President Bola Ahmed Tinubu - Doing and Getting it Right

PATIENCE, CAUTION AND DISCERNMENT FOR PRESIDENT TINUBU

By, Seye Adetunmbi

Let's give President Tinubu (PT) some time more on the job. He certainly needs it. That was my immediate response to a political commentary thread in Ekitipanupo Forum, an indigenous intellectual roundtable, early this morning of Saturday July 22, 2023. In fairness to him and on a lighter mood note, what he said from the outset was that it was his turn (oun lo kan emilokan)! He did not say that he was coming to perform the miracle of turning things around within within a short period of time.

    Seriously, the best Nigerians can do now is that, once the election case is put behind us and there is no alternative to his presidency for the next 3+ years, let all hands be on deck to help him get it right and do the proper thing for the benefit of the majority of all ranks of the stakeholders. This will be my position too to whoever emerges as the elected president at any point in time. 

    The supporters of PT must adjust their campaign flag/status and move to "ise ya" mode. All his media foot soldiers must hang their boots of all shades of toxic profiling and name calling of the opposition camp. The image makers must give him a break of projecting him as the "political Rambo" of Nigeria who is greater than all those who came before him and all the outstanding politicians in the political history of Nigeria. Let him be! Let him do his work and create his own niche which will form the basis of how he would be rated after he is done in the office as the president of Nigeria.

    He too must listen to the people who mean well for Nigeria and the majority of Nigerians, and not just to a sect or a small clique. He must neither allow palace (Aso Rock Villa) jesters hijack his government nor let the political attack dogs drive away quality people from him and his administration. He should heed the advice of values driven technocrats and not that of the stomach infrastructure, "jeunsoke", appointments seeking, self-serving and commercial/mercantile elements and politicians.

    As the president, he can choose to lead from the front, middle or from the rear. What is important is what you have set out to accomplish and whose side you want to be. Each model has its own peculiarities and the required structural integrity to achieve the desired result/set goals. One thing is constant to all the three leadership models; he must be surrounded by credible, efficient, responsible, selfless, well-meaning and tested Nigerians of good character.

    In all, everything depends on PT. It is up to him to make the difference or sustain the status quo. The outcome of his tenure would depend on what drives him in the office as the president of Nigeria. Is he going to be on the side of the masses or dedicate his era to those setting Nigeria back from attaining her potential? The answer resides in the kind of values that drive him as the person in charge.

    Nevertheless, my charge to oga BAT is to go for excellence. Because excellence endures and remains long after cost is forgotten.

Ajuse o

Rejuvenate the Value System to Reclaim Nigeria's Greatness - Olusegun Aganga

RECLAIMING THE JEWEL OF AFRICA UNVEILED IN ABUJA

The ground unveiling of the Amazon best-seller book of Segun Aganga today in Abuja on July 24, 2023 was yet another testimony of the fact that the political class, the leading lights in the private sector and other stakeholders appreciate the initiative of the author for writing such as a timely and auspicious book. For two past presidents of Nigeria and the the incumbent president to publicly associate with the Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa, then the book and the author are of immense treasure. 

https://www.youtube.com/live/oK5LLZNmAWI?feature=share

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who encouraged him  to leave Goldman Sachs and work for the Nigerian government, left his Abeokuta home 3am today to join a flight in Lagos to Abuja. He didn't let the cancelled flight stopped him. He travelled back by road to Abeokuta to join the event via zoom. In his speech, he commended the book and reiterated that Nigeria has history of good policies, the bane of progress is implementation. President Ebele Goodluck Jonathan who called Aganga the Chief Marketing Officer of the Nigerian federation, acknowledged his excellent value added contribution to his administration as a federal minister in his cabinet. 

The president in the saddle now, Bola Ahmed Tinubu commended the seminal work. He said that the book would serve as a beacon of hope and a guide for a brighter and prosperous tomorrow. He charged the stakeholders to a derive a collective insight from the book for the benefit of all. President Tinubu was represented by Wale Edun, his Special Adviser on monetary policy who was a long standing friend and professional associate of the author. He recalled their early days as budding professionals and that there was something unique about Aganga which made him to see him as being destined for glittering prizes as it has manifested today. Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo acknowledged the fact that the standard Aganga set in office and the structure in place made his own job easier as a federal minister in the Ministry of Trade and Investment.

