Many were called, three were chosen. At the maiden edition of the Lagos State Public Service Ideas Day held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, the personable Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA)was recognized as a transformational leader in the state’s public service.
The event was organised by the Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation (OTCI) in furtherance of its mandate to transform Lagos State through the fostering of creativity and innovation in its public service.
In presenting Seriki-Ayeni with her Transformational Leader award for “outstanding performance and dedication to service”, Head of Service, Lagos State, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, expressed his delight that a woman in the public service had been so recognized.
It is a moot remark that invites attention to an administrative tradition in the state that has, over time, given increased opportunities to competent, professional women to achieve as much as, if not more than, their male peers in the service. It appears a thing of pride for the state and a trail it continues to blaze for others.
Abiola Seriki-Ayeni however, is not just a poster girl, of sorts, for women in the state’s public service; she is someone who has shown her mettle time and again in public and private sectors across the globe.
After acquiring education in noted American institutions as Columbia and Harvard, and garnering professional work experience in diverse places as the New York City Department of Education and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Seriki-Ayeni was prepared and ready when the task of heading the OEQA was given to her soon after the inception of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2019.
With her long-sustained belief that every child should have access to quality education, her drive for innovation and her professional commitment, has been about her work and providing leadership-by-example to her team. In addition to such responsibilities as the Lagos State Spelling Bee Competition and One-Day Governor Celebration, Seriki-Ayeni has initiated acclaimed programmes as Read-Aloud! Lagos (promoting reading culture); the Lagos Learns Together platform (for distance learning) which has over 10,000 beneficiaries; and L’explore Literacy Assessment that benchmarks the literacy status of students in Lagos State against global standards.
She also proved herself a champion among champions during the COVID-19 pandemic by establishing programme that ensured learning continuity, and Teacher-Student welfare and protection, post-pandemic.
Seriki-Ayeni’s roll call of honors include Golden Key International Honor Society; Harvard Women in Public Policy and Education Pioneers Graduate School Fellowship Programme; and board member, AIFA Reading Society.
Speaking on behalf of her fellow awardees (Dr. Olufemi Omololu of Lagos Island Maternity and Dr. Madewa Adebanjo of Randle General Hospital are the others), Seriki-Ayeni appreciated the recognition accorded them but insisted there were other innovators in the state. “We three, are a small part of a group of many transformational leaders in the public service.” The seasoned educator also affirmed her belief in the emergence of a dynamic and innovative public service in Lagos State. “It is said: how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time…How do you transform public service? One officer at a time…”