Man-Must-Wack: Life and Career of University of Lagos Pioneer Vendor

Abstract

The newspaper has been a part of the intellectual culture of the University of Lagos since its inception in 1962. The history of the institution will therefore remain largely incomplete without the documentation of the activities of the vendor who dominated the landscape for more than twenty five years. This paper attempts to highlight the life and career of Mr. Philip Nwadigwu Abasiri, popularly known as Man-Must-Wack. His experience in Onitsha and Lagos in the 1940s illustrates some of the key issues in rural-urban drift which is still a major problem in Nigeria today. He started selling his newspapers in the University in 1964 and the business expanded with the evolution of the faculties. By the time he retired from active business in the late 1980s, he had planted two of his sons in the business. The paper also highlights how the personal characteristics and trade techniques that ensured his success as a vendor can be harnessed to reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria.