Lawal Sofiyyat

Proud Muslimah/ Physicist / Cake lover/ Entrepreneur/ Writer

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

Living with sickle cell takes strength most people will never understand. Dear Warriors, you are seen, you are valued, and your journey matters. Keep holding on. Your resilience speaks louder than the pain ✨
❤

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

Do you remember when you joined X? I do! #MyXAnniversary

[Akíntúndé Babátúndé @olorunwababs]

The Federal Government’s National Laureate Prize is one of the more serious ideas to come out of the education space in a while. I am impressed genuinely.

This is not because of the money, although ₦5 million, ₦10 million, and ₦20 million will get attention. But because of what the policy is trying to do underneath. For a very long time, Nigeria has treated academic work as a requirement to complete, not a resource to use. Thousands of dissertations are written every year, bound, submitted, and forgotten. This initiative tries to interrupt that cycle by reframing the thesis as something else: a potential input into national development.

When the Minister says we should not celebrate influencers at the expense of innovators, he is not just making a passing comment. He is trying to rebalance what society chooses to reward. Incentives shape behaviour and truly, behaviour shapes systems.

But recognising research is not the same as using it. The harder question is what happens after the award. Does the winning work get translated into policy? Commercialised? Without that second step, this risks becoming a well-branded awards system rather than a pipeline for anything.
Nigeria does not lack research. It lacks systems that connect knowledge to action.

The idea is sound. The execution will determine everything.

Well done!

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

Focused. Consistent. Unstoppable.
I graduATEd 🎓 ❤, Alhamdulillah

I didn't come to this far to relax... on to the next

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

@blissful_bake @MayJaYBaE Do you mind sharing your story @blissful_bake , please?

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

I agree with @SafetyOneng and the truth is that every company takes safety very seriously.

[SafetyOne-NG @SafetyOneng]

@hannytalker I presumed there must be something for health and safety...I was right.

#Safety = One of the yet untapped careers in Nigeria.

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

I wrote an investigative piece on this in 2024.
Link to the story: https://t.co/oYCY3rSD6C

I am excited at the impact, this made my day already. Thanks to #tracka, and #theicir

[Tracka @TrackaNG]

IMPACT FRIDAY

The story of Adedeji community in Ikirun, Osun state, is one for the books. Over 4000 residents of this community had zero access to proper healthcare for many years, until 2023 when they received an allocation of N100m to build a PHC centre.

However, despite the release of funds— over N88m— nothing was done. The community took ownership of this project and with our support, they wrote letters, followed up with the executing agency and engaged their representatives.

Their persistence finally paid off in Oct 2024 and when the contractor was mobilized to site.
The PHC was completed in April 2025 but unfortunately, has not been opened for use till date.

We call on @PCN_Registry, the implementing agency to open this facility for use.
Read more on Adedeji’s story here: https://t.co/Bx7329aeBd

#impactfriday

[PIJAlance Magazine @PIJAlanceMag]

Unlimited complaints of privacy breaches, aggressive loan marketing, and the murky connections between digital lenders raise questions about data sharing in Nigeria’s fintech space. @SophiyyahL reports.
https://t.co/jgNAyQiIgC

[PIJAlance Magazine @PIJAlanceMag]

The project, facilitated by a former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, was procured and paid for through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SGDs).
https://t.co/jgNAyQiIgC

[Akíntúndé Babátúndé @olorunwababs]

Nobody is reading, but maybe we need to ask why.

The UN just admitted that most of its reports are barely read. The Nigerian CBN governor also recently lamented that only a few people download or read the bank’s reports. But beyond these institutions, it reflects something bigger: a general fatigue with long, technical documents, and a world that is simply too distracted to engage deeply.

I once visited a top leader of an institution to share a report. The version I took was about 15 pages. He looked at it and said, “This is too much. Can you summarize it in one slide?” Very interesting.

Now, I am not innocent either. In a typical week, I read no less than 300 pages of reports, academic papers, or books.. but these are not necessarily because I always enjoy it, but because the kind of work I do demands it. Sometimes it is inconvenient and it feels unnecessary. And honestly, some of the materials are just plain difficult to understand (jargon-filled, repetitive, and out of touch with real-world relevance.)

