Lasun's Pen

" Nearly all the men in Lagos are mad " is the title of a book by an author named Damilare Kuku . I haven't had the chance to read the book and that might be a mistake because the title itself is a perfect description of the state of mental health of the Nigerian population. I don't need to read the book to know the author is absolutely spot on though and one can easily substitute "Lagos" for any city, state or demographic in the country, for that matter. Nearly everyone in Nigeria is mad! Nearly all the employees of Erisco foods are mad. From the CEO to the janitor, because you have to be mentally disturbed to see an innocent, harmless, organic first hand customer review of a product that bear your company name and logo and decide the appropriate next line of action is to arrest the young woman who made the review. Customer reviews are treasured, sort after and in many cases, paid for. One of the things I personally hate doing is leaving reviews...

I spend the vast majority of my time alone so I have a lot of thoughts. Many times, I wonder if people unborn have access to those of us down here and what their thoughts are. I imagine an unborn looking down at a person on earth and wondering how much of a "screw up" they are. I think of them musing to themselves how well their lives would be if they had our talents, opportunities and privileges. How successful they will be if presented with a similar chance to try out as human beings. Sometimes, I wonder if they go up to God and beg for a chance to be born; "just give me half of the privilege this guy have and see how much impact I'd make" I imagine they say to the Almighty. Sometimes, I wonder if that's how some of us got here. I wonder if that's how I got here.  Life is a privilege, every waking hour is a privileged borrowed time but like every privilege, it's value and appreciation diminish with time and access. That's why some m...

Now that we've all had more than a few hours to digest what happened in Milwaukee last night, it's time to dive into the substance of the debate and dissect what we learnt and if any tangible, new information was presented to sway voters going into the Iowa caucuses.  I continue to believe in the importance of a healthy debate as a bedrock of democracy. If the will of the majority must be enforced on all, the least we can ask is that the people be well educated on the character, ideologies, policy proposals and execution plans of the candidate who present themselves for office.  So, how well did the candidates plead their cases last night?  1. Doug Burgum. The governor got in the race very late and leading up to the debate, hasn't made much of a splash. Let's be honest, establishment candidates who believe in old school conservative politics and inspired by Ronald Reagan are a dying breed in today's Republican party. They have no home, no tangible base o...

The people who nicknamed Buhari "Ahab" thought they were onto something. Like the regular Nigerian reaction to everything, they conjured jokes to describe a gory situation. "Ahab", the wicked king, as recorded in the Bible, was a perfect illustration of what the Buhari regime represented. A repressive and backward administration void of the fear God or a decent appreciation of the dignity of human life. A despot who surrounded himself with advisers who are just as cruel and had no good intentions for the people they were elected to serve.  While the Ahab comparison may have been true and the "X" (formerly called Twitter) takes hilarious, there's a less popular, more painful truth the people missed - Ahab was succeeded by His son Jehoram, who, although was slightly less evil than His predecessor was also a catastrophic disaster for the people. This piece is not necessarily seeking to give Bible lessons or draw long parallels, rather, it'...

                    Vivek Ramaswamy                         Pete Buttigieg   Vivek Ramaswamy and Pete Buttigieg have a few things in common; they're young, energetic, brilliant rising stars in American politics. They have amazing ideas for both the future of their parties and the country and every reasonable person can, at least, take a second look at their ideas and not dismiss it out of hand. They both have very difficult to pronounce last names and very soon, will be called "former Presidential candidate". They have each decided to travel through one of the two main routes to the peak of American politics; public service and business and arguably very successful at their chosen fields and that is where the differences start. To succeed in America, or at least, to fit within the Cinderella story of the romanticized American dream, you must eit...

When considering a marketing campaign strategy for your brand/product, one of the most important things to pay attention to is a long term plan. Beyond short term gains and immediate gratifications, it is important to play the long game and look at a sustainable way to keep your product in people's minds. Too often, people are interested in quick trends and attention and while that is a good way to launch, it's usually not enough to keep users coming back! I personally prefer looking beyond what is trending now and instead, focus on getting a voice for your brand, something unique to you. While you can pursue jumping on trends later, what you have established for yourself and the community you build around your brand will stick longer. Think of some brands who launched with so much fanfare and internet giveaways and ask yourself where they are now. A lot of them quickly faded with the trend they hopped on. Unless you're trying to build a brand to last a couple d...