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OLUMIDE HOLLOWAY’S AUDACITY, FAITH & PASSION: QUITTING BANKING TO PIONEER THE TRICKY BUSINESS OF SPOKEN WORD SHOWBIZ IN NIGERIA | A CỌ́N-SCÌÒ PACESETTER PROFILE

<body><div class&equals;"booster-block booster-read-block">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"twp-read-time">&NewLine; &Tab;<i class&equals;"booster-icon twp-clock"><&sol;i> <span>Read Time&colon;<&sol;span>11 Minute&comma; 39 Second <&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-align-center"><em><em><em>Olumide Holloway&comma; better known as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Olulu&comma; the King not from Zulu&comma;” is a poetpreneur&comma; art administrator&comma; storyteller&comma; screenwriter&comma; and spoken word poet&period; He loves reading&comma; writing&comma; dancing&comma; making people happy&comma; and generally having fun&period; He is the promoter of the foremost Nigerian spoken word poetry concert&comma; WORD UP&excl;&comma; and Nigeria’s biggest slam poetry competition&comma; War of Words&comma; and is the author of 10 books&comma; including The Poetpreneur&colon; My Thoughts On The Business Of Spoken Word Poetry&comma; How Many Nos Make A Yes&colon; Dealing With Rejection And Failure&comma; and Love Letters Of A Poetpreneur&colon; Valuable Insights On The Business Of Spoken Word Poetry&period; He believes that his core purpose in life is to continually use spoken word poetry as a tool to build capacity in people&comma; a means of communication&comma; and a mode of expression&period; In this profile by Ojo Olumide for CỌ́N-SCÌÒ Magazine’s special edition&comma; we take a look at King Olulu’s audacious decision quit his banking career to pioneer Spoken Word Poetry entrepreneurship in Nigeria&period;<&sol;em><&sol;em><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Olumide is the only son of a family of seven&period; From a young age&comma; he decided to follow the unique path of the arts&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;My late father had a small library&comma; and I took to reading as a hobby&period;” The writing aspect came later when I was about to enter secondary school at age 11&period; In secondary school&comma; he coined a nickname that endured long enough to follow him to the stage&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Olulu” is actually a name I gave myself in secondary school because I didn’t like the nicknames I was called&period; I added &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;King” to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Olulu” when I started performing spoken word poetry&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;King Olulu” is the short form&comma; and the long form is &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;King Olulu&comma; who is not from Zulu&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<blockquote class&equals;"wp-block-quote has-text-align-right has-medium-font-size is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&NewLine;<p>There are many dimensions to Olumide’s personality—banker&comma; spoken-word entrepreneur&comma; and creative person—but&comma; when asked about his multifacetedness&comma; he considers himself an ex-bank worker who left banking in 2019 to focus on his passion for spoken-word poetry and to maximize the limitless possibilities in creative writing&period; Asked to describe himself in just a few words&comma; he says he is a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;poetpreneur and gifted storyteller&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>It took Olumide Holloway years to bring this inner reality to physical manifestation as a writer&comma; spoken-word artist&comma; and event organizer&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;My friends and I started a satire magazine&comma; F-Factor&comma; in 2009 as a side hustle&period; It was in the process of marketing the magazine that I saw a live poetry performance by Plumbline at Terra Kulture&period; I knew about spoken word poetry from the movies and had always considered the art form as something I would like to do&period; Seeing and realizing the immediate response that &OpenCurlyQuote;sight and sound’ demands from the audience made me jump into it fully in 2010&period; Organizing spoken word poetry events started in 2012 when I realized that there were not enough platforms for spoken word poets to be seen&comma; known&comma; and rewarded for their performances&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Our platforms—both online and offline—have always been dedicated to discovering&comma; grooming&comma; and showcasing new and emerging spoken word poets to the world&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-a-contestant-at-one-of-his-Spoken-Word-events-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-40831" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-element-caption">Olumide Holloway and a contestant at one of his Spoken Word events&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>If a man is immersed in a banking job that takes the best part of his time and has committed a decade and three years to building a reputation in this career&comma; one can only wonder how he was able to tame his creative energy as one confined inside a counter when his calling is the stage&period; When asked about what gave him the