Osinbajo shares story of typist ‘who only had SSCE’ but now works at world court

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has shared on Twitter the inspiring story of a “hardworking typist” whose diligence landed him a job at the world court in The Hague, Netherlands.

According to Osinbajo, the typist “only had a senior secondary school certificate” but he approached his job with dedication and an unmatched commitment.

This, he said, motivated him to recommend him for the job at The Hague.

Osinbajo said he met the typist while he was a lecturer at the University of Lagos, adding that the man “one day remembered me” and gave him a car gift.

He wrote: “I turned 60 early this year. It was one of the greatest surprises I ever experienced. One minute I am 21 years old and the next, I am 60 years old.

“Permit me to share with you the story I shared at Lead City University a few days ago on some lessons I have learnt so far.”

I turned 60 early this year.
It was one of the greatest surprises I ever experienced. One minute I am 21 years old and the next, I am 60 years old.
Permit me to share with you the story I shared at Lead City University a few days ago on some lessons I have learnt so far. pic.twitter.com/7cC1sNZtIQ

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— Prof Yemi Osinbajo (@ProfOsinbajo) November 14, 2017

Continuing with the story, he wrote: “While I was teaching at the University of Lagos, as a young lecturer, in the department of Public Law in the Faculty of Law, there were 3 typists in the department.

“The chief typist, senior typist, and the junior typist. Because in those days before laptops and personal computers, typists in universities had to do a lot of work and they were very important because you always needed to type all your materials.

“When there was work to do, what l discovered was that the chief typist would disappear. He works only till 4 pm. The senior typist would be nowhere to be found.

“But a gentleman called Adereni the junior typist, who only had his school certificate, was remarkably hardworking. Sometimes I would drop him off at his home at 1am.

“Years after I was working as an adviser to the then Attorney-General of the Federation Hon. Bola Ajibola, who later became a judge of the World Court.

“While in the court at The Hague, in the Netherlands, one day he called me and asked if I could recommend a good secretary who is hard working and could do long judgments.

“I had three options, chief typist, senior or this junior typist, but the junior typist at a time had only school certificate, he didn’t have any other qualification but l choose him. He got to the Hague, and typically worked hard and diligently.

“Every judge in the court wanted him to work with them. He later moved his family over to the Hague and got degrees and made a good living for himself. One day he remembered me and actually sent me a car”.