The new change in National Assembly

POOR leadership is one of the key issues posing a huge challenge to accelerated sustainable development in Nigeria. This point is germane in the sense that, since the country’s independence on October 1st 1960, visionary, examplary and focused  leaders and leadership have been in short supply. The resultant effect is a precarious situation where a chunk of our leaders, out of lack of required leadership skills, prowess or acumen have simply failed to deliver proactively and progressively, in their various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government. Flowing from the above, the country isthe worst for it, as stagnation and retardation have made sustainable development a mirage; international best practices are not being brought to bear in several of the nation’s aspirations to meet up with pragmatic Millennium Development Goals. That was the reason there were wild jubilations in many quarters, when the name of Architect Amos Olatunde Ojo was the number one, in a list of appointments of high level management staff, recently announced for the National Assembly.

Because Amos Olatunde Ojo, an architect, is an established hater of interlocking goals that would not generate desired results, he has risen to be one of the promising leaders amongst the few, who are currently manning the sensitive leadership plane in Nigeria’s nascent democratic space today. It is not out of place to state that, in spite of the determined efforts of some interested parties, who had wanted to stop Architect Ojo at all cost, from getting the position of the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), having looked into the books properly, seeing that he is a man of high level professional calling, character and ideas, went ahead to chose him. In choosing Olatunde Ojo, the Executive Chairman of National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), Ahmed Kadi Amshi and his team have indeed succeeded in sending a strong signal that the current Acting Clerk is a towering personalization of inherent and acquired leadership; a man of service and modesty.

This point must be mentioned here: the manner in which his rivals waged a relentless battle to smear and paint him black before his emergence as the number one chief on the bureacratic setting in the National Assembly, shows that he is a dogged and resilient fighter. In Ilobu Secondary Commercial School Ilobu, Osun State, Amos as a young man had fixed his eyes on a definite goal of making his life a success by resorting to the only route available to the path of extraordinary leaders. From 1978 to 1993, he had positioned himself via hardwork, deliberate studies, austere disposition to come top as the best graduating student. For the Acting Clerk, a spirit of enterprise has been an inherent quality and this was manifested when he found himself at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where he aquitted himself excellently with a degree in architecture between 1985 and 1990.

Because Ojo had long cherished the principle of hard work and elastic commitments to studies in his primary school days, it was not difficult for him to continue his education, at the same Obafemi Awolowo University; and he succesfully earned his Master’s degree in architecture in 1992. With an inquisitive and audacious mind, the young architect pursued his architectural ambition.The ardour of Ojo’s commitment was phenomenal and his output prodigious as can be seen in the design and supervision of the following projects;  UBA PLC Building, Ilesa, Osun State; Niger Insurance Headquarters Building, Lagos (12 floor skyscrapers); Ogun State Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State to mention just a few. His proficiency in his chosen career has led to the design, supervision and construction of some landmark projects within the National Assembly Complex, in Abuja, such as the National Assembly Office Complex, phase 3 part 1 and 2.

As an architect,  Ojo has displayed a healthy grasp of detail, insight and astute orientation. The calm intelligence, inner resources of character and boundless energy aided his meteoric rise to the position of Permanent Secretary, Department of Procurement, Estate and Works, before his classic elevation into the highest ladder of his career. From what we have seen about his professional antecedence and prowess, this man is laced with great vision; his nature has always been to think deeply about questions and to proffer solutions. It is clear that he has had great opportunities and aquitted himself with dexterity before he became an employee of the National Assembly. Therefore, the National Assembly’s bureacratic network today is lucky to have such an uncommon leader, who is endowed with a rare leadership qualities of steadfastness, sacrifice and ingenuity. The entire community of the National Assembly will soon see that the new clerk is committed to the satisfaction of their pragmatic needs and aspirations, and the advancement of mutual understanding and peace in the nation’s highest legislative body.

As a demonstration of his unique greatness and outstanding achievements as an Architect, he has made history, as the first ever Ilobu indigene, to attain the position of Permanent Secretary at the federal level in Nigeria. No doubt, Ojo’s clerkship of the National Assembly will take the cause of the National Assembly to the zenith of peace, progress and stability.

• Adesoro is a journalist and legislative scholar

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