courage to abandon a well-paying job for another career with many uncertainties&comma; he said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I have a strong connection to my Creator&comma; and He has given me a clear vision of my role in life&period; The vision is to add value to people&comma; nations&comma; and generations&comma; and the mission is to use creative writing and spoken word poetry as modes of expressing and communicating value&period; Leaving banking was always part of my plan since I joined in 2006&period; I just did not know when I would leave&period; I had to wait for a sign from God&period; I got my sign in January 2019&comma; and I left&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>There’s an adage that if you don’t drive a thing&comma; another thing will drive you&period; Talking about his shift from writing to spoken word&comma; he hinted that the power of sight and sound made him move from writing to performing&period; There is an immediate response to what you see or hear&comma; as compared to what you read&period; It was never about fame for me&period; It was always about impact&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>With the numerous artistic talents in Nigeria&comma; the need to create a platform for discovery&comma; nurturing&comma; and reward must be made available&period; While others took to the backseat or folded their arms&comma; King Olulu rose to the challenge&comma; becoming a beckon of light in poetrepreneurship when he started organizing spoken word events in 2012 and&comma; notably&comma; the brain behind WORD UP—Nigeria’s Foremost Spoken Poetry Event—and WAR OF WORDS—the Biggest Spoken Word Poetry Competition in Nigeria&period; This was what he considered the philosophy behind these events&period; According to him&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;these events aim to enable us to address &lpar;and solve&rpar; issues that affect society&comma; such as education&comma; employment&comma; entrepreneurship&comma; empowerment&comma; expression&comma; entertainment&comma; emotional therapy&comma; and emotional intelligence&period; Words are powerful and therapeutic&period; Sometimes&comma; the solution to an issue or comfort to an aching heart is to hear the same experience being shared on stage&period; For some&comma; their comfort lies in being able to express their fears and&sol;or pain freely on stage without judgment or condemnation&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Showbiz in Nigeria is a challenging one&comma; especially with the level of partnership&comma; support&comma; or lack thereof&period; King Olulu believes this experience is classic for our climate and should not deter one from pursuing his or her passion&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It’s been rough and tough as most of our events have been self-financed&period;” But life is short&comma; and soon we will be gone&period; And where we are going&comma; money is of no value&period; So we do what we can with what we have&period; At the moment&comma; there’s no direct partnership per se&period; But in terms of having them as judges at our slams&comma; making special appearances on stage at our events&comma; and the like&comma; we’ve always collaborated with fellow creatives and organizers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>In recent times&comma; there has been this contention between page poetry and spoken word&period; Poetry has been figuratively described as a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;submarine&comma;” while spoken word is seen as a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;ship&period;” This&comma; of course&comma; talks about the level of depth&comma; spontaneity&comma; and condensation&period; King Olulu’s perception is also that spoken word is a subgenre of entertainment&comma; although he disagrees with the idea of contention between spoken word and poetry&period; He says&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<blockquote class&equals;"wp-block-quote has-text-align-right has-large-font-size is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&NewLine;<p> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If you listen to spoken word poetry as much as I do&comma; you will realize that it can’t and won’t water down &OpenCurlyQuote;page poetry&period; Both of them have their roles&comma; functions&comma; and usefulness&period;” <&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>He argues that both are interwoven and essential to the growth of poetry as an art form&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Yes&comma; I see spoken word poetry as a genre of entertainment&comma; a tool to increase the level of literacy&comma; a means of livelihood&comma; and a medium of communication among people across the globe&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Entertainment is still the best form of education and communication&period; That’s why in many parts of the world&comma; individuals&comma; companies&comma; and governments spend billions on movies and other forms of entertainment because they want to pass a message across or sell an idea&period; There is&comma; therefore&comma; no competition between them&period; Both of them have their place&comma; roles&comma; and functions&period; It would be futile to consider them as competitors when they are