In this interview, Akindamola Akintola from the HH People editorial team, sat with Ose — lawyer, tech enthusiast, self-proclaimed geopolitical analyst, and unofficial bunker gatekeeper — to talk about everything from drums of war to Netflix titles. Given that World War III is a trending topic and ‘Labubu’ dolls are now an emotional support system, Ose walks us through how he’s keeping his head above water (and keeping certain people out of his hypothetical war bunker).
Spoiler alert: He’s not a fan of Suits but might just be the Nigerian version of Better Call Saul. Dive in for laughs, insights, and a no-holds-barred take on surviving modern chaos — one court case, conspiracy theory, and coping mechanism at a time.
AA for HH People: Hello Ose, it’s so nice to have you on HH People today. Thanks for coming into the chat. A lot of things are happening in the world right now, we have war. We have killings, kidnappings, political actions and inactions. There’s japa and japada, cybersecurity threat. Last week, like 16 billion passwords got leaked. And then there’s also AI that everyone is trying to deal with. People are beginning to confuse what’s not real with what is. Out of all these things, what recent global events shook you the most and why?
OU: For me, it has to be recent happenings in geopolitics especially Israel’s attack on Iran. Basically. I find it weird that an attack of that kind should be based on the pretext that Iran is creating nuclear weapons. From what I read, this has been the gist since the 90s. Iran has in quote “been building nuclear weapons” for a very long time now and they are always only a few months away from having a nuclear weapon.
Apart from the whole exchange of missiles and all that, why it really is an issue for me is oil prices and the global effect.
Iran has control of an area of the world called the Straits of Hormuz, where I think 20-something percent of the world’s oil passes through, and they can wake up one morning and decide to block it.
When things this this happen, it makes you want to sit up and question what your position is individually and as a country. But honestly, it feels like a lot of the ongoing wars are basically just to massage ego and grease pockets. If I had some extra change I would probably buy some oil stocks right now.
AA for HH People: With everything going on, how are you coping personally? How do you keep hope alive in a world that seems to be constantly unravelling? How do you keep it together?
OU: This same world that currently has wars going on is also witnessing mega-technological innovations that make life easier. That’s the balance of things. I tend to tell myself that, yes, they’re parts of the world falling to pieces – Ukraine is having its entire system broken down, Palestinians are having their entire reality broken down. There are people in America having immigration issues, and people in Benue being killed – but there’s also AI and other technological advancements that are making my life much easier. I tend to tell myself this and it’s a little bit selfish, to be honest.
My trick also is to just fall into work. Basically, I just try to keep myself as busy as possible and try not to dwell too much on them because when you dwell on these thoughts, it’s very easy to fall into depression.
AA for HH People: Let’s just imagine that World War Three starts. What’s the first thing you’re going to do?
OU: I’ll pull out all my money into cash. Because I believe the finance systems will be the first to go. I’ll pull up my investments. I’ll pull up everything and hold cash. Cash will become useless at some point too, but not immediately.
As infrastructures go to dust, the technologies that support the current financial systems we are used to will become non-functional. ATMs and mobile apps will stop working. So, I have to say, hold on to cash instance. It’ll be important to stay liquid financially.
AA for HH People: Do you think you have any skill sets or unconventional skills that will be valuable to you during a war period?
OU: Well, well, I think so. My skill sets are pretty much having the ability to understand what is happening. I have a very fine understanding of geopolitics, the economy and the nuances behind the causes of the distress. Physically though, I really can’t think of any right now.
I’m not too sure if being a lawyer helps. I would not be able to negotiate a contract because, in contracts, there’s something called Faux Majeure, which is basically saying that the contract will cease to be useful, or the things engaged in will be paused if war breaks out. So even my contracting skills will be of no use to anybody at that point in time. I know how to run very fast though. Lol.
AA for HH People: So, imagine that in this kind of situation, you are able to secure yourself a bunker. Is there anyone who will definitely not be allowed into your bunker?
OU: This is this guy that used to be a friend of mine from university. He betrayed me in a very nasty way. He’s not in Nigeria anymore. But if for some ungodly reason he happens to be in Nigeria at any point in a situation like this, he definitely won’t get in. I’ve not been able to forgive the fact that he cheated me, slandered my name for no reason, and all the while pretended to be my friend. The last time I saw him was a hangout. At the time I had found out some of the things he had done. So, I confronted him, and he was shocked because I had details. I told him you did this, did that, did this. And he had this look on his face like he could not deny it.
