study Igbo in spite of the disapproval from friends and colleagues.
While in University, Ogbonnaya began taking steps to publish his first book in Igbo. He faced rejections from several publishing companies, especially from those who thought he was too young to write a book that would attract readers.
However, he eventually got noticed when his HOD, Dean of the Faculty, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor among others, invited him to sit at the high table. This was due to the impressive feat of publishing books and manuscripts at such a young age.
Two days later, one of his books was recommended to the second-year students of the department.
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By his final year, Ogbonnaya had published a total of 10 Igbo books. He has since released many books which have been approved by the Enugwu State Ministry of Education, Ebọnyị State, Anambra State, Imo State, Abịa State and Delta State for Junior WAEC exams and many other institutions of learning.
He translated the BBC guidelines in Igbo before the launching of the BBC Igbo service and also translated for UNESCO.
Furthermore, he obtained a certification from Newcastle University, UK, and the University of the West of Scotland, where he used Igbo for his project on translation and movie subtitle.
In addition to being a public figure who loves to teach and write in Igbo, Ogbonnaya serves as an inspiration to many who dare to follow their dreams no matter how unconventional they seem.
Knowing the power social media gives him to reach his audience, he has pages on Facebook and Twitter. With over 12,000 followers on Twitter, it’s not hard to see the sky is just a starting point for the Igbo educator.
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