collaborators&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Olulu-Holloway-Left-with-Dike-ChukwumerijeMiddle-and-Seye-la-poet-Right-on-the-Red-Carpet-at-the-7th-edition-of-his-poetry-show-WordUp-in-2014&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-40830" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-element-caption">Olumide Olulu Holloway &lpar;Left&rpar;&comma; with Dike Chukwumerije&lpar;Middle&rpar;&comma; and Seye la poet &lpar;Right&rpar; on the Red Carpet at the 7th edition of his poetry show WordUp in 2014&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>In Nigeria today&comma; some notable names have continued to grace the spoken word stage&comma; from Dike Chukwumerije&comma; Bash Amuneni&comma; Graciano Enwerem&comma; and Pariolodo to Loveth Liberty&comma; Hafsat Abdullahi&comma; and others&period; The most notable member of this pack is Dike&period; His &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Made in Nigeria” 60 minutes of dramatic spoken word has been staged across the major cities in Nigeria&period; Placing this side by side with WORDUP and WAR OF WORD&comma; King Olulu has this to say about why his platforms are unique&colon;<em> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<&sol;em>The eye and the hand are both parts of the body&period;” Each plays different roles&comma; but each role is essential to the growth and development of the body&period; We’ve always supported spoken-word poetry events locally and internationally&period; Thus&comma; we have always supported Dike’s events&period; Also&comma; Dike has performed on our platform&period; His event and ours are different in execution&comma; but the core of it is still spoken word poetry<em>&period;<&sol;em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;'w3eden'><&excl;-- WPDM Link Template&colon; Default Template -->&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"link-template-default card mb-2">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"card-body">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"media">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"mr-3 img-48"><img class&equals;"wpdm&lowbar;icon" alt&equals;"Icon" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;plugins&sol;download-manager&sol;assets&sol;file-type-icons&sol;pdf&period;svg" &sol;><&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"media-body">&NewLine; <h3 class&equals;"package-title"><a href&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;download&sol;con-scio-magazine-pacesetters-issue-2-vol-2-october-2022&sol;'>CỌ́N-SCÌÒ MAGAZINE&colon; &OpenCurlyQuote;PACESETTERS’ &lbrack;ISSUE 2&comma; VOL&period; 2 &vert; OCTOBER 2022&rsqb;<&sol;a><&sol;h3>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"text-muted text-small"><i class&equals;"fas fa-copy"><&sol;i> 1 file&lpar;s&rpar; <i class&equals;"fas fa-hdd ml-3"><&sol;i> 10&period;11 MB<&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"ml-3">&NewLine; <a class&equals;'wpdm-download-link download-on-click btn btn-primary ' rel&equals;'nofollow' href&equals;'&num;' data-downloadurl&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;download&sol;con-scio-magazine-pacesetters-issue-2-vol-2-october-2022&sol;&quest;wpdmdl&equals;40865&refresh&equals;69324155393a91764901205">Download<&sol;a>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>One would think once you begin to chase your passion&comma; the road would be a smooth straight path filled with roses on the sideways and waterspouts at every step of the niche&period; While this may not be too much to ask of life&comma; life offers pain and gain in the same dish bowl&period; Olumide’s confessions in <em>An Entrepreneur’s Diary of Being Broke and in Debt &lpar;Parts 1–5&rpar;<&sol;em> published on SMEDigest&period;com details his day-to-day trepidations and challenges as a poetpreneur and his motivations&period; He noted&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The challenges of an event organizer are somewhat similar everywhere&period; Some of the challenges are related to resources in terms of funding and people&sol;staff&comma; as well as technical issues&comma; weather&comma; etc&period; On the way out&comma; I read my Bible&comma; prayed to God&comma; and meditated&period; I read and studied other materials&period; I write&comma; and I take action&period; Life is not fair&semi; that’s why I’m a black man&comma; and so I try to make the best use of what I have and where I find myself&period; I’m self-motivated&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>He talked about the influences on his Poetpreneurship—people like Teju BabyFace&comma; Pastor Sam Adeyemi&comma; Vusi&comma; and Jimi Tewe —and how &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;he would rather regret what he did than what he should have done and did not&period;” He considers their experiences as pointers to his direction since life is life with others&period; You learn from other people’s experiences in order not to make the same mistakes they did or to know how best to get out of the mess you are in&period; And learning is continuous&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>King Olulu is deeply a spiritual person&comma; and this is reflective&period; Taking from a number of his stories where you retold biblical stories creatively and simplistically&comma; one may wonder why the attachment to the Bible as an