By the time I got home from the hangout he had blocked me everywhere
So, yeah, I think he is that one person I would not allow in a bunker.
AA for HH People: As an adult, what is the biggest battle that you’ve personally had to fight?
OU: OK, that is a very easy question. Finding my feet after school. Growing up, studying law was a big thing. Just like studying to be a doctor, engineer or accountant. I tend to admire those people who can break out of the profession they studied. Like a doctor or lawyer who ends up not practising. I respect them because it takes a lot of courage to be able to amass this thing that changes your entire worldview keep it aside and then take on a new challenge. I wasn’t able to do that.
I went to Uni, did law school, and then I served. When I came back to Lagos. It was a different ball game. Lagos is particularly savage when it comes to law practice.
They are very serious here. They don’t joke. I was confused for like 6 months.
I was getting berated and insulted. Someone even asked “Did you even study in school? Are you sure your certification is not fake?” I was insulted by my boss. I was in court in front of my junior. There were several times when I said I wanted to quit law altogether, but the truth is I was too cowardly to do even that.
There was one time I was in court and this Federal High Court judge. I won’t mention his name, but this man dressed me down. This was two years into practice and the worst part of it was that one of my juniors in school, a girl I used to chase after, was in court that day. This Judge gave me a lecture for like 15 minutes. Everybody was looking at me like, “Boy, you don’t know what you’re doing.” Then he went on about how young people are not learning as they should. You know all of that. And by the time I was done with my case that day, I was leaving court, and I could not look at that girl. I just walked straight out. Never heard from her again.
But I stayed curious, picked myself up, and got my confidence back. I studied and focused on the technology niche – something I had a core interest in. With knowledge comes confidence. I re-educated myself, still related to law, but an aspect of it that resonated better with me.
I don’t know this for everybody, but my confidence is tied to my ability to know.
To understand something, if I don’t know or cannot articulate a particular thing, my confidence in that thing will drop.
AA for HH People: What is your escapism? What do you do when things crash? What’s your version of self-care in an overwhelming moment?
OU: Well, it depends on the moment. I try to switch off after office hours. During office hours, I work all through because if you do not work all through the office hours, you will have to do more work outside of these hours. So, my trick is to just stay locked in during office hours and then outside office hours I have either relatively less to do or nothing to do at all. I also watch movies. Play games, video games.
I’m not much of a party person, but I like to hang out with friends. I call my guys up and we just go out somewhere in the evening and just chill. I’m a Liverpool FC fan so of course I enjoy watching football. I read also.
I can’t say I sleep a lot. Sleeping is not something I do quite well at. I only sleep when my body needs to sleep.
AA for HH People: Nice. Some people use different weird things to cope and sometimes people will get emotionally attached to these things. For instance, now we have this ‘Labubu’ trend.
OU: What’s that? I’ve been hearing it but have not been able to track down its source.
AA for HH People: Apparently, it’s a doll. I hear it’s like 170k.
OU: [Flabbergasted]
AA for HH People: So, people do weird things to cope. What’s one weird thing that you’ve ever done to cope or something you’ve ever gotten emotionally attached to?
OU: The easy thing to say is drinking or something, but I don’t. I’m pretty much a social drinker. I drink when people are drinking and it’s not something I can do for too long. I enjoy music but that’s not a weird thing.
I picked up smoking cigarettes in school but have been able to bring it to the barest minimum, obviously because of its effect on health. It was something I picked up as a coping mechanism when I was in 400 level. If you ask any law professional or student, they’ll tell you that’s the toughest year of study in university. You will nearly lose your mind. I questioned if I wanted to continue in the faculty. Lol. That is where people pick up the weirdest habits. Drinking, smoking or womanising maybe.
I’m not the kind of person who would just pick up a bag and travel. I have not been out of Lagos in a long time, since I joined the Group.
AA for HH People: I see. I have one final question. If you look at your life at this very moment, if your life was a Netflix series, what would be the title of that series?
OU: Ah, ah. Law and disorder.
AA for HH People: Hahahaah. Nice one. Would you say you’re a “Better Call Saul lawyer”?
OU: Oh yeah, exactly that. I am no Harvey Specter. I dislike “Suit” as a whole.
AA for HH People: Alright, alright. Thanks so much for your time man. It’s been a great pleasure chatting with you. Thank you for indulging us.
OU: Likewise.
