`Terrence Benjamin Chukwu is young but very dynamic. He runs the T.Ben Media Network. In this interview with our Reporter, Lucy Eazee, he talks about his other passion; to develop a social media that will rival the Facebook. Enjoy this interesting interview.
Outside the person everybody is familiar with; who really are you?
I am an optimistic person, with so much ideas and determination to change the minds of Nigerians, particularly youths who are today lacking of headship icons to emulate.
How was growing up like?
Growing up was fun but later became tough due to some challenges. I was born in France, the first of three children. We came to Nigeria when I was eight years old and things weren’t working well for my parents in France. Back home it was challenging completing my secondary school education. From my last days in secondary school; Blessed Comprehensive School, Port-Harcourt, River State till date, I have been doing things on my own without any support from anyone. I saw myself through University, went to London to study for two years and later came back to Nigeria to work for my country. I just thank God for making me a better person today and for using me to bless people.
What are some of these ideas that you have in mind for the youth?
I am a media person and I have a radio talk show, ‘The Real Mind with T.Ben’. This is a motivational, empowerment and an entrepreneurship talk show for the youths. And my programme has a lot to do with helping people to unlock the secret of success. It’s all about reorienting and educating the minds of our Nigerian youths, because success is all about the individual’s mindset. Without a positive mindset you can never be successful, which goes a long way to bring us to Gross Mental Attitude (GMA) and the Gross Mental Output (GMO). Like you know, our mindset and perception of things here in Nigeria is quite different from the Western world, so I’m ready to use my platform (‘The Real Mind with T.Ben) to change the orientation of African youths especially those of them that have lost hope. Life is all about planning and working hard towards the future.
Before going into the Media, what were you previously into?
I was in U.K between 2007 and 2009. I discovered a whole number of things that motivated my coming back home, I noticed people don’t have confidence in themselves. Many of them have the capability but no directions; some even have directions but no financial support. So I want to use this opportunity to educate them and prove that we’ve got all it takes to have the best social media in Nigeria, and that is what my vision is built on. I don’t want to sound like I am proud but the new social network I am about to launch for Nigerian youths will be far better than Twitter, Face book, Badoo and the rest of them, because I have so many unique features on my own platform that they do not have.
You appear passionate about the Nigerian youths. Are you married?
I am very much single and searching for the right woman who is sincere.
Have you ever been in love or in any meaningful relationship?
Yes, I was once in love but my heart was broken. After the experience, I focused on my new project which is the new social network I’m about to start on. For me, is all about business and not women, maybe someday I may think of settling down but now, all I’m interested in is adding value to lives.
What is the name of the new social network you are about to launch and what makes you think Nigerians will benefit more from it?
It is called Moogle, just like that name Google. And we have made a lot of researches and plans to make it different from others. There are also a lot of preparations on ground; we have the information Technologies {IT) experts who are working seriously around the clock. We have also mapped out every possibility of reaching the market and meeting our target audience. We have all it takes to mitigate the stress of paying so much on the internet for adverts because we want to assist people. But we need people to buy into our project and we will become one of the best social networks in the world.
Social networks have exposed some of our youths to advanced crimes and corruptions. What makes you think yours will impact positively into their lives more than the existing ones?
Well corruption is everywhere. The truth is that, most of the Social Networks do not prohibit children or youths from signing in. For instance, let’s talk about 2GO. Today, most children are on this social site without the knowledge of their parents same is true of Face book. Many of our youths have face book identities and do all kinds of deceitful activities with foreigners on the same site.
My own social network is going to be totally different because I have created a platform where by children, youths and everybody on the sites can be protected. Secondly, we have security codes as well as processes before being properly accessed. For instance, if you put your age specification on the set, it automatically redirects you to a page where you will meet your age grades and feed you with good information that will benefit you.
The site has been programmed to work with the different age groups. So if you are a child, it automatically pushes you to a page where information of the people within your age range is located. So everything has been structured for our users, especially the Nigerian youths because we want to add value to their lives.
I am not doing it for myself but for others to be touched and changed. I am also doing it to have a better name for our country. If we have something that is better than Face book, it would go a long way in helping to grow and stabilize our economy. So, our vision isn’t to show off but; to add value to lives.
What are some of the challenges you encountered when you started?
There are so many challenges but I see them as ladders to achieving greater heights. I am too positive minded to be afraid or put down by challenges. The only one we have currently is lack of investors, we do not have investors and we want to launch our social network by March or April. So all we need now is finance on the platform and everything will be set.
What turns you on and off?
Lies, I hate it when people do not tell me the truth and I like it when people are real and sincere to me.