But here’s the thing: maybe if I wasn’t in this field, I wouldn’t be reading that much either. So I get why a three-minute TikTok video can rack up millions of views in an hour, while a technical report that took a year and cost a lot of money 💰 struggles to hit 1,000 downloads/reads.

Still, I don’t think the answer is to label everyone as lazy. Nor is it to pretend that every report is worth reading. Some documents, just like some meetings, events, and “dialogues” are mostly performative. A loss of audience might just be a wake-up call.

We have to pause and ask: who are we really writing for?

If our knowledge production isn’t reaching people, influencing decisions, or even sparking conversations, then what exactly are we doing?

We need to rethink the way we produce, share, and engage with knowledge in this age without losing substance, but without clinging to outdated formats either.

Because impact isn’t about how many pages we produce. It’s about how many minds we reach.

We can do better, the question is, how?

[PIJAlance Magazine @PIJAlanceMag]

If you’re curious about how we carry out our work, we invite you to watch our journey in this video. @budeshi_ng @PPDC_ng

[PIJAlance Magazine @PIJAlanceMag]

Though there's a fire station opposite the shop where it began, there was no water. They have a borehole, but no storage tank, rendering it useless.”... @seyimakinde @oyostategovt @FeedbackOYSG

Read more: https://t.co/n125byQDJh

[Akíntúndé Babátúndé @olorunwababs]

The Stories We Tell Ourselves: On Perception and Value

On a Monday morning years ago, I stood at the edge of a dusty field in Nigeria, watching my schoolmates throw themselves into a game of football like their lives depended on it. Above them, on a wooden table by the principal’s chair, stood the trophy. It was nothing more than a cheap piece of plastic and wood, a little gold-colored figure fixed to a base. But on that day, under the sun and the roar of the crowd, it seemed to shine like a sacred object.

When the final whistle blew and the captain of the winning house hoisted it high, the field erupted. Boys ran toward him, girls screamed in delight, everyone reaching out to touch it — to touch victory itself. For a moment it didn’t matter what it was made of. What mattered was what we believed about it.

Years later, on a quiet afternoon in Paris, I stopped in front of a jewelry store near Place Vendôme. Behind the glass, diamonds lay like drops of frozen light, each perfectly cut, each resting in its velvet case. Outside, a crowd gathered. Tourists, businessmen, newlyweds, all waiting for their turn to enter. I watched as one after another handed over small fortunes for tiny stones, their faces lit with something between hunger and relief, as though they were not buying carbon, but buying love, or dignity, or proof that their lives sparkled too.

And then there was Nairobi.

One morning, walking into a meeting, I wore a pair of trousers I had picked up in a crowded Kenyan market for less than the price of lunch. They were light and elegant, the kind of thing you wear because they feel right, not because they mean anything. Someone stopped me, looked me up and down, and said with certainty, “Ah — this must be expensive, surely European.” I smiled. “No,” I said, “just a local Kenyan market.” They laughed and shook their head. “No, no, no. You travel too much to wear something local. This must be designer.”

That was the moment I understood fully.

We do not encounter the world as it is. We encounter it through our minds, through the stories we have inherited about what is beautiful, what is valuable, what is worth chasing.

A trophy is just wood and plastic.
A diamond is just carbon.
A title is just a word.
Even careers, relationships, and success — at their core, they are all stories.

What gives them power is not what they are, but what we agree they mean. And that agreement can be beautiful, as long as it is yours to make.

We live inside a web of shared perception. We admire what others admire. We desire what others desire. We chase what others chase, assuming that their applause points to something real.

But once you see this, everything changes.

You begin to ask: Whose story am I living? Which ones no longer fit? Which ones shall I now rewrite?

Everything lies in the mind. And because it lies there, we can choose to tell our stories differently.

You may still chase the trophy, the diamond, the title, but you will do so with open eyes, knowing that their power is in what they mean to you, not what they mean to everyone else. Or you may choose differently, to value kindness over recognition, peace over prestige, and authenticity over applause.

