BACKGROUND

I am Engr Chiawolamoke Ihenwokeleme Orji, and was born 49 years ago, as the fourth child among eight children of Late Elder Herbert Orji and Late Mrs. Ugonwanyi Orji of Umuogele Umunna Nvosi in Isialangwa South Local Government Area of Abia State. My first name, Chiawolamoke, which means: “May God never refuse to give me my own portion/inheritance”, was given to me by my father when he was under serious stress, as the first child of a polygamous family of three wives of his father. My second name, Ihenwokeleme, which means: “things a man can do”, was given to me by my late grandmother when she was under mental stress, feeling that her rights as the first wife was being deprived just because she had no son (man); she had two daughters, and her only son died at a tender age, causing the husband to marry a second wife that gave birth to sons. My surname, Orji, means:”Iroko tree”, which is believed in my community (that is, according to ancient belief) to be the strongest tree, a tree that even the strongest wind cannot push down, except when the land had been desecrated, and the gods of the land was giving notice, by pushing the iroko tree down. People having Orji as a name feel that they cannot be overwhelmed by any challenge that humans can overcome. This philosophy is one of the reasons that compels me to accomplish any task that I decided to embark on, despite challenges that will follow it.

My father was a teacher and a technically inclined person, and I incidentally inherited some of his traits, which resulted in my being a teacher and also an Engineer. My parents were disciplinarians, honest and hardworking; they tried their best to inculcate these virtues into their children, I benefited so much from their training. During my teenage, when the “breeze” of youthful life was blowing at me from different directions, it was my parental upbringing that restrained me from exploring my youthful life in the dangerous areas of life.

I am happily married to a supportive wife, Mrs. Juliet Orji; our marital union has produced one boy and two girls whom we are trying our best to train to become responsible citizens. Many people are not comfortable with my having only one son, pressuring me to get another son; unknown to them, I had an agreement with my wife before marriage that we will have a maximum of three children, irrespective of their sexes; so even if they were all girls, three children is my maximum. Because of my educational background and wide exposure in life, I am one of those that have decided to differ from the local belief that male children are more valuable than their female counterpart; every child is an asset to the parents and the community at large, despite the sex, provided that such a child is given the necessary basic training to excel.

My wife is a Health Worker and has been very supportive in training our children and in taking care of the family expenses; without her support, I don’t know how things would have been in my family. Because of my own personal experience , I have been encouraging young ladies prospecting for husbands to acquire some ventures that will be yielding some money, either secular work, business establishments and/or skills, so as to make themselves more valuable in the family, especially in supporting their husbands in taking care of the family. Steemit is one of those ventures. For the prospective husbands, I am of the opinion that wives should be very supportive in many aspects of the family life, not only taking care of the kitchen and the “bedroom”, but being available in and capable of bailing the man out, when the man is financially distressed, JUST MY PERSONAL AND HUMBLE OPINION.

EDUCATION

After my primary and secondary educations, I went to Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) in Imo State where I had my Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) in Materials/Metallurgical Engineering (1998) and Master of Engineering (M.Eng) in Metallurgical Engineering (2010). To acquire this level of education was not easy, considering the financial constraints that is associated with it, a primary school teacher (my father) training eight children with ONLY the support from the wife who was a local farmer and petty trader. It was the determination fueled by the iroko tree philosophy that inspired me to continue to push ahead despite the discouraging challenges. People who were discouraging me from pursuing university education, because of the financial condition of my parents, were surprised when I graduated. I always encourage people around me not to allow themselves to be discouraged by other people who will not encourage them to purse their good passions and goals.

CAREER

I am a practical engineer, basically I am into foundry practices; with a registered company named COKEE FOUNDRIES LIMITED, producing a wide of products such as decorative items, science/laboratory items, engineering components, etc. The decorative items are used mostly by welders to decorate gates, handrails, fence rails, etc. The science/laboratory items we produce are retort stands, clamps, bossheads, pendulum bulbs, and weights. The engineering components are produced in line with specifications of our clients; we produce different types of aluminium clamps to be used in high tension substations, we produce metal moulds for plastic productions, etc. Below are some of my products :

DECORATIVE CASTINGS

SUBSTATION CLAMPS FOR HIGH TENSION ELECTRICAL C0NNECTIONS

RETORT STAND

I am also a lecturer in the department of Welding & Fabrication Technology of Abia State Polytechnic Aba, Abia State. I love teaching, helping people to know what will ultimately help them to be very useful to themselves and the community at large.

HOBBIES

I love reading, learning and researching in order to keep knowing new things . I am also happy when I teach and assist people to learn new things. In the area of sports, I am so much attracted to gymnastics, swimming and badmiton. I enjoy watching football when I am not busy with any activity, but will not sacrifice anything because of football. I remember one occasion when neighbours living around our residence then at 65 UKaegbu Road, Aba came to our parlour to watch football, while I was busy sleeping , and this infuriated my junior brother so much that he has to wake me up to join others, but I continued my sleep. I like watching good movies such as my favourite, “SOUND OF MUSIC” and films on nature and wild life.

FAVOURITE POSTS

I like reading posts that are educative and informative, especially if it is inclined towards nature, health, and/or technology. I like natural ways to improve our well being and health conditions. I hope to make a vital contribution in capacity development by creating posts for tutoring those interested in engineering and technology (engineering practitioners & enthusiasts) some basic practical tips, such as DIY (DO IT YOURSELF).

MY REASON FOR JOINING STEEMIT

I have been following the trends in crypto business, but have not been able to explore it until now that I want to do so through steemit. I learnt about steemit through my sister, Amarachi Emeka @marajah. I appreciated the guidelines from @samuel20 and @cryptokannon in the writing of this post. I love exploring new horizons in life in order to learn and make my contributions; that is the reason I joined Steemit. It is my heartfelt desire to join this expanding community, so that TOGETHER WE CAN STEEM IT TO THE HIGHEST HEIGHT. .