09/03/2025
When I was a young lecturer at the University of Lagos, teaching Public Law, the department had three typists: the chief typist, the senior typist, and the junior typist.
Back then, before laptops and personal computers, typists were the backbone of academic work. Every lecture note, research paper, and official document had to be typed manually.
But here’s what I observed:
🔹 The chief typist disappeared when work piled up—strictly a 4 p.m. worker.
🔹 The senior typist? Nowhere to be found.
🔹 But the junior typist, a man named Adereni, with only a school certificate, was different. Hardworking. Dedicated. I often dropped him off at home at 1 a.m.
Years later, while serving as an adviser to the Attorney General of the Federation, I got a call from Hon. Bola Ajibola (who later became a judge at the World Court in The Hague).
He needed a diligent, hardworking secretary to assist with long legal judgments. I had three choices: chief typist, senior typist, or Adereni—the junior typist with just a school certificate.
I chose Adereni.
He went to The Hague, worked so diligently that every judge wanted him on their team. Eventually, he moved his family there, earned degrees, and built a successful life.
One day, he remembered me.
And sent me a car.
Lesson?
Someone is always watching.
Hard work never goes unnoticed.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo
