Aquintessential public servant, those who know him quite intimately, see him as an exemplar in accountable governance, selflessness and unalloyed uprightness whose only “weakness” is his implacable commitment to public good, no matter whose ox is gored!
Oh, your surmise is damn right! The man I’m discussing here is the one who, today, many in the Lagos State public service environment fondly address as Mr Public Service –Akinwunmi Ambode. His name is synonymous with the pivotal aspect of a promising public administration. He hugged the limelight when he became the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance of Lagos State in January 2005; a year after, he rose to the position of Accountant-General of the state.
The magic wand he brought into the service in good measure readily became an integral ingredient of the evergreen accomplishments of the then state government led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (now national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who has since earned himself the sobriquet: Architect of a modern Lagos State!
Even Tinubu’s most virulent foes and Ambode’s (if there is any), would testify to the incontrovertible fact that the symbiosis between Tinubu’s administrative genius and the sublime professional expertise of Ambode and his ilk, oiled by the shared passion for public good, ensured the historic feat of the Tinubu-led bailout of the state from the hands of interlopers.
Ambode’s Midas touch in the state’s public service under Tinubu, coupled with his achievements as Managing Consultant/CEO of Brandsmiths Consulting Limited, a public finance and management-consulting firm with vast knowledge of public sector administration, readily threw him up as a primary subject of public discourse since his interest in the 2015 governorship tussle in the state sneaked into public domain.
“From recording the second best result in the entire West Africa in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) in 1981 to graduating with honours in Accounting from the University of Lagos at 21 and a Masters’ degree in Accounting combined with being a Chartered Accountant all at 24, the stage was set for a brilliant career in Accounting. One could therefore re-write his biography with the title: Ambode and the Power of Focus.” These lines were contained in a writer’s recent thoughts about Ambode, who was born at Epe in Lagos on June 14, 1964, with an impressive educational voyage through St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebute Metta on Lagos Mainland, Federal Government College, Warri and the prestigious University of Lagos.
Even the cynics of the deepest dye would find it hard to disagree with Tinubu when he described him at a forum as “an uncommon civil servant” in whom he discovered an embodiment of the sterling attributes of a great accountant.
Tinubu’s workaholic successor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in a letter of commendation to the accounting icon, appreciated “the high sense of dedication, selflessness, loyalty and integrity” which he brought to bear during his glorious public servant days.
The few who were hitherto in the dark about what Ambode stands for, perhaps knew better at a recent public presentation of his biography, The Art of Selfless Service, written by Marina Osoba.
Thunderous ovation threatened the venue to its foundation. Even those who had known him intimately for the past five decades had their jaws pleasantly set apart. “This is indeed an illustrious son that Lagos and indeed, Nigeria must be proud of,” many presumably soliloquised.
Much as I thought I knew the astute accountant, I was more enlightened when a fortnight ago, I found myself in the midst of those who, to me, knew him from Adam at a gathering in Lekki. On virtually everyone’s lips is the aspect of his upbringing which, in the discussants’ view, should be internalised and imbibed by the youth of today who see it as a waste of time working towards their life goals. Their discussion and eventual conclusion on the man, reminded me of the immortal words of the late Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who once admonished: “After rain comes sunshine; after darkness comes the glorious dawn. There is no joy without its alloy of sorrow; behind the ugly terrible mask of misfortune lies the beautiful soothing countenance of prosperity. So, tear the mask!”
As a growing youth, he was said to have brave all odds and trudged on to put his life on a sound footing in the first 27 years of his exemplary life, especially after the death of his father when he was barely 18 – thus contributing to his uniqueness as a man.
A further lesson for youths: Quite a negligible few in his shoes would rather spend eternity looking for plum jobs that would put them in the league of the Aliko Dangotes of this world overnight. But no; Ambode did not behave like his peers today would. He willingly embraced civil service which people see as acutely impoverishing – if only for its snail-speed opportunities for self fulfilment.
But the consummate accountant was not idiotic after all. He was simply dancing to the irrepressible dictates of his destiny and his unique psychological disposition to the forces of his uncommon foundational familial impetus!
I feel compelled to believe without a scintilla of doubt that his sterling personality traits and abundant trainings, which combined to midwife his leadership capabilities, recently, prompted the respected Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Okikiola, the Akiolu 1, to urge the state chapter of the APC, to prod Ambode into the ring for the next governorship election in the state.
“Myself, other traditional rulers and some notable elders have met and decided that Ambode should be the next governor of Lagos,” the esteemed monarch declared, albeit to the discomfort of some who I guessed, knew Ambode not, especially in the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
There is no gainsaying that fact that the monarch and others like him, are armed with the belief that Ambode possesses enough mental and professional ammunition needed to sustain and improve on the world-acclaimed achievements of Governor Fashola in the state.
“I have taken my time to study the goings-on in the political circles of this state for months now as we prepare for the 2015 polls. I have discovered that people want the sustenance of all the indices of the new Lagos that we are celebrating today and from all indications, the man called Ambode, from what I have gathered from many people, is the one with the character needed to keep the ball rolling in the best interest of Lagos residents,” a reader insisted at a newsstand recently. It was during a heated discussion of the fate of the state after Fashola at the popular Ojuelegba Under-bridge in Surulere. I think the man said it all!