artist&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I see the Bible as a manual for humankind&period;” And I draw a lot of lessons from it&period; But I also read other materials and watched a lot of valuable content to feed my mind&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I understand that content is key&comma; so the more valuable content I can feed my mind&comma; the more value I can pour out&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>While his emphasis has been on the stage&comma; he also has several books to his credit&period; He says&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the more you write&comma; the better you become&period; So it’s been fascinating to see how well my writing style has matured over the years&period; And the fact that people buy my books has also made it worth the while&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter wp-amp-block" id&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;&lowbar;1"><div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;container swiper"><amp-carousel width&equals;"960" height&equals;"640" layout&equals;"responsive" type&equals;"slides" data-next-button-aria-label&equals;"Next Slide" data-prev-button-aria-label&equals;"Previous Slide" controls loop id&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;&lowbar;amp-carousel&lowbar;&lowbar;1" on&equals;"slideChange&colon;wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;&lowbar;amp-pagination&lowbar;&lowbar;1&period;toggle&lpar;index&equals;event&period;index&comma; value&equals;true&rpar;"><div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;slide"><figure><img width&equals;"960" height&equals;"640" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-some-writers-at-a-literary-event-in-Lagos-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;960&percnt;2C640&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;image" alt&equals;"" object-fit&equals;"contain" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-some-writers-at-a-literary-event-in-Lagos-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;w&equals;960&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 960w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-some-writers-at-a-literary-event-in-Lagos-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;768&percnt;2C512&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 768w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-some-writers-at-a-literary-event-in-Lagos-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;272&percnt;2C182&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 272w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;caption gallery-caption">Olumide Holloway and some writers at a literary event in Lagos in 2012<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure><&sol;div><div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;slide"><figure><img width&equals;"853" height&equals;"640" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-performing-a-poem-at-Epistle-of-Sex-book-launch-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;853&percnt;2C640&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;image" alt&equals;"" object-fit&equals;"contain" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-performing-a-poem-at-Epistle-of-Sex-book-launch-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;w&equals;2048&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 2048w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-performing-a-poem-at-Epistle-of-Sex-book-launch-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;768&percnt;2C576&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 768w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-performing-a-poem-at-Epistle-of-Sex-book-launch-in-2012&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;1536&percnt;2C1152&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 1536w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;caption gallery-caption">Olumide Holloway performing a poem at Epistle of Sex book launch in 2012<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure><&sol;div><div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;slide"><figure><img width&equals;"960" height&equals;"636" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-3&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;960&percnt;2C636&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;image" alt&equals;"" object-fit&equals;"contain" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-3&period;jpg&quest;w&equals;1024&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 1024w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-3&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;768&percnt;2C509&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 768w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;caption gallery-caption">Olumide Hollowa<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure><&sol;div><div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;slide"><figure><img width&equals;"960" height&equals;"637" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Olulu-Holloway-Left-with-Dike-ChukwumerijeMiddle-and-Seye-la-poet-Right-on-the-Red-Carpet-at-the-7th-edition-of-his-poetry-show-WordUp-in-2014&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;960&percnt;2C637&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;image" alt&equals;"" object-fit&equals;"contain" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Olulu-Holloway-Left-with-Dike-ChukwumerijeMiddle-and-Seye-la-poet-Right-on-the-Red-Carpet-at-the-7th-edition-of-his-poetry-show-WordUp-in-2014&period;jpg&quest;w&equals;2048&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 