On this Monday morning, as the world wakes and begins again its chase of awards, promotions, admiration, and perfection, pause. Breathe.

Ask yourself: what stories have I been taught about love, success, and worth, and which of them am I ready to rewrite?

Because in the end, it was never about the trophy, the diamond, or the title.

It has always been about the story you choose to tell.

So let us, especially as young people, have the courage to tell our own stories. Let us strive for excellence, not simply as the world defines it, but as we define it for ourselves. Let us use our lives to advance the world in a better way.

Because everything begins in the mind. And what we believe, we can create.

Happy Monday.

#YouWillNotFail

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

@Mazeedulkhayr @AskMichaelTaiwo @theirworld Wish you the very best, Mazeed

[T. Wolly @UsmanMustapha_M]

There was a time I said civil servants are audaciously corrupt, but some people might have doubted it. Here we uncover how a Dir. has been using fake National Ass visits to embezzle over N200m. It's a coordinated scheme of thievery that dates back to 2018.
https://t.co/LzhQmty4io

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

@DgreatLawal_ This is amazing, keep it up

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

@EOnyeacholem @SirJarus

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

@EOnyeacholem @SirJarus It's another company's address. Be careful out there

[Akíntúndé Babátúndé @olorunwababs]

On Japa and other stuff!

When Kunle and Fiyin both decided to leave Nigeria for greener pastures, they had very different experiences.

Kunle, a software engineer, had years of experience working with international clients. His skills were in high demand, and before he even boarded his flight, he had secured a remote job paying three times his Nigerian salary. The moment he arrived, he settled into his new apartment, adjusted to the culture, and continued his work seamlessly. For Kunle, relocation was just a change of scenery, not a reset.

Fiyin, on the other hand, had been a banker for over 10 years. But in his new country, his qualifications didn’t translate, and the industry operated differently. He found himself in a difficult position - his years of experience didn’t count, and he had to take a customer service job just to survive. Soon, he was juggling night shifts and online courses, trying to get recertified in a system that had little regard for his past achievements. At 41, starting over felt daunting, and he often wondered if leaving home had been the right decision.

People experience relocation in two distinct ways.
For some, it’s a smooth transition - they already have in-demand skills and experience that allow them to step into well-paying roles abroad without disruption. Moving isn’t about starting over but about accessing better opportunities in a system that values their expertise, often leading to an improved standard of living.

For others, relocating is a tough reset. Their qualifications may not be immediately recognized, forcing them to retrain, gain new certifications, or switch careers entirely. This can be overwhelming, especially for those who may not have the luxury of time to start afresh.

For Kunle, relocation meant progress. For Fiyin, it felt like a gamble. Their stories highlight the reality of moving abroad: when your skills are immediately transferable, it’s an opportunity. When they aren’t, it can be an uphill battle.

There are many who have relocated blindly without a proper analysis of the opportunities ahead for them. Relocation without a clear plan is like jumping into the ocean without knowing how to swim—you might float, but you’ll struggle.

Everybody’s journey is different, but the key question remains: What’s the plan? If you have to start with odd jobs, fine, but where is it leading? What’s the long-term vision?

Truth is, if you were just winging it in Nigeria with no clear direction, relocating won’t magically change that. Survival is survival-whether you’re selling on Instagram in Lagos or doing odd jobs abroad. The real difference is in having a strategy. If you’re moving just to “escape,” you may find yourself in the same cycle, just in a different location. But if you’re relocating with purpose-whether for career growth, financial stability, or personal fulfillment—you’ll be better positioned to make it work.

In all, success is not about where you start but how you adapt. If your skills open doors abroad, walk through them with confidence. If you must start over, embrace the journey with patience-every step forward is progress. Just make sure that in anything you do, you are taking an informed decision.

As @asemota puts it on Twitter yesterday, “Things are very different now but you can figure out your own path. Don’t believe what everyone tells you about hustling and hardship. Think bigger.”

#YouWillNotFail

[Lawal Sofiyyat @SophiyyahL]

REVEALED: How Oyo State Schools Suffer Poor Sanitation Due to Weak Education Policies

https://t.co/Ex87jpwb5W