Saying goodbye to the blogging life, & top posts, viewing countries, et cetera – Tola Adenle

Before saying goodbye to weekly essay writing for The Nation on Sunday which had metamorphosed from The Comet on Sunday
in an essay copied to this blog on – https://emotanafricana.com/2014/11/11/a-letter-to-my-niece-the-writing-life-saying-goodbye-tola-adenle/ ,

And before going further, from reading the COMMENTS below came the idea that I owe you, my blog visitors and many who will follow Search engines here for many more years, a fairly-updated photograph of me. The pix I’m inserting includes my significant other of 49 years who has been with me in my writing life as we’ve been together in all things; he has appeared on this blog in multiple frames, especially the ASO OKE YORUBA various categories.He’s been sounding board, suggested ideas, cut and paste – with exacto knives – in the days before PCs became common, et cetera.

Depo Adenle (Ph.D. George Washington U.) & me at The Hilton at Malta in an unplanned 48th wedding anni. pix taken by a Hilton Staff who surprised us with a bottle of champaign, a piece of artsy/itsy-bitsy cake and the decor. “Hilton just knew …” the guy claimed but we knew better; clue: our kids organized while Hilton-hospitality choreographed the graceful delivery by a very experienced staff! Thanks for the memory, Hilton.[Photo Credit: Hilton staff, January 2018.]

I had been thinking of how to get some of my old essays on to a platform where they would not only be visible to others beyond the shores of Nigeria but would be a [sort of] permanent storage without my having to compile them in a book form. One of my kids came up with the idea of a blog where I could also continue to write (if and when I felt like it) on the usual matters I’m passionate about: the arts, sportlatform mid-2010; emotan is the name of a woman’s mag I published and edited from 1977 to 1985 in Nigeria.

However, the first post on this blog did not appear until March 30, 2011 when Buhari’s third quest for Nigeria’s presidency – it failed as the earlier two – before he finally lucked out on the fourth try became the catalyst to get up and make a go at my intention.

[NOTE: Buhari’s policies, divisiveness, ethnocentricity, unwillingness and incapacity to fight Fulani herdsmen’s terrorism, failure to live up to his campaign promises, including not really fighting corruption … dimmed my interest in him. He recently “won” a second term, a “victory” that is being litigated. My native Ondo State sent two of its three senators to Abuja on the platform of the hated PDP; the party also won legislative seats in other SW states; that’s how far unacceptable Buhari & a SW-led party, the APC, have become even in progressive SW Nigeria. Enough of my stand on Nigeria’s politics.]

In the eight years since the birth of emotanafricana.com, I have learnt as much as I’ve tried to give my reading followers from more than a total of over a hundred countries – from time to time -who stop by here for information on various subjects my perspectives on the issues that interest me without ever standing on the fence or hiding behind the proverbial one finger. It has not been a singular effort as the detailed stats of a few contributors below will show.

I’ve been lucky to have these few contributors whose essays, including topical issues on Nigeria’s politics – the constitution & restructuring, especially – education sector, et cetera have resounded so well that such writings have continued to attract thousands of viewers after their initial publications. My particular thanks go to those contributors, especially Deleola Daramola whose What’s in a name: A look at some Yoruba names of birds (one of his multiple contributions), an essay that has attracted over 15,000 views during a period of about 6 years point to the singular area in which this blog seemed to have transported the blog and me.

Lawyer Femi Aborisade’s The National Question and the Nigerian Constitution (one of more than a dozen contributions), has had over six thousand (6,000) views. An attorney, Femi has submitted to this blog many of the papers he regularly gives as press releases and at workshops for his committed effort on defending civil and human rights in Nigeria.

Professor Ladipo Adamolekun’s Education Sector in Crisis: Evidence, Causes and Possible Remedies might have had its initial outing as  text of the 2012/2013 Distinguished Lecture of Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), Nigeria paper – an academic gathering – it has found a welcome platform here with over five thousand (5,000) views in the six years since its posting here.

Yoruba Engagement Aṣọ Òkè which I wrote in June 2013 generated so much interest (over 22,000 views) that I developed a book out of the whole aso òkè category: AṢỌ ÒKÈ  YORUBA: A TAPESTRY OF LOVE & COLOR, A JOURNEY OF PERSONAL DISCOVERY .

While I will stop posting fresh material, responding to correspondences and comments on posts et cetera, this blog will remain on the WordPress platform so that those who may visit the site through search links for research or information on important subjects that have stood the test of time on the blog, can continue to access such information.

I’ve gained as much – if not more – from working on a total of not less than 70% of posted essays here, as reading what others have contributed.  I owe a debt of gratitude to  contributors who have added variety and depth to the fares on this blog, and my thanks also go to www.wordpress.com for providing this platform at a very affordable cost and, especially the provision of these useful and eye-opening statistics that validate my effort.

And last, but definitely not the least as they are the most important, are my visitors who have made this a must-visit blog. They came in from over one hundred and four countries and constitute the main reason for whatever success this blog was able to achieve.

SEE TABLES & MAPS AFTER READING TO THE END.

From the USA with the highest number of visitors (112,501), an impressive  average of over a thousand (1,000) visitors/monthly, when viewed against a fact that the first two years-plus of the blog attracted very few visitors.

Then, Nigeria, The EU, The UK;

TO, AMONG tiny-populated but wide-reading citizenries –

The Vatican City,

Timor-Leste,

Tajikstan,

Samoa  & Vanuatu in the Pacific,

Andorra,

Aland Islands,

New Caledonia,

Saint Maarten,             

Cook Islands,

Kiribati,

Solomon Islands,

British Virgin Islands,

Turks & Caicos Islands,

Isle of man;

AND NOT TINY (but not English-speaking) –

Mexico

Iran,

Greece,

Afghanistan,

Uzbekistan,

Syria,

Paraguay,

Guatemala,

Uruguay;

AND – pardon me – others, big and small but too many to list. The top countries are listed on the three maps at the end of the other graphics.

I thank you all for the bottom of my heart.

It’s a weekend; enjoy the graphics here:

Below are some selected essays among the top-ranked posts containing more details. Please note that one of above posts has been deleted. In inserting one of the selected top essays, I had omitted Aborisade’s THE NATIONAL QUESTION which now comes first. Pls. ignore the order of pasting. All the selected essays can be found in the BLUE group above. Olaniyi’s WICKED GAA … has 6,617 views while Daramola’s BIRDS’ NAMES has 15,836. One of these days when there’s time, I’ll sort out the mess and re-organize this section. Pardon the mess! TO GET THE ACCURATE FIGURES of the selected few, please use WordPress total; do not rely on my Math!

TOLA. APRIL 13, 2019.

WHERE DID ALL THESE VISITORS COME FROM?

My sincere thanks & regards. Farewell.

TỌ́LÁ.

Friday, April 12, 2019. 4:50 P.M. [GMT]