Ten years ago when he clocked 80, his good old, shoot straight self was more evident than ever.

“I don’t want people to remember me for anything (other) than this was a man who worked hard, and walked straight,” he told This Day in a rare, detailed interview.
That was him in his true elements, saying it as it is, with fervour; always with candour and dignity.

Pa Frank Abiodun Aig-Imoukhuede, the respected and celebrated man of culture and the arts.

Today, Wednesday January 8, 2025, he clocks 90, and not a few in Nigeria’s culture sphere and allied industries will be elated to see a true man of letters; an icon of the culturatti and inded one of the remaining shining stars of arts and literature engage in an authentic dance of the elders.

Journalist, poet, author, thespian and admistrator per excellence, Pa Aig-Imoukhuede is one of those blessed gems who have witnessed Nigeria’s transformation from the last few decades of her colonial era in the 30s, 40s and 50s; and of course all of the intriguing 64 years after independence.
At every point in time since his undergraduate days, he has captured different slices and shades of the country’s journey.

He has, in the process, contributed his own indelible quota to the greatness that Nigeria has achieved among the committee of nations.

Many knew him as a younger brother to the literary matriarch, Mabel Segun, together with whom they are the only surviving siblings from a family of six children.
Many more would know him as the father of the accomplished banker, business man and an art aficionado in his own right, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, the chairman of Access Bank Holdings.

But Pa Aig-Imoukhuede is definitely known and celebrated beyond his family pedigree and progeny.

Until his retirement in 1995 as the Federal Director of Culture, he was a prime go-to man in matters of culture.

I bear witness to his wealth of knowledge, firm but accommodating spirit and his unwavering belief in how and why Nigeria must fulfil her potential as a uniquely blessed country.

As a young reporter with The Guardian in the mid 1990s, Pa Imoukhuede was an unrivalled resource bank for journalists, especially on federal matters.

His younger colleague, Oba Gbenga Sonuga (now the Fadesewa of Simawa, in Makun, Sagamu Ogun State) was another reliable source while he the Director of Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture and later Founder/CEO of International Centre for the Arts, Lagos (ICAL).

But Pa Imoukhuede was helpful to me beyond a couple of interviews he granted The Guardian.

He was one of the key people that graciously granted my request for an interview when I was writing the biography of a special cultural icon, my grand uncle, who was the late Ashipa of Ibadanland, High Chief (Dr.) John Adeyemi Ayorinde.

Pa Imoukuede’s recollection of Papa Ayorinde was captured on Page 124 in Chapter 9 of my book, “Abokede: The Man, The Hill, The City”, published in conjunction with the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan in 2011.

My grand uncle was one of the key people that Pa Imoukhuede served with on the same committee during the hosting of the FESTAC in 1977 and while he was Secretary at the National Council for Arts & Culture (NCAC).
His views as captured in the book reads in part: ” I was co-opted into the committee through my boss, Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye, while I was at NCAC. I believe Papa J.A Ayorinde was appointed into the NCAC Board to represent Traditional Institutions. His deep knowledge of culture, clothing and traditional institution must have greatly endeared him to the authorities.”

His larger views on FESTAC are the stuff that words on marble are made of:
” FESTAC did a lot for the black man. It was a symbol that brought 59 countries of the world together. It was the biggest event for the black man in the last century. It has symbols such as the National Theatre, Festac Town, Durbar Hotel and so on.”

It is worthy of note that Pa Imoukhuede did not just jump into matters of culture.
Culture found him from a tender age!
He was born on January 8, 1935 in Edunabon, near Ile Ife, in the old Western Region (now in Edo State) as the fourth child of the family. But he lost his father, Isiah Aigbovbioise Imoukhuede early in life. He was only three-years-old when his father passed on, leaving him (with his other sibblings) in the care of his mother, Madam Eunice Ovbialeke Imoukhuede, a hard-working trader who ensured that all her children had University education.

Although his father departed early, he picked at least four major legacies from his dad.

A legacy of quality education.
Legacy of ecumenical service that saw the good Reverend Imoukhuede adding to the pioneering work of spreading the gospel through many communities of the old Western Region.

The legacy of bloodline of royalty and nobility, traceable from Oba Ozolua the Great, who was the founder of the Sabongida Ora’s family ancestral homestead. He ruled Benin in the 15th century.

And of course he picked from his father the legacy of respect for heritage and love for creativity and the arts.

His father was credited with the popular Yoruba children’s song: “Iwe kika, laisi oko, koi pe o…” (education without farming is inadequate).