In all, it was a collective resolve that enough is enough of talking of potentials in Nigeria. It was high time to go for the real thing, prosperity. The book is not about the past but about what the future holds for Nigeria and Nigerians. The stakeholders as a matter of deliberate policy must embark on a cooperative productive engagement and inclusive growth that will attract resourceful youthful energy, predominantly, for things to get better in Nigeria as a going concern.

Lest I forget, the glory of Christ's School, Ado-Ekiti resonated and shone during the memorable occasion. The heritage from which the author and fellow alumni benefited remains, and it stood out like the magnificent cathedral in the midst of regular buildings.  Up School!!!

The present stock of the book was outsold at the venue and the author is set to get more copies published by a Nigerian publisher. Congratulations to the distinguished technocrat of repute and the resourceful author.

THE IMPERATIVES OF HAVING VALUES DRIVEN TECHNOCRATS IN GOVERNMENT

An Integrated review of "Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa" written by Segun Aganga and the Public Presentation of the Book

By 

Seye Adetunmbi, 13/7/2023 

It is not surprising that the book of Segun Aganga has turned out to be a functional and pragmatic guide for the renaissance of Nigeria, the African Jewel. I have been looking forward to the formal presentation of the book to the public after he first gave me an insight to the book in February 2022. It is indeed a rich informed thoughts of an accomplished international technocrat of repute on leadership, public service, economy, human capital development and plausible roadmap for the integrated Nigerian assets to actualize the zenith potential. As Dr Christopher Kolade put it in the foreword of the book, documentation of experiences from which subsequent/succeeding civilizations can learn and thus improve their living standards and accomplishments, is one of the best things to happen to any human civilization. This is why I join others to congratulate oga Segun for a job well done by heeding to his innate desire to put his thoughts down for posterity. He is an undisputable values driven technocrat and not like any of the typical politicians in government. Consequently, his book has no political undertone or any partisan coloration, it is about what is the best for Nigeria with the strong conviction of a patriot that the desired greatness is achievable. It is not a litany of woes on Nigeria but a special focus on the way forward for the turnaround to be a reality. It has become imperative for Nigeria to occupy her rightful position in the contemporary world. The statement credited to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in 2007 keeps resonating - “The world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world need Nigeria to be great as a source of pride and confidence.”

Nick Kochan in conversation with Segun Aganga on 12/7/2023 during the book launch at the SOAS in University of London

When the duty called for him to serve as the Federal Minister for Finance and Chairman of the Economic Management Team, he considered it a privilege and honour to serve his beloved country and fellow citizens. With the benefit of hindsight, such a high-ranking position enabled him to see and experience many things, which most people are not privileged to see and know. He saw some of the gaps and had been able to articulate how those gaps can be filled. In the actual sense of it, he had at several occasions made a case for Nigeria and commented on integrated socio-economic and political issues as a technocrat, as a professional and as a senior government official who was directly involved in policy development and the implementation process. Along the line, some of his associates who saw substance in his informed and shared measured-perspectives and integrated thoughts from time to time, kept on calling on him to put his thoughts down in a book for the benefit of the succeeding government officials and posterity sake.

The Nigeria High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola (in 3 piece native wear) and a section of the gathering at the book lunch on the 12th of July, 2023 

The book is therefore his humble response to the inspiring call for his public service memoir. He tried to capture in the book, what he saw, did and why as a federal minister in Nigeria. Also, what still needs to be done in the sense that much remains to be done. This is not a book that seeks to cast any aspersions on anyone or to make public the occasional private disagreements in the course of duty. No, it is indeed about unveiling the Jewel of Africa. He subscribes to the views of the African leaders who look up to Nigeria to take the lead in the scheme of things by getting its acts together to occupy her rightful position in economic development as the true giant of Africa. As a matter of fact, Nelson Mandela is on point when he said that the western developed world would not respect Africa until Nigeria manifests her full potential.

Unequivocally, Nigeria is that Jewel in Africa. His life-long goal for Nigeria, is to achieve her true potential to become one of the greatest and most prosperous countries in the world. He has no doubts whatsoever that Nigeria has the potential to be really great. The book is his modest contribution towards achieving the goal while hoping that the policy makers and all those who aspire to lead our nations and indeed Nigerians, will find it useful.

