Segun Awolowo: Toast To A Leader @ 61

I have never met him! But I have met his surname since I could pronounce Daddy. It was on the lips of everyone around me while growing up. His pictures always graced front pages of newspapers when I began to read. And in my house, no one dared squizzed a newspaper carrying the picture of Awolowo! He was revered by all who encountered him.

His own father, Segun Awolowo Sr, died before he was born. But his grand father, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the sage who turned the Western Region of Nigeria into a modern economic and educational hub when he was the Premier. Awolowo died since 1987, his name is revered till this day.

So, if a surname is all that matters, Segun Awolowo Jr will not be the hard worker that he is today! And perhaps no one, aside his immediate family, would be celebrating him today as he marks his 61st birthday.

All his friends, associates and admirers, including the publisher of THE WHISTLER newspaper, Chief James Ume, will toast him today not just as a scion of the Awolowo family, but as a great achiever and leader.

The Awolowo ancestry imposes a special burden of excellence and Segun Awolowo is an embodiment of that distinction and transcendence. Unlike his grand father, Segun Awolowo is not a politician and has given no indication of his fascination with politics.

But he is offering a different kind of leadership. He is the kind of leaders Nigeria now needs the most. Brilliant minds who believe in their country and are leading the way to ensure its prosperity. He is using his experience in government to push that agenda and Nigeria is recording successes. Segun has worked with three Nigerian presidents – Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari – in different capacities as adviser and agency head.

He is the driving force behind Nigeria’s Zero Oil Plan, an economic blueprint to increase export of non-oil goods from Nigeria. It was launched in 2016 to engage with the private sector, government and international institutions.

The Zero Oil plan is to increase the country’s export by increasing production of home-made goods, moving from the export of raw materials to value added products so as to increase foreign exchange revenue, promote the value of Nigerian made products and services abroad, and to create jobs.

The former executive director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council was in 2021 unanimously elected as the President of National Trade Promotion Organisation(TPOs) from ECOWAS member States. He is also the National Coordinator of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office (NACO).

A man who believes in resilience, innovation and the entrepreneurship spirit of Nigerians is using his clout to open the path for startups. Under his leadership, there are at least 10 pioneering companies exporting Nigerian products to East, Central and North African countries.

He was recently quoted in the media to have said that Nigerians and Nigeria “must seize this opportunity by growing Nigeria’s production and productivity, building an army of exporters to be unleashed into the AfCFTA.”

Segun Awolowo has been unblemished in his public career and left indelible footprints wherever he served. His accomplishments at the NEPC which he headed from 2013 t0 2021 are obvious to all stakeholders. Now that he is leading Nigeria and Africa towards a trade export revolution, Segun Awolowo is certainly a leader to watch.

His educational background in Nigeria appeared to have motivated and prepared him to be a change agent. He started at the Mayhill Convent School and from there proceeded to Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos State and completed his secondary school education at Government College, Ibadan.

Then he proceeded to the Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University), Ago Iwoye and graduated with a LLB degree at a time when many in his social class took fancy at schooling abroad. He learnt law practice at firm of Abayomi Sogbesan & Co. and GOK Ajayi & Co. before setting up his own practice.

He served in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration as a Special Assistant on Traditional Institutions, Legal Due Diligence and Legal Matters.

Under late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, he was Special Assistant and later worked with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Abuja as Secretary for Social Development and Secretary of Transport from 2007 to 2011.

President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him as Executive Director/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council in November 2013 where he served till 2021.

His friends see him as an unassuming gentleman and a leader determined to bring change and economic prosperity to his country. When they gather today to celebrate him, they will all be saying a toast to a man living up to his heritage.

Happy birthday sir!