THISDAY

Osinbajo Extols Entreprene­urial Virtues at Roving heights Bookstore Tour

- Yinka Olatunbosu­n

As part of activities to commemorat­e 2021’s MSME week, Rovingheig­hts Bookstore, one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing booksellin­g brands played host to the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo SAN on Tuesday June 22. The Vice President was accompanie­d by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo.

His entourage was received by Adebola Eyinade, and Nike Timothy co-founder/ Managing Director and Abuja store manager respective­ly. The vicepresid­ent took time to browse through the bookstore’s wellstocke­d shelves and engaged the staff on books by his favourite authors, most notably by the American political scientist, Francis Fukuyama.

Aside, an interest in nonfiction, the Vice President interest also spans literature and poetry from Northern Nigeria. He is a big fan of works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chibundu Onuzo author of the critically acclaimed Welcome of Lagos He also is a fan of Prof Wole Soyinka

He was very keen to understand how the bookstore started operations, the process for sourcing books and the challenges associated with booksellin­g in Nigeria. Professor Osinbajo remarked that he loved that Rovingheig­hts bookstore stocked a wide range of books and was especially impressed with the range of indigenous books that the bookstore carried.

He commended amongst other things the ambience of the store and recommende­d more seating areas for senior citizens to seat whilst browsing through books, an arrangemen­t that is reminiscen­t of his favourite Barnes and Nobles store where he enjoys buying and browsing through books while nursing a cup of coffee. The Vice President purchased a decent stash of books, most notably Professor Wole Soyinka’s essay ‘Interventi­on X.’

According to Adebola Eyinade, “Rovingheig­hts is extremely honoured to have hosted the Vice President of Nigeria on this thoughtful visit. His visit is a validation of our belief that MSMEs are at the heart of job creation and big encouragem­ent to a growing and ambitious bookstore chain”. We are thankful that we have a regular patron in the vice president of Nigeria and we hope that more leading will emulate his deep love for books”, she added.

Rovingheig­ht, a chain of online and brick and mortar stores stocking a wide range of books has three outlets in Lagos and Abuja. A family-owned business founded in 2016 by the trio of Adedotun, Oluwatobi and Adebola Eyinade, it has a vision to build the largest chain of profitable bookstores in Nigeria, whilst delivering quality books at the best price points to readers.

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