The book has ten chapters and the titles are: Leadership - Political and Governance Structure, The Fundamentals -  Political, Economic and Social Institutions, The Backbone of Government - Civil Service, Investment - Making Nigeria the Top Destination Again, Managing Our Resources Better - Eliminating Leakages and Waste, Our Biggest and Most Important Asset - Our People, The Triple Threat - Poverty, Unemployment and Insecurity, Leading and Working with Multilateral Organisations and the last chapter is The Road to Reclamation - Africa Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. 

    Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga is a technocrat par excellence, having worked for two leading institutions in accounting and investment banking for three decades, in the United Kingdom. He was born in 1955 in Lagos. He is a product of Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, University of Ibadan and University of Oxford. In 2006, he founded the Nigerian Leadership Initiative. From Goldman Sachs, London where he was the Managing Director, he joined the public service on the 6th of April in 2010 as the federal Minister for Finance and Chairman of the Economic Management Team. He became the Federal Minister of Trade and Investment in June 2011 and served his country till 2015. He was conferred the National Honour of the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) in 2011. As the chair of the WTO MC8 ministerial conference, he laid the foundation for the first WTO trade agreement and also played a pivotal role in finalising the agreement in Bali, Indonesia, in 2013. Segun Aganga is happily married and the holy matrimony is blessed with fruitful children. He acknowledged in the book the good upbringing he had, and Christ's School which he attended between 1968 and 1972 as contributory to the success he achieved in life.

    According to him, learning from the Singapore experience; it is important to have a disciplined and efficient work force. It is a statement of fact that a strong and economically productive nation and an efficient governing system is a function of a strong and highly proficient civil service. By nature, Segun Aganga is a private person. He considers himself as unimportant in the larger scheme of things. Consequently, his advice to those who read his book is to focus on the message and not the messenger. However, feedbacks on the book would be appreciated to enable him consider any value-added commentaries in the subsequent editions of the book.

Mr & Mrs Segun Aganga with Seye Adetunmbi

Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa was formally presented to the public on July 12, 2023 at SOAS in the University of London. Lord Hastings was the chairman of the event and he gave an incisive opening remarks. He brought up a vintage over a century old cartoon that visionary projected Africa, China and India as the places to watch in the sheme of things in the future. It is only Africa that is yet to actualize its full potential among the three. The Nigeria High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola gave the closing remarks. He spoke eloquently and intelligently on the need for a paradigm shift  by all ranks of stakeholders in Nigeria and  commended Mr Aganga on the book.

I must also mention the instructive commentary of the author on leadership and its different styles in perspective, in response to one of the posers raised during the questionns and answers session at the public book presentation. He gave Madiba (Mandela) as an example of a president who led from the rear, President Jonathan led from the middle while President Obasanjo led from the front.

In all, it was a well attended event by diverse dignitaries. This is an attestation to the credibility of the author and the value attached to the substance in the book that was formally presented to the public. The endorsement of the book by Thabo Mbeki, the President of South Africa in 1999 to 2008 underscores the fact that all eyes are on Nigeria to make the greatness happen through a systemic paradigm shift. Hopefully, those in government now would read and digest the contents of the book. The Nigerian end of the event would hold in the last week of July 2023. It was indeed a quality summer evening well spent in the center of London. Congratulations once more to the author.

Segun Aganga flanked by Mr & Mrs Hakeem Bello-Osagie

I got my autographed copy at the event

Hakeem Bello-Osagie & Seye Adetunmbi

TV Interview 

Seye and Kenny Ojutalayo 

Kenny Ojutalayo and Ambassador Isola

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Mr & Mrs Aganga cutting the book launch cake

Ambassador Isola and Sanya Hastrup

Seye Adetunmbi  is a UK based serial author, publisher and a Chartered Stockbroker  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B08537XRYY?ref_=pe_1724030_132998070

Segun Agbetuyi: The Venerable Archdeacon

CELEBRATING VENERABLE SEGUN AGBETUYI AT 70

By, Seye Adetunmbi 30/6/23

In various professions and vocations, we have people who standout by virtue of being brilliant and good on the job. Also, the values which they stand for in their calling always make such profession admirable or desirable for the aspiring professionals in the sector. One of the distinguished influencers in the history of banking in Nigeria who falls into this category of successful bankers is Venerable Segun Agbetuyi. His rise through the ranks to the pinnacle of his professional banking career, complemented by the speed at which he qualified as a chartered banker attests to the fact that he is naturally brilliant, focused and hardworking. His success as a career banker and a venerable archdeacon in the Church of Nigeria, Anglican communion are manifestations of dedication, devotion and diligence.

