Fayemi Felicitates With Olaopa at 60

Fayemi Felicitates With Olaopa at 60
  • As ISGPP holds seminar on imperativeness of reformed public institution in building great nation Tuesday

 

Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has congratulated Prof. Tunji Olaopa, executive vice chairman of Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP) and former federal permanent secretary, on his 60th birthday, saying his life of public service has made a lot of impact on humanity.

He described Olaopa as a political scientist and public administrator par excellence, who had a distinguished career as a seasoned civil servant, climbing through the ladder to reach the apogee of his career by attaining the position of a permanent secretary.

Noting that three scores of existence are a remarkable milestone in the life of a man, especially in the world that is full of ups and downs, Fayemi said Prof. Olaopa has lived a remarkable life of service.

“Early in his career, he had been spotted as one of the eggheads and intellectual princes in the federal bureaucracy. He thus, had served in mostly critical committees and panels that demanded studious intellectual rigour. Widely acknowledged for his sound intellect, erudition, integrity and courage, Prof. Olaopa is a scholastic bureaucrat of rare hue,” he noted.

The governor noted that in spite of the engagements in the bureaucracy, Olaopa created time for himself to pursue post graduate education to the doctoral level, even when all he needed to reach the peak of his career was a first degree.

Fayemi said: “It is therefore instructive that after his glorious exit from the civil service, he has gone ahead to pursue a higher passion by establishing the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP) and caused to being, one of the most revolutionary actions aimed at bridging the gap between classroom and industry.

“Prof. Adetunji Olaopa belongs in the class of a rare species of public intellectuals in public service and policy circles; and he represents the most audacious of this breed in his penetrating insights into development analysis and public policy discourse. He was not only a reform-minded public servant, he has been irrevocably committed to the development of a corps of self-motivated, patriotic, dynamic and highly knowledgeable public servants that are adroit in effective and efficient utilisation of public resources for the greater good of the people.

“A quintessential illustration of this passion could be seen in his aggressive push to institutionalise his vision and ensure an enduring platform for the incubation of policy ideas, implementation strategies and impact assessment was established. It is no wonder that within the short time of the establishment of ISGPP, it has earned a reputation as a center of excellence in government public policy research and development. The school has also become a go-to-place for practical training in governance and public administration.”

Meanwhile, a  seminar will hold on Tuesday, December 17 as part of activities marking the 60th birthday of Professor Olaopa.

The seminar which will hold at 11:00am ISGPP Complex, Awolowo Avenue, Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, has as its theme “Building a Great Nation: Reformed Public Institution as Imperative.”

The Lead Paper will be presented by Dr Tayo Aduloju who is a Senior Fellow, Public Policy and Institutional Development at the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), while the critical discussion that will follow will be led by renowned writer, Poet and Public Affairs Analyst, Mr Odia Ofeimun.

It will be moderated by Mr Ray Ekpu, former Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch Magazine and Akogun Tola Adeniyi, former Managing Director of defunct Daily Times Newspapers.

 Professor Ayo Olukotun, columnist and Professor of the Oba Sikiru Adetona Awujale Chair of Governance at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye; Dr Joe Abah, Country Director, Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) and former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR); Barrister Edem Ossai, Executive Director, the Mentors Assistance for Youths and Entrepreneurs Initiative (MAYEIN) and an Obama Foundation Scholar, are in the panel that would dissect the seminar topic.

Other panelists that will dissect the seminar topic are Professor Yahaya Kuta of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ibadan, and Dr Festus Adedayo, member of the Editorial Board of The Tribune Newspapers.

The seminar will be chaired by Professor Pat Utomi, Chairman of the Centre for Values and Leadership (CVL) while the Chairman, Governing Board of ISGPP, Professor Akin Mabogunje, will be the Father of the Day.

ISGPP Director, Dr. Louisa Andah, in a statement announcing the seminar said, “The ability of any government to achieve its economic and social objectives within the scope of limited resources is largely dependent upon the efficiency and focus of the government. In the same vein, the capacity of a state to deliver public goods and services in an effective and reliable way constitutes one of the key variables for distinguishing between ‘successful’ and ‘unsuccessful’ societies.

“Thus, the critical and strategic importance of effective and functional public institutions and good governance in national development cannot be overemphasized. This creates the imperativeness for consistent good governance and institutional reforms especially in an emerging economy like Nigeria. Public administration institutions in emerging countries are the cornerstone of reform, and are often considered the single most pressing development issue in fragile states and post conflict environments. If institutions are not professional, efficient, flexible and transparent then reform and development efforts will not succeed

“These are some of the issues that are expected to engage the attention of critical experts and commentators at the next seminar of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP) with the theme; Building a Great Nation: Reformed Public Institution as Imperative.”

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