It was pomp and ceremony on Monday when Fola Adeyemi, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy bowed out of office after decades of meritorious service to the state.
Adeyemi, who retired on his 60th birthday did so in style, as he launched a foundation to be known as ‘Fola Adeyemi Foundation,’ for the training of indigent journalists and also launched a book.
The grandeur occasion was held at the Grandeur Event Centre, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, with the massive hall filled to capacity.
Adeyemi, who also launched a book titled, ‘The dynamics of Public Information Management…Memoirs of a Veteran Public Affairs Manager’ said the proceeds from the book would go to the National Association for Women Journalists, NAWOJ.
He said the foundation is a way of giving back to the society and journalism profession which has been instrumental to his rise and successes recorded in his working life.
Fola Adeyemi being presented a gift by staff of the Ministry of Information and Strategy
Adeyemi made an instant donation into the foundation and promised that he would be making a yearly donation to the foundation to make sure that indigent journalists got the required training to excel in their work.
The former PS included representatives from Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, and NAWOJ as members of the board that would administer the fund of the foundation.
In his paper: “The Dynamics of Public Affairs Management, Segun Ayobolu, former Chief Press Secretary to former governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, disclosed that the first hundred days in office of the National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was one of his worst nightmares.
“As Chief Press Secretary to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the anniversary of his 100 days in office in 1999 was one of my worst nightmares. The reviews in the media were exceedingly negative and abominable. Critics after critics focused on the refuse heaps on the roads, the potholes and, veritable craters on most roads, the scarcity of water, the terrible insecurity with armed robbery attacks on banks and snatching of vehicles occurring almost on a daily basis.
“For a government, which had about three months to get ready, the first three months in office seems to have caught it by surprise. No practical solution had been applied on any problem so far.
“Refuse heaps, which like armed robbers can neither talk nor think challenged the wits of the governor.
“Consider all the other areas like housing, education, health and rural development etc. They were still at blueprint level…Tinubu had enough time to prepare. He was even praised for taking the initiative of setting up a team to draw up an action plan.
“His inauguration speech was excellent, showing clarity of thought and evidence of insight. What went wrong? Could it be fish in water syndrome which out of water just bobs and bobs? The future, the very near future will tell”, he told the gathering which had in attendance three former commissioners for information and strategy in the state among other media practitioners and scholars.
Ayobolu said most of the critics could not be bothered that these problems were the inheritance from years of military neglect and misrule and could thus not be resolved instantaneously or magically.
