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Colleagues think this is shaping up to become a high-impact article. Difficult to disagree with this 10-tweet thread on the insights derived from the article by this Crown-commissioned report on UK construction industry and the resilience of its contracts 👇🏾
1. Our partner @dejitoye's article for @unibolawreview continues to extend its influence on the landscape of contract law & economics. It is extensively cited/quoted in this signal report on post-pandemic resilience of UK building sector contracts. @PROTECT_NCS @AshtonInstitute
"Chinese are Confucians at work, Daoists at leisure and Buddhist at death."
... and Maoists in national identity, as that young footballer is about to find out.
Considering the only tribalism the average Nigerian can recognise is the one targeting their own group, nothing Brazil can teach here. Will produce no different outcome--certainly no redeeming one--than the well-funded radicalising YouTube channels the past 10-15years.
An NYT review of J.P. and Ebun Ckark's PEC Repertory Theatre in 1985.
PEC, along with Ajo Festival and Chuck Mike's Performance Studio Workshop, held the door open for theatre goers and performers in Lagos from 80s to early 90s. Ajo, funded by Fred Agbeyegbe, is 40 this year.
"The PEC Rep was established by J.P. Clark and wife Ebun to try out the repertory theatre tradition in Nigeria. Using the subscription model, the well-connected Clarks had enlisted a circle of Lagos elite to subscribe to seasons in advance"
#RIP_JPClark
chimurengachronic.co.za/the-…
Nigerian political behaviour is hyper-cyclical. Even intra-party transitions often end in drastic policy reversals (e.g. OBJ/YarAdua, Buhari/Tinubu). So, when you manage to build a broad coalition, you can choose to spend it on, say, 3rd term agenda, or deeper structural reforms.
deji toye retweeted
And I say these as someone who is a student of Movements and believes in the importance of solidarity to movement-building. But honest movements are not built on fads and the aggressive idiosyncrasies of dominant--and the loudest--segments of the population.
Olówó yìí jọ̀wọ́
Òtòṣì ń bẹ̀ ẹ́!
Money na water!
On this @NafdacAgency war on fake drugs, publicity can only be useful to build public coalition for structural changes in our pharm chain. NAFDAC must take leadership here too. 2 proposals to start with: phasing out open market warehousing & unprofessionalised patent med stores.
deji toye retweeted
From Spare Parts to Smart Rides: The GIGM Story
The Big Bus Era
— It's 1997 in Nigeria, and interstate travel means one thing, huge 59-seater "luxurious" buses that people used to move goods, visit their hometowns and make cross-country trips.
— The big names, ABC, Chisco and Young Shall Grow, ran luxury buses for long journeys and medium-sized buses for shorter ones.
A Spare Parts Dealer's Contrarian Bet
— Edwin Ajaere, a spare parts dealer in Benin City. He and his wife Stella founded God is Good Motors in 1998 to run bus services across Nigerian cities.
— His bet went against the crowd, GIGM became the first to use 14-seater buses for every trip. Smaller buses filled faster and left sooner, so people weren't stuck waiting hours at the park.
— The name helped too; one writer noted it struck a chord with Africans because it was simple and its message was hard to argue with.
Tragedy Strikes
— In 2009, Edwin Ajaere was kidnapped and killed. His first son, Chidi, only 21, came home from Canada, where he was studying at Niagara College, to take over the business.
— His mother Stella became President of the board. A 21-year-old inheriting a transport company in that market could easily have been the end of the story.
The Son Who Rebuilt Everything
—Instead, Chidi tore it down and rebuilt it. He moved the company away from its offline, legacy way of operating and led a rebrand.
— GIGM grew into what was called Nigeria's most technologically advanced road transport company, with the country's first top-down transport management system, 600 buses and over 2,000 staff.
Why "Motors" Became "Mobility"
— In 2019, the name changed to GIG Mobility. The COO explained that "Motors" boxed them into road transport, while "mobility" covers every form of movement.
— That same year they launched in Ghana.
The Next Chapter: Beyond the Bus
— This April, under CEO Dr Enahoro Okhae, GIGM hosted its first product conference in Lagos and unveiled Hire X, a ride-hailing and vehicle hire service, and PASS, a travel and tour platform.
— Okhae recalled how the company went from moving passengers between Benin and Lagos to running over 40 terminals across Nigeria. The goal now is a full digital mobility ecosystem, with AI built into everything they do.
The video tells more story 👇👇👇👇👇
Video Credit: Thecommaeffect
deji toye retweeted
ASUU-Govt negotiations almost recall this Lawande cartoon in @daily_trust from 2003, satirising FGN vs. Labour negotiations of the time.
ALT (c) deji toye- cartoon published in Daily Trust newspaper in 2003.
Removing the Mogaji is not even as gangster as the entire ẹbi/agbole being named after you. There are surnames today that came from a matriarch of the family.
Dear Mother,
I wish I could send you money for your arthritis medicine. But you first have to change the government next year. Only then can you expect a resumption of my upkeep support. Until then, you'll have to bear with me, and the pain.
Your son,
Comrade Ajantala
University of Ife--like ABU--was such a crazy Marxist hotbed in the 70s. In 1979, Dele Giwa visited--in suit and Benz. They called him a bourgeois journalist, whereupon he took them to the hovel he grew up in, in town, obviously to let them know he didn't plan to return there!
No true warrior only ever advances without once retreating--Yoruba proverb
Of all the lessons on life I have encountered in fiction, this passage remains my favourite:
“It is praiseworthy to be brave and fearless, my son, but sometimes it is better to be a coward. We often stand in the compound of a coward to point at the ruins where a brave man used to live. The man who has never submitted to anything will soon submit to the burial mat.”
— Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God, p. 11.
deji toye retweeted
I think Dave's concerts on Friday and Saturday would have been a perfect opportunity for LAMATA to do a big Blue Line push. Pay staff a premium for working extended hours. Show people (before December) that it's a seamless way to get home after a show at National Theatre
