Ikeja Bookshops

02/06/2019

Rich collection of books

14/09/2018

The Lagos taxi driver mentality finds expression in the poor quality customer service from both private and public service providers, who carry on like they are doing the consumer a favour. It finds expression in the lackadaisical attitude in government, at the different levels, operating with analogue mind-sets in the age of artificial intelligence.

We can hardly ride the new wave with the outdated Lagos taxi driver model.

13/09/2018

To some, China’s intentions in Africa may not be “completely altruistic, they are also not completely exploitative” but one of mutual reinforcement, even if both parties might not be completely satisfied. But that is the nature of international relations. It is all about interests, which are dynamic in form and content, with trade-offs always a part of the bargain. It is up to each party to ensure that its interests are secured and find the means to maximise benefits from the relationship.

Africa-China relations leans more in the direction of a partnership with prospects than one of colonialism.

03/09/2018

There is really nothing new to newbies running for office of the president in Nigeria, just to make the point, as some seem to argue for, at the moment. Each of the previous elections has featured dozens of new – young and not-too-young faces, some running multiple times. So many outsiders who people do not know their names have run in the past. There is a litany of past presidential candidates who ran as outsiders, when they were even younger than some of the aspirants of today. There is really nothing new or different in what we are witnessing now. What we lack is that willingness to learn from mistakes made by others in the past in building our future.

If indeed the battle is for the soul of the nation and tomorrow, it should inevitably lead one in the direction of pragmatism for 2019.

15/08/2018

in the digital age, created by The JournalismClinic, which vision is to raise the next generation of first-rate Nigerian journalists, is graciously sponsored by Fidelity Bank Plc, as part of its commitment to supporting excellence. This form is intended for you to show cause why y...

11/06/2018

We need to stop deceiving ourselves and letting them deceive us. We have all it will take to build this nation and make it great. We must see the marketers of hate for who they are and isolate them. “A cat performing ablution is only planning to steal a piece of the meat”, M.K.O Abiola used to say.

Those who deny the day and what it symbolises waste their time.

08/01/2018

As far back as 2016, the NNPC had instituted what it calls the direct sale of crude oil and direct purchase of products (DSDP) contracts, a sort of swap through which it exchanges about 300,000 barrels per day from the 445,000 barrels per day, which it receives, with some companies for imported products – petrol, diesel, kerosene. For the year 2017 round, following an intense bid which involved 224 bidders, 39 companies were said to have been initially chosen but another account claimed that the list was eventually pruned to 10, with each of the 10 oil traders/refineries partnering local Nigerian companies to win 33,000 barrels per day allocations in exchange for products.

One does not know what to make of what is playing out there.

06/12/2017

Yet sadly, increasingly, some shallow and intemperate voices are beginning to dominate discourse in the polity, especially in the social media space, as it appears that some of the sane and moderate voices are beginning to tactically withdraw from this space as it increasingly becomes polluted by shallow partisanship, impolitic conduct and discourteous engagement. Some are so unbelievably loud, yet empty, that one cannot but fear for tomorrow as they pollute the space, even when they have no knowledge of history or context to properly situate their speech or writing.

Perhaps, there is a tomorrow beyond yesterday, even if we cannot see it. We can create it. We should create it.

28/11/2017

Citizens are guaranteed the right to BASIC STATE-FUNDED education and access to BASIC HEALTH-CARE services: “The State must take all practical measures to promote (a) free and compulsory basic education for children… The State must take appropriate, fair and reasonable measures to ensure that NO PERSON IS REFUSED EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT at any health institution.”
Also provided for is that: “Every person living with a CHRONIC illness has the RIGHT to have access to basic healthcare services for the illness.”

Zimbabwe has a good document here.

17/11/2017

We have excluded the poor, the weak, the disabled and the vulnerable from the mainstream, the bridge between them and official life largely broken, with their backs bent, trying to make sense of life. We have excluded the creative spirits, artists, scientists and innovators from the centre, locking up the space against creativity and innovation. We are busy excluding others on the basis of ethnicity, religion, political party and whatever else catches our fancy. Yet our strength is our diversity and what we make of it is what will determine our future. Can we not see that our salvation lies with inclusion and not exclusion?

Can we not see that our salvation lies with inclusion and not exclusion?

28/10/2017

Good to preach voluntary declaration, but how much can we reasonably expect from the bottom, weighed down by a lack of support, if the progressive model functions as it should. Those on annual income below £11,500 in the United Kingdom do not pay tax. In France, citizens pay tax only if they earn above €5,963 yearly, while it is €5,165 in Spain and €8,354 in Germany. In South Africa, tax is not paid on an income of less than 5000 rands and one does not even have to register a business until it hits 1 million rands in value. So seeking to widen the net is one, a clear policy framework that accommodates and protects small businesses and those at the bottom will generate trust and buy-in from the people.

The question is how can we make voluntary tax declaration and payment a way of life and culture, starting from the very bottom?

03/10/2017

It is not until you meet Dr. Christopher Kolade in person, that things will fall in place and you are able to conclusively tell what it was about Cadbury and the staff then. Their dedication to work, commitment to excellence, the high values which they stood for, their keen sense of integrity, the self-confidence they exuded, could all to be found in that one man. That polite, no-nonsense attitude and fidelity to properly conducting oneself is what you will find in CK. The self-assurance in their gait is from him. That all-round comportment that set apart the Cadbury Boys and Girls is from Dr. Kolade. He largely personifies and embodies what we saw and felt that we could not decode then.

As Dr. Kolade himself put it, “the real test of what you have done is the people who have experienced you.”