Hated by fools, and fools to hate
Be that my motto and my fate.
– Jonathan Swift (1667-1745); To Dr. Delany
I met Ono Bello for the first time at the Online Publisher Association of Nigeria (OPAN) annual new media conference which took place on the 6th of February at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Lagos.
Quietly seated on the front row, the beautiful lady who turned out to be Ono Bello – one whom I had seen earlier before her introduction exchanging very respectful and warm pleasantries – touched my heart and proved ‘everyone’ wrong.
Ono Bello is a new media entrepreneur, blogger, fashion influence and founder of onobello.com – a fashion, lifestyle and entertainment online magazine.
I have had my share of events with bloggers, PR agents and new media entrepreneurs; and anytime the name – Ono Bello pops up, there is always mixed reactions – especially from the ladies who claim to have met and related with her. They always classify her as being proud, saucy, snobby etc. and although I haven’t met her in person; in my head, I painted an image of Ono Bello to be one who ticked the negative boxes.
Even when she was introduced as the final panelist to discuss on ‘How to monetize your platform and earn money’; there were ‘disapprovals’ from some persons in the room – yes, the ladies especially.
Ono Bello on the panel of the OPAN Annual New Media Conference; Weathbaker, Lagos.
The session was perhaps the liveliest and I wasn’t surprised since I had guessed majority of the participant made the conference to ‘learn how to monetize their platforms’. By the end of the session, Ono Bello for me was the one who treated the topic best and has totally changed my opinion of her.
She understood the reason for the conference and that particular session. She didn’t brag about figures of her financial earnings to excite the crowd; rather she talked about how we could sell multiple options on our platform, but most importantly she advised new media entrepreneurs to pay more attention to VALUES.
After the session, I was ashamed of my initial orientation of Ono Bello. She is a young entrepreneur who clearly has her eyes on becoming the best she can be – but would not compromise her values in achieving it. During her contribution at the session, she said her resolve was ‘to build a legacy that will outlive her’; and one ‘who is after the long run, not the short run- a marathon, not a dash.’
Ono Bellow has earned my respect, I was a fool to believe the reports of others about her and I repent. There is no pride in her, she is value driven!
To everyone out there with a negative notion about Ono, my question is “WHAT DO YOU HATE ABOUT ONO BELLO?
Sebastiane Ebatamehi (sebthegenius) is a freelance writer and online publicist.