From Edunabon to Ila Orangun where he also lived with his mother and where he encountered the Fakeye family of carvers; to Lagos, then Ibadan and back to Lagos, the good legacies that his father left would later shape his life’s trajectory as a cultured, creative and forthright gentleman.
He got to Lagos in 1947 with innate love for things of culture. “I used to watch the annual festivals in those days,” he pnce said in a newspaper interview. “In a way my experience living in several places influenced my passion for culture.”

He attended Igbobi College between 1950 and 1954, during which time he was a member of the College Cricket 11. Those were the good old days when education in public schools was not complete without sports arenas, including inter-house sports; literary and debating societies; functional science laboratories and excellent curriculum.

Young Frank Aig-Imoukhuede continued playing the gentleman’s sport at the University College, Ibadan where he enrolled to study English and would later graduate with honours in 1961.

He was a valued member of the University Cricket Team and won several international caps.

He was also a member of the University Hockey Team.

But University College Ibadan certainly did more for him than provide sporting activities.

It was at UCI that he honed his writing and theatrical skills.

He wrote, directed and acted in several plays, some staged at first in the dinning hall.

It is said that his was the first play penned by a Nigerian to be staged by the Arts & Theatre group of the University.
He would later lead the University Graduating Procession with his buddy, Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate, who celebrated his own 90th last July.

It was not a surprise that both were involved in leading socio-cultural confraternity in campus and were welcoming to Robert Mugabe, who would later become the President of Zimbabwe (formerly Rodesia) when he had a stint at UCI.

But UCI sharpened Pa Aig-Imoukhuede’s somewhat revolutionary mien too.

He once protested the practice of Nigerian students playing the parts of animals in the classic university plays while their white lecturers had the good speaking roles.
His student political activism had peaked as soon as he arrived on campus.

Not surprisingly, he did not take the back seat, when almost two thousand students on campus led a major protest against the British Prime Minister at the time, Harold Macmillan, who had suddenly appeared at the university library one memorable day in 1958.

“It was the time of the atomic bomb in the Sahara desert”, Pa Aig-Imoukhuede, once recalled. “So we were politically alert. We were holding Independent movements and all that.”

The former British Prime minister, who incidentally was known as ‘SmartMac’ in England in those days, had to be rushed into a waiting car, hiting his head i the car in the process, to escape the wrath of the students in Ibadan.

That was years before ‘Ali Must Go’ protest; way before the protest that caught the late business mogul, Chief Arisekola Alao, at the University of Ibadan, and decades before the social-media driven #endsars protest by Nigerian youths in October 2020.

Upon graduation, his first job was with Radio Nigeria Service as Planning Officer to the Controller of National Programmes.
He also explored television briefly when he produced ‘Focus’ a documentary of Western Nigerian Government Programmes.

He worked with the Daily Express Newspaper as a journalist, thereby becoming arguably the first graduate of a Nigerian University to be hired by a local newspaper.

In 1962, he moved from full-time journalism to join the Nigerian Civil Service when he was appointed as Information Officer for the Western Region.

But then he continued to write columns for a couple of newspapers and magazines, including SPEAR and Modern Woman magazine.
In 1963, he was assigned to the Federal Unit as a Scriptwriter, a position he held till 1971.

During that time, he scripted the popular radio series: ‘Save Journey’, ‘Oga Mr. Councillor’ and ‘Constable Joe’ among others.

He also penned several radio plays that were performed to popular acclaim in Ibadan and Lagos.

Of course Lagos played a central role in his illustrious career as a civil servant and he has fond memories of the city that his grandchildren would probably be referring to as ‘Lasgidi’ today.

” We had all sorts of things happening at that time. Lagos was clean. We used to race in the gutter with matchboxes. We would make a shape out of it and we would run after it until we got to Marina.

“When I began my career, my office was opposite the Cathedral, the magazine section. That was when we started the cultural division and Marina was a bit different from what we have now.”

In 1964, he went on a post-graduate diploma course at Poona Film Institute in India, to study Cinenatography. His script at the Institute earned him a gold prize before proceeding to win another award at the maiden edition of the African and Asiant Film Festival.

Poetry had a sweet taste for him, especially the ones he wrote in pidgin. For their quality, he got them published in respected pioneer literary journals like the Black Orpheus (1964); The Horn and his major collection ‘Pidgin Stew and Sufferhead.’
His promotions and impact became steady in the ’70.

From becoming the first ever Cultural Officer of the Federal Civil Service in 1971 and rising to the position of Principal Cultural Officer in 1975, he had become something of a force in Nigeria’s culture landscape.

He practically supervised Nigeria’s entries and exhibitions during FESTAC.

Between 1975 and 1988, he held the post of Director at NCAC and the annual competitive National Festival of Arts & Culture (NAFEST).

The big one eventually came his way in 1988 when he was appointed the Federal Director of Culture, a position he held until his retirement in 1995.

Few people have made matters of culture and creativity their full menu like Pa Aig-Imoukhuede. And he’s been somewhat relentless, even in retirement.

If he’s not serving on the Board of several government and non-governmental agencies, he is presiding over committees and councils, or attending conferences.

He has remained a veritable resource, post-retirement, to the parastatals that were created from the old directorates of culture.

With dedication and integrity, he has played useful roles as culture and heritage specialist as well as arts and tourism consultant, including making contributions to the Niger Delta Development Plan, among other initiatives.

In retirement, he chaired the review of Nigerian Film Policy, even as many years in retirement saw him attending conferences and making presentations and being involved in legacy-making documentations.

This will naturally include the writing of “A Calendar of Nigerian Traditional Festivals” and “Between God and Man: Meaning and Essence of Traditional Festivals.”
In the last 10 years, quite remarkably, he has continued writing and documenting Nigerian culture, exploring etymology of our ethnicity and interacting with old friends like Demas Nwoko and Bruce Onabrakpeya in similar endeavours.

Not surprisingly, he has aso found ample time for exhibitions at the Coronation Gallery, his son’s (Aigboje) arthouse in Lagos.

In fact, after the last exhibition at The Coronation, he was said to have remarked that although the exhibition was well-curated, but was lacking the works of “masters” that he would have loved to see.
His verdict, therefore: he must be invited to all the Coronation Gallery exhibitions.
That’s vintage Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, the quintessential artman who joins the league of nonagenarians today and will later in the year celebrate his 60th wedding anniversary to his childhood love, Emily Ofovwe, with whom they share four children who “have made me a proud father”: Erekpitan, a University don; Aigboje the indefatigable banker; Oluwakemi a business tycoon and education entrepreneur and Aigbovbioise, a stock broker.

“At times people used to say I’m proud. Well, how can a man who is proud be also full of humility?” He asks rhetorically.
He shoots straight, yet again, but with wise nuggets. “Life is about knowing where you are going and being focused!”
Happy birthday to this refined gentleman from Sabongida Ora who finds, and shares, values in culture.

Ayorinde, a journalist, author and TV Host, is former Commissioner for Information, Culture & Tourism in Lagos State

Welcome on board WT-2025. As we journey through this year 2025, may we all be blessed with the wisdom that is sufficient and similar to that of King Solomon to navigate its twists and turns. First, Let’s understand what wisdom is. Wisdom is the ability to make a good decision or judgement based on the knowledge, experience and understanding. In addition, wisdom can’t be given and is only grudgingly learned as exemplified by some of our offsprings.

Furthermore, wisdom is the culmination of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Knowledge can be learned and judgement is a function of intelligence and forethought but experience must be gained first hand. Wikipedia defines wisdom as “Wisdom or sapience is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight, especially in a mature or utilitarian manner”. So basically, the road of excess represent information, the more information you’ll have the closest you’ll get to the place of Wisdom. It’s sort of like Jesus’s parable of the talents. You are responsible to do well with what you are given. Ironically, life is full of twist and turn - nonetheless, wisdom comes from experience and self reflection. 

Essentially, wisdom is when you stop thinking about yourself solely and more so as “Us.” Mathew 7:7–8 “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: 8 For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks shall finds.” To me wisdom is when you can think clearly and act accordingly. You do not act on emotions but rather rationalize the outcome you want and works toward it.

Similarly, the wise man Solomon wrote, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Prov. 18:22). A good marriage is a great blessing and is the foundation of a healthy, happy home. Too many people take their marriage for granted. This is some parts of wisdom for marriage. It is important to embody empathy, compassion, love, kindness, humility, and understanding towards one another, however, doing so comes with experience and faith. Each partner develops mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In marriage, two individuals become a team by growing together.

Following from the above, a wise person knows that he does not know everything. He uses this as an opportunity to learn, making him all the more wise. Therefore, I'd like to share with my esteemed readers one of the feedback that I received some days back on the subject of WISDOM:

"Oga Richard, again Happy New Year; and thanks for sharing (this) your reflection which offers a thoughtful and insightful perspective on the distinction between wisdom and knowledge, and it highlights the importance of prioritizing wisdom in the coming year. 

