Ene Elizabeth Adeka: As it is Written of Me

Ene Elizabeth  Adeka is crazy!

That was  what Mr Cyril,  my supervisor at the university where I currently teach A- level Chemistry thought last week.

I was acting crazy.

I had a writing deadline to meet; an outline that had refused to take shape and for a brief moment, he had caught me talking to myself.

I know you’re curious about the woman behind this blog so I decided to interview her for you. So who is Ene Elizabeth Adeka?
I’m shy. Lol!

 

Ene Elizabeth Adeka…

My Facebook family call me Black Safaya, WhatsApp family call me Pained to Paid Writer, Dara calls me Dudulewa (it’s the Yoruba word for Black Beauty ), Sweetness Cakes has decided that on this side of eternity she prefers to call me Energy but my name is Ene Elizabeth Adeka.

 

What inspires me?

One of the most common questions I get asked all the time is “What inspires you?”  and and although I’m greatly inspired by songs  and pictures (6000 on phone),  honestly, I have no one size fits all answer.

You.  Me. Trees. Birds.  Bae. Friends. God. Love. Everything inspires Ene Elizabeth Adeka.

If you wait to be inspired all the time by that one single thing you call “My Inspiration” before you act, you will never see anything to the finish. Look for inspiration in anything and everything around you.

 

Why not yellow safaya?

Because I’m black. Lol.
The name “Safaya” was coined from the English word for the precious stone “sapphire”.  Before I started SAFAYA, I was at a point in life where I was confused about so many things.

I had just rounded up my undergraduate studies in Chemistry with no strength left in me to continue anything meaningful. Prior to that, I had been writing  on Facebook for about five years, then professionally in 2016.

 

Starting Safaya

I didn’t want to start a blog just like any other person out there and so when my boss said it was time to go public,  I began to pray (I believe in God unapologetically).

At the end of my prayer,  I saw a scripture in the book of Revelations that talked about “a great city coming out of heaven, arrayed like a bride adorned for her husband” – (Rev 21:2) and “the second foundation of the wall of that great city was (made of)sapphire” (Rev 21:19).

Verse 2 said, “The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their glory to it.” Verse 5 said: “Write, for these words are faithful and true (they are accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy).”

Safaya was originally  supposed to be sappire.com but that domain name was taken already and so I changed it to SAFAYA.

 

 Black Safaya: The Blog

Black Safaya touches contemporary issues; most of them issues people shy away from for diplomatic and other reasons. Fortunately, “I say it as it is.”

Black Safaya is also keen on inspiring young people and women and also teaching wannabe writers how to write. I am a big fan of supporting people and so Safaya use words to push you to your next level.

 

What makes me happy?

Writing. People. Love. Music. Jesus.
I am happy when I help people and I am most happy when that help goes a long way in helping  them attain confidence and start the things they long to do but are afraid to begin.

My entire writing is hinged on that one desire: JUST DO IT.
Like Nike.

I strive to always be the wind in the sails of someone and the one cheerleader they need to take home the trophy. I want people to know that their dreams are valid but what they do after they wake up is more important.

 

What are the things I write about?

I’d be lying if I told you I have only one area I write about.   My first two years of writing, I wrote over 500  articles. Without exaggeration, I have visited almost every major niche there is to be found in writing.

And I’ll tell you why.

God never gives a man one thing. He always gives a blessing that is pregnant with other blessings. My writing is a gift; I think of it as crude oil and so it has  a lot of extra goodies in the package.

I write about a lot of things. The man who taught me how to write professionally did not allow me pick a niche in my first year of writing.

He watched me, gauged my strengths and areas of weakness and in the end we both discovered my areas of strength in writing.  Should I tell you?

1. Relationships and Lifestyle (Motivation or self-help as the niche is known)
2. Stories (Where someone sees a sentence, I see a story.)
3. Writing (the art).
4. Copywriting (Website copies, product descriptions, etc.)
5. Book outlines (I’m the queen of outlines)
6. Special requests (speeches, ghost writing )

I currently teach writing for FREE on WhatsApp and you can click here to join.