2048w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Olulu-Holloway-Left-with-Dike-ChukwumerijeMiddle-and-Seye-la-poet-Right-on-the-Red-Carpet-at-the-7th-edition-of-his-poetry-show-WordUp-in-2014&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;768&percnt;2C509&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 768w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Olulu-Holloway-Left-with-Dike-ChukwumerijeMiddle-and-Seye-la-poet-Right-on-the-Red-Carpet-at-the-7th-edition-of-his-poetry-show-WordUp-in-2014&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;1536&percnt;2C1019&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 1536w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;caption gallery-caption">Olumide Olulu Holloway &lpar;Left&rpar;&comma; with Dike Chukwumerije&lpar;Middle&rpar;&comma; and Seye la poet &lpar;Right&rpar; on the Red Carpet at the 7th edition of his poetry show WordUp in 2014&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure><&sol;div><div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;slide"><figure><img width&equals;"643" height&equals;"640" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;643&percnt;2C640&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;image" alt&equals;"" object-fit&equals;"contain" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway&period;jpg&quest;w&equals;1371&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 1371w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;768&percnt;2C764&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 768w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 643px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 643px" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;caption gallery-caption">Olumide Holloway<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure><&sol;div><div class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;slide"><figure><img width&equals;"960" height&equals;"640" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-a-contestant-at-one-of-his-Spoken-Word-events-1&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;960&percnt;2C640&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;image" alt&equals;"" object-fit&equals;"contain" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-a-contestant-at-one-of-his-Spoken-Word-events-1&period;jpg&quest;w&equals;1500&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 1500w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-a-contestant-at-one-of-his-Spoken-Word-events-1&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;768&percnt;2C512&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 768w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;Olumide-Holloway-and-a-contestant-at-one-of-his-Spoken-Word-events-1&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;272&percnt;2C182&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 272w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" loading&equals;"lazy"><figcaption class&equals;"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow&lowbar;caption gallery-caption">Olumide Holloway and a contestant at one of his Spoken Word events&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure><&sol;div><&sol;amp-carousel><div class&equals;"swiper-pagination-simple">1 &sol; 6<&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Spokenword showbiz is quite a tricky business&comma; he says&comma; while noting that there are a few key hacks that can help anyone who is just venturing into it&comma; whether as an artist or organizer&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;To earn&comma; you have to learn&comma;” he says &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Life is a marathon&comma; not a sprint&period; Make yourself visible&comma; make yourself findable&comma; and make yourself valuable to people&period; because people buy people&period; So be seen&comma; be known&comma; and be trusted&period; So&comma; go to open mics&comma; enter slam competitions&comma; expose yourself to content on different platforms&comma; go to seminars&comma; pay for training sessions&comma; read widely&comma; study longer&comma; practice&comma; train&comma; get a mentor&comma; become an intern&comma; etc&period; In a nutshell&comma; hone your craft&comma; connect with people&comma; and build mutually beneficial relationships&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Optimism is the right attitude for the future&comma; and a mind that cannot visualize a future cannot realize&comma; live&comma; and outlive that future&period; King Olulu enclaves himself with this attitude&colon; the future is bright&period; We understand that to have an impact in this world&comma; we have to be culture-shapers&period; We have evolved and now have a streaming platform for poets&comma; <a href&equals;"about&colon;blank">www&period;poetreel&period;com&comma;<&sol;a> which is to help shape and change the perspective of people towards poets and the art form itself&comma; as well as provide a community where poetry lovers can immerse themselves in the best of spoken word poetry&period; Also&comma; the platform