Never Quite An Insider.
A Nigerian memoir.
Twenty years of running multiple businesses in Nigeria qualifies me to write an instructive memoir. Indeed, having blown the whistle on corruption in one multi-national, faced two years of threats and intimidation in the ‘wild east’ of Aba and then sought to change the course of one of Nigeria’s highest profile corporates, I believe I have insights that have value. Throw in some humour and a willingness to tackle controversial subjects and I present you with an unusual account of this misunderstood society and my love affair with it.
Building the friendship with Seun Kuti & crossing the generational divide in Nigeria.
In this last extract from the Lagos Book Launch I respond to a question about how the somewhat surprising relationship between a middle aged white man and the activist son of Fela Kuti came to be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohFoS2FOao All of these extracts and,...
“Is it a British thing to want to use colour to get your way?” – A Question from the house at the Launch of “NQTI”
There were some direct questions about race and colonialism at the Book launch in Lagos - as there were at the London event. In this excerpt I try to answer honestly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIDGWiOoxPI In the second excerpt I am asked whether Nigeria changed...
“People don’t understand when we talk about corruption …… No! It’s been one whole life struggle” Prof Wole Soyinka.
Continuing with a selection of clips from the launch of "NQTI" in Lagos. In this first one Prof is pushed by Kadaria to compare his experiences with my comments in the book. As always he speaks openly and directly. Kadaria then turns her attention on me!...
Why I was told never to drink the coffee in Guinness Nigeria: the poisoning saga. Extracts from the Lagos launch of NQTI
At the TerraCulture launch event in Lagos I was very fortunate that Kadaria Ahmed sent a Daria Media camera team led by Seun Adeleye and then my son Tom Richards was able to edit the footage. So, many thanks to them all. One of the pleasures of the Launches in both...
About
Keith Richards
A book. A Column, Another book. A blog. There is too much racism, injustice, environmental damage, hypocrisy and the like out there to stay silent. So I am not going to. Because I can – and I care enough to want to.
Read more →My book
Outsider Inside.
Having harboured a desire to write for half a lifetime, BusinessDay gave me the opportunity with a weekly column. In 2007 these comments on Nigerian business, politics and society were collected and published. Many of them are as relevant to day as they were then.
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