 

Why writing?

Hmmm!
For now, this is where I have planted my feet and I have decided to be faithful and committed to it. You’re not qualified to receive further instructions if you did not follow the last instruction to the latter. I am an obedient child.

 

Single?

(Laughs)
Double line spacing is better.  It helps the reader scan through your writing easily. Two is also always better than one for there is a reward for their labour…if you know what I mean.

Major influences in writing?

This one might surprise you…

1. God
2. Apostle Joshua Selman (I learnt how to write introductions listening to his sermons)
3. My biological father (for all the times he never allowed me to play with the kids until I had learnt how to read) and my uncle (the founder of KARATU Library for all the yankee books I grew up receiving)
4. Hillsong United (do we even deserve these guys? Listening to So Will I/ A 100 Billion X as I write this).
5. My Pastors, David Adah Ichima (who told me many years ago that I’m worth more than my weight in Facebook Likes and Twitter retweets) Pastor Chingtok Ishaku, and Amoz Obadiah (for the depth of his song writing skills).
6. Pastor Ejimi Olufukeji (because he’s the patron saint of “receive digital sense”).
7. Chimamanda Adichie (for Purple Hibiscus and The Thing Around Your Neck)
8. My friend, Original Ife (because he’s one of the wisest young men I know).
9. Chandler Bolt of Self-Publishing School, 6times Amazon bestselling author (grateful for the call last month) and Tom Corson Knowles of TCK Publishing.
10. He who must not be named (because he turned my poetry to incantations).
11. Malcom Gladwell (We don’t deserve Gladwell).
12. And now, SAFAYA WRITERS –the best people on the planet are my neighbours on WhatsApp and together we are learning so we can earn.

 

Current project?

It’s my first book… (closes face). Ok not first book like “First book I have ever written” because I have written more than a dozen books for authors scattered across different countries of the world.

My first book project was for a Canadian author who had an acute case of writers block. That was in September, 2016. I bought my first laptop with the money I made from that project and never looked back.

Ene Elizabeth Adeka’s  first official book however, will be “Marrying Johnson” and I’m excited about it because it is partly my story told through the life of Tola, a young Nigerian woman on a journey to find love and purpose. Like I said, I’m a sucker for love.

Advice for someone like me?

1. Go back to God.
2. Identify a skill you’re good at and can thrive in.
3. Gauge your competence and confidence level in that skill, find a mentor and unashamedly submit to their hammer.
4. Build a platform, community and profitable relationships around that skill and daily load them with benefits a.k.a value.
5. Convert skill to sellable product.

You’ll only be of much value to others as you have been to yourself.

The most important things in my life?

Faith, family, focus, food and many fastingsssss because too much of everything is bad.  I fast even writing sometimes. Lol.
 

Limits?

The future is aviation, the sky is my starting point. If you know, you know…lol!

 

Core values?

Honestly? Love God, love people, and love what you do. Be excellent and above all, be unique.

 

Let me encourage someone

When I was about to turn 22, I was hit by a quarter-life crisis. I felt small, totally useless and highly underachieved.

Do you feel like this is all you will ever be – a white paper with nothing written on it,  a canvas waiting for just the right amount of inspiration and motivation to start something?

Sometimes our lives are like my empty word document waiting to be filled up with the right amount of success, inspiration, achievements, people and love.

A great father, Ocholi Okutepa once told me that that dissatisfaction you feel now is good! It means you are no longer comfortable sitting in your comfort zone. It’s time to take that leap!

 

Last words for now?

Pursue Jesus and you’ll end up in purpose, you’ll only be of much value to others as you have been to yourself.

Also, acknowledge every good thing that is in you through Jesus Christ and finally, don’t admire my passion if you cannot practice my discipline.