will help poets earn passive income from their skills and other products&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>King Olulu remains a pacesetter in the Nigerian poetry and spoken-word performance business&period; His works and their fruits speak for themselves&comma; and it is only fitting that his name is etched in the good books of history&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<hr class&equals;"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-dots">&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"wp-block-image is-style-default">&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"aligncenter size-full"><img sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 750px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 750px" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;CO&percnt;CC&percnt;81N-SCIO-MAGAZINE-PACESETTERSISSUE-2-VOL-2-OCT-2022-cover&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-40866" loading&equals;"lazy"><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<hr class&equals;"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-dots">&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;'w3eden'><&excl;-- WPDM Link Template&colon; Default Template -->&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"link-template-default card mb-2">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"card-body">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"media">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"mr-3 img-48"><img class&equals;"wpdm&lowbar;icon" alt&equals;"Icon" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;plugins&sol;download-manager&sol;assets&sol;file-type-icons&sol;pdf&period;svg" &sol;><&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"media-body">&NewLine; <h3 class&equals;"package-title"><a href&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;download&sol;con-scio-magazine-pacesetters-issue-2-vol-2-october-2022&sol;'>CỌ́N-SCÌÒ MAGAZINE&colon; &OpenCurlyQuote;PACESETTERS’ &lbrack;ISSUE 2&comma; VOL&period; 2 &vert; OCTOBER 2022&rsqb;<&sol;a><&sol;h3>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"text-muted text-small"><i class&equals;"fas fa-copy"><&sol;i> 1 file&lpar;s&rpar; <i class&equals;"fas fa-hdd ml-3"><&sol;i> 10&period;11 MB<&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"ml-3">&NewLine; <a class&equals;'wpdm-download-link download-on-click btn btn-primary ' rel&equals;'nofollow' href&equals;'&num;' data-downloadurl&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;download&sol;con-scio-magazine-pacesetters-issue-2-vol-2-october-2022&sol;&quest;wpdmdl&equals;40865&refresh&equals;69324155486a31764901205">Download<&sol;a>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<hr class&equals;"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity">&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-align-right has-very-dark-gray-color has-text-color has-background has-medium-font-size" style&equals;"background-color&colon;&num;ade6fe"><em><em><em>Ojo Olumide Emmanuel is a Nigerian Poet&comma; Educationist and Book Editor&period; He is the author of the Poetry Chapbook &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Supplication For Years in Sands” &lpar;Polarsphere Books&comma; 2021&rpar;&period; His works have appeared or are forthcoming in Ake Review&comma; Feral&comma; African Writers&comma; The Shallowtales Review&comma; Spillword&comma; Kalahari Review&comma; Quills&comma; Poemify&comma; Melbourne-Culture&comma; TNR and elsewhere&period; He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Nigerian Review &lpar;TNR&rpar;&comma; Lead-Editor and Publisher of Artnews&period;com&period;ng and a Senior Mentor at the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation&period;<&sol;em><&sol;em><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine; &NewLine; <div class&equals;"booster-block booster-author-block">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"be-author-details layout-square align-left">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"be-author-wrapper">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"booster-row">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"booster-column booster-column-two booster-column-mobile">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"be-author-image">&NewLine; <img alt&equals;"" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;secure&period;gravatar&period;com&sol;avatar&sol;3de36b6da89639b3d80d015f84d2cfc35212bb0678ceb13c46dc8c712831d196&quest;s&equals;400&amp&semi;d&equals;mm&amp&semi;r&equals;g" class&equals;"avatar avatar-400 photo avatar-img" height&equals;"400" width&equals;"400" loading&equals;"lazy"> <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"booster-column booster-column-eight booster-column-mobile">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"author-details">&NewLine; <header class&equals;"twp-plugin-title twp-author-title">&NewLine; <h2>About Post Author<&sol;h2>&NewLine; <&sol;header>&NewLine; <h4 class&equals;"be-author-meta be-author-name">&NewLine; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wrr&period;ng&sol;author&sol;admin&sol;" class&equals;"booster-url-link">&NewLine; Words Rhymes &amp&semi; Rhythm <&sol;a>&NewLine; <&sol;h4>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"be-author-meta be-author-email">&NewLine; <a 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