    Archdeacon Segun Agbetuyi was born into the Christian family of Mr. Agboola and Mrs Eunice Agbetuyi in Usi-Ekiti on the 30th of June, 1953. He is a product of Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Manchester Business School; Harvard University Business School and Lagos Business School. He started his banking career in the 1970s as a trainee in Arab Bank (later Nigeria-Arab Bank) and worked with the Bank of America (later Savannah Bank). Subsequent to being qualified as a professional banker, he worked as the Credit and Marketing Manager and as the Area Credit Manager for the northern region of IBWA (later Afribank PLC). He was among the pioneer senior executives of the Nigerian-American Merchant Bank in 1980. He worked as the Vice-President Bank of Boston between 1984 and1986; the Country Risk Manager, the General Manager, Credit and Business Strategy for the Nigerian-American Merchant Bank, Lagos from 1987 to 1989 and was the Deputy Managing Director between 1989 and 1993. 

    A gold fish has no hiding place. When Ondo-State needed a crack professional who would be result oriented for the then state owned Owena Bank PLC, he was headhunted and was appointed the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer in 1993. He nurtured the bank through the transformation to profitability and change of name to Omega Bank PLC. His Christian upbringing and personal disposition later led him to attend a seminary college and he was ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion in June 2001. His excellence in the banking earned him the recognition of a noteworthy banker by Marquis Who is Who.

My first close meeting with Venerable Agbetuyi was when he visited my brother's steel fabrication company in Lagos in the year 2001 as the CEO of our banker, to check how the bank's customer was doing and he prayed for us. When there was an opportunity for me to explore working in the banking sector, Omega Bank gave me the opportunity. I was charged with the responsibility of establishing Niche Securities Limited as a dealing member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and I pioneered the take-off and consolidation of the subsidiary of the bank. He was a very disciplined boss and a courageous banker who was committed to best practices. I must mention the remarkable manner he responded to an attempt to malign me in a soft-sell tabloid sponsored by an inveterate ignoble Ekiti fellow at the peak of the friction between the then state governor and the bank. As an intuitive person and an upright senior colleague/boss, he saw the intrigue at play by the ill-bred who lied against me and could imagine the mission of the lowlife elements behind the deceptive publication. When I got to his office to inform him about the irresponsible publication, he said that I should go and be doing my work and ignore those who wanted to cause problem for me with my employer. I am using this opportunity to formally say thank you to him. His honourable action remains indelible in my mind. He has always been supportive of  my modest various endeavours. Virtually all the books I  have written are in his library. He joined his fellow indigenes of repute in Ekitipanupo Forum which I convened in 2005. One other thing I like about him is his writing skills. I was so delighted that he wrote a preface to my book on Christianity and Anglicanism in 2020.

    Considering his wealth of experience in his working career, he was called to serve in various capacities. He served in the Governing Council of the Financial Institutions Training Centre in 1990 to 1992, in Ekiti State Economic Advisory Council and as the Chairman of Springbank PLC in 2006. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, England and Nigeria; a member of American Management Association; a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London and Nigeria; a member of the Institute of Management Specialists, England; a member of the Institute of Management Consultants, Nigeria. He was the President of Rotary Club Victoria Island in 1989 to 1990 and Patron of Jaycees International, Ikoyi Chapter. In 2001, he bagged the Doctor of Science in Economics (Honoris Causa) form the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti. Also, holds the Merit Award of Ondo-State in October 1995 and that of Ekiti-State in 1997.

He is happily married to his beloved wife, Mrs Titilayo Adeyemi Agbetuyi and the union is blessed with fruitful children. Oga has dedicated part of his time to bring those who worked with him in Omega bank together as one big family in an interactive online platform and he continues to encourage us to support one another. My prayer is that God will grant him more years in good health and bless his ministry in Jesus Christ's name, amen. Happy 70th birthday to you sir.