It was the last Sunday in November 2006, when a young lady sat typing into her computer an intro aptly titled “This is me…Linda”. Those became the first words that foreshadowed the entry of Linda Ifeoma Ikeji to the blog world at the age of 26. Today, seven years later, the Linda Ikeji’s blog has become one of the most popular entertainment, news and gossip blogs in this part of the world.
Her Background
Linda was born September 19, 1980 and is the second of seven children, an indigene of Nkwerre, Imo state in Eastern Nigeria. She was raised a catholic and graduated from the University of Lagos in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language. Standing at 5ft8inches and with the right body proportion, she ventured into modelling in 1998 while at school and set up a modeling agency called the Blackdove Models Management. On the 25th of June 2006, she formally launched her magazine the FM&B magazine which [for financial constraint]couldn’t go to printing after the first two editions. After reading Bellanaija’s blog, she became inspired to begin writing hers, the rest they say is history.
The Struggle
It was early 2000; I was 19 years old, in my second year at the University of Lagos. I’d been a model for about a year and a half then. Modeling back then didn’t pay a lot. Sometimes you ate, other times you went hungry. Sometimes you had money, other times you begged for it. I am not from a rich home. I started struggling from 17 to support my family. I had a tough life growing up but I kept working, doing all sorts of modeling jobs, ushering, and fashion shows. At a point, I even sold beer at a hotel. I’d leave lectures, go to a hotel and sell beer from 1pm till 10pm. I did this for a few months and it wasn’t easy but I had to survive. One of the things I said to myself back then was, I would rather starve or beg for food than give my body to a man for money.
The Breaking Point
It was early 2000