Laila
ObiagwuKnown as Laila Ijeoma
Laila Ijeoma is a Nigerian blogger and the founder of Lailasnews, the news site that started life in 2013 as Laila’s Blog. A chemical engineering graduate, she spent about ten years in banking and opened her blog from her office desk before quitting her job in June 2016, the month her blog paid her three times her bank salary. Her site broke the news of Toke Makinwa’s secret wedding to Maje Ayida in January 2014, and in 2018 she rebranded it from a gossip blog into a news platform.
| Nationality | Nigerian |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Blogger, founder of Lailasnews |
| Hometown | Owerri, Imo State |
| Website | Lailasnews.com (formerly Laila's Blog, 2013) |
| Education | Federal University of Technology Owerri, Chemical Engineering (2005) |
| Children | Three sons |
Biography
She is from Owerri, the Imo State capital, according to her Facebook profile. Women of Rubies, which named her among Nigeria’s top female social media influencers in January 2017, gave her full name as Laila Ijeoma Obiagwu. Many readers search for her as “Lailas Ijeoma”, but that spelling comes from her blog’s name; her own accounts use Laila Ijeoma.
She was a science student who secretly wanted to work in the media. Speaking on Plus TV Africa’s 101 programme in July 2019, she said she finished secondary school in 2000 with top grades in chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics and Igbo. When she filled her university admission form, she picked mass communication.
Her father talked her out of it. “He knew I was good with sciences, so he advised me to do engineering,” she said on Plus TV Africa. She studied chemical engineering at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) and graduated in 2005.
Career
Banking
Banking found her during national youth service. At the NYSC orientation camp, she said, more than 500 corps members sat a bank’s aptitude test and the bank picked only four of them, including her. The bank kept her on after service, and she stayed in the industry for about ten years.
She did well there but never felt settled, because media was still the plan. “I have this passion for telling stories,” she told Plus TV Africa.
Starting Laila’s Blog
A new colleague changed her path. He had been a technology blogger before joining the bank, and in 2012 he showed her his blog and then Linda Ikeji‘s blog, with its busy comment sections. She saw the outlet she had been looking for and opened her own blog there in the office that same day, she said.
Laila’s Blog went live as LailasBlog.com in January 2013, according to Women of Rubies. It covered Nigerian news, celebrity gossip, fashion, lifestyle and politics, and it grew fast. Its biggest early scoop came in January 2014. When Toke Makinwa and Maje Ayida married quietly at a Lagos registry on January 15, 2014, BellaNaija reported that “the news was unveiled on Laila’s Blog.”
She also learned the hard side of the job. “It can be a little bit toxic,” she said of her comment sections, where strangers would argue with her and with each other.
Leaving the bank in 2016
For four years she ran the blog alongside her bank job. By 2016 she was head of her unit at work, a wife and a mother of three boys, while readers expected fresh stories every morning. Then the money tipped the balance. That month, she told Plus TV Africa, the blog “actually paid me three times what my bank salary pays me.”
She had already saved a full year’s salary before she resigned. Her boss asked her to stay one more month; she offered one week instead, and her last day was June 30, 2016. She said the move was about feeling fulfilled, not about money.
From Laila’s Blog to Lailasnews
In 2018 she renamed the site Lailasnews. Her Facebook profile lists her as founder and CEO of Lailasnews.com from January 10, 2018, and the site’s X account, @_lailasnews, opened in February 2018. She said the change came from the “fake news” label that followed Nigerian bloggers.
The rebrand came with new rules for her team. Every story had to be confirmed with the people involved or with a reliable source, and any claim against a person stayed “alleged” until a court ruled on it. “There are always three sides to a story,” she said. Her advice to new bloggers was blunt: “No amount of money is gonna make you publish a false story against anybody.”
TV appearances and talks
She has shared her story on television several times. In June 2019 she appeared on Channels TV to discuss social media and fake lifestyles, and in July 2019 she sat with host Elsie Godwin on Plus TV Africa’s series on digital marketers. In November 2019 she was a speaker on a “Blogging for a Living” panel at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Victoria Island, Lagos, alongside Ono Bello and Elsie Godwin.
Personal Life
Laila is married and has three sons. She spoke about her family on Plus TV Africa in 2019, saying her husband and sons came first when she had to choose between banking and blogging. Her family, she said, was the one responsibility she could not trade away.
She keeps her husband and children out of public view. Her verified Instagram account, @lailaijeoma, has about 82,000 followers and more than 20,900 posts, though its most recent post dates from November 3, 2019. Lailasnews.com is still running in 2026, with its X account, @_lailasnews, at about 18,500 followers.
Timeline
2000: She finishes secondary school with top science grades.
2005: She graduates in chemical engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri.
2006: She joins a bank after its aptitude test at the NYSC camp picks her among four corps members.
2012: A colleague introduces her to blogging, and she opens her first blog at her desk.
January 2013: Laila’s Blog launches at LailasBlog.com.
January 15, 2014: Toke Makinwa and Maje Ayida marry quietly; the news first appears on Laila’s Blog.
June 30, 2016: She leaves banking to blog full time.
January 2017: Women of Rubies lists her among Nigeria’s top female social media influencers.
January 10, 2018: She becomes founder and CEO of the rebranded Lailasnews.com.
February 2018: The @_lailasnews X account opens.
June 5, 2019: She appears on Channels TV to talk about social media and fake lifestyles.
July 4, 2019: Plus TV Africa airs her interview on leaving banking for blogging.
November 9, 2019: She speaks at the “Blogging for a Living” panel in Lagos.
2026: Lailasnews.com is still publishing Nigerian news.
Net Worth
Laila Ijeoma’s income comes from Lailasnews, through display advertising, sponsored posts and paid publicity, plus fees for appearances and talks. In 2016 she said the blog was already earning three times her bank salary each month. The site’s current revenue and the value of the business are not public, so we do not publish a net worth figure for her.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the owner of Lailasnews?
Laila Ijeoma founded it. It began as Laila’s Blog in January 2013 and became Lailasnews in 2018, with Laila as founder and CEO.
Is it Laila Ijeoma or Lailas Ijeoma?
Her name is Laila Ijeoma. “Lailas” comes from the blog’s name, Laila’s Blog, which later became Lailasnews.
Where is Laila Ijeoma from?
She is from Owerri in Imo State, and she studied at the Federal University of Technology Owerri.
When did Laila Ijeoma quit banking?
She left her bank job on June 30, 2016, after about ten years in banking and four years of blogging part time.
Is Laila Ijeoma married?
Yes. She is married and has three sons.
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