I have a few comments on your thoughts:

 1) Wisdom vs. Knowledge: You're absolutely right that wisdom and knowledge are not the same. While knowledge is about gathering facts, information, and understanding specific subjects, wisdom is about how to apply that knowledge effectively and seeing the bigger picture. Wisdom often involves making sound judgments based on experience, understanding, and a deep awareness of life's complexities.

 2) Reinventing the Wheel: Your mention of wisdom coming from experience, often referred to as "reinventing the wheel," is an interesting point. While it’s true that wisdom can be learned through personal trial and error, it’s also valuable to learn from others’ experiences, which can help avoid unnecessary mistakes and accelerate personal growth. In many ways, seeking wisdom from others’ insights helps us expand our own understanding and gain wisdom more efficiently.

 3) Insight and Connection: The idea that wisdom is connected to deeper insight—seeing everything in a more profound way—is very powerful. Wisdom is about connecting with experiences at a deeper emotional and intellectual level, not just understanding them at face value. This deeper connection can lead to greater empathy, compassion, and personal growth, allowing us to make better choices and contribute positively to the lives of others.

 4) Prioritizing Wisdom: Your call to prioritize wisdom in 2025 is both timely and essential. In a world filled with overwhelming amounts of information, wisdom becomes increasingly important in helping us navigate complex situations and make decisions that are not just informed, but also thoughtful, balanced, and compassionate. Wisdom can guide us through difficult decisions, personal challenges, and help us make a lasting positive impact on the world.

 5) The Book of Wisdom: The reference to the Wisdom of Solomon from the biblical tradition adds a spiritual and philosophical dimension to your point. The Book of Wisdom emphasizes the pursuit of wisdom as a divine gift that offers profound understanding of life, the world, and our purpose. It’s a reminder that wisdom is not just intellectual but also has a spiritual and moral component that guides us toward a better, more ethical life.

    To conclude, your reflection beautifully encapsulates the importance of seeking and prioritizing wisdom as we enter 2025. Wisdom not only enriches our lives personally but also has the potential to transform our communities and the world at large, if we approach it with humility, empathy, and openness. May this new year be one of growth, learning, and deepening wisdom for all of us."

Again, thank you for sharing

 (_adeABANIDA_)

In conclusion, I like to share with you, the profound words of Aristotle, an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. Yes, Aristotle said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. This quote suggests that understanding your own strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs is essential for gaining wisdom and living a fulfilling life. Knowing thyself is a dynamic, life long process. Yes, that is how the wisdom begins.

Finally, as a people in a nation, facing difficult times, it can be helpful to focus on gratitude, surround oneself with supportive people, and engage in activities that bring us joy. Personally, during tough times, I find solace in practicing mindfulness and self-care. Taking time for myself, whether it's through meditation, exercise, or pursuing hobbies, helps me stay positive. Remember, it's important to be kind to yourself and seek support when needed.

Richard Odusanya

odusanyagold@gmail.com

‘’With long life I satisfy him and show him my salvation’’ Psalm 91:16

One of Nigeria’s preeminent public servants; celebrated journalist, writer, artist and poet, Frank Abiodun Aig-Imoukhuede, OON, turns 90 on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, a significant milestone in a long and chequered life. His family is rolling out the drums to celebrate him for his unparalleled attainments and memorable contributions to Nigeria. Uncle Frank, as he is fondly called by friends, associates and family, including the children, has been a household name in contemporary Nigerian arts sector in the last five decades, having played prominent roles in the organization of FESTAC’77; the conception and building of the National Arts Theatre in Lagos and the formation of National Council of Arts and Culture, among others. He’s been practically involved in every aspect of the Nigerian art form right from the end of the civil war, either as an administrator, collector, curator or connoisseur.  

In his younger days, inspired by his father, Rev. Isaiah Aig-Imoukhuede who created the popular Yoruba children’s song, ‘’Iwe kiki, l’ai si oko’’; Uncle Frank was a prolific song writer, a playwright who wrote several radio plays; a sculptor who won many prizes; a musician who played many instruments; a poet who wrote many poems, mostly in Pidgin English; a story teller; photographer, who owned a dark room and a collector who kept many Nigerian artifacts at home. ‘’Our home was like many galleries; he had musical instruments from all over Africa; collected artifacts and even comics. In a week, he would buy up to 25 comics for every age group, and would read all of them’’, recalls first child, Prof Erekpitan Ola-Adisa, a professor of Architecture at the University of Jos, in an hour-long conversation with me. She continued: ‘’my dad thought that I was going to turn out as an artist; he introduced me to his friends who were artists, people like Ben Enwonwu; but even though I ended up cutting a different path, I am proud to say that what he taught me long ago has had immense impact on my career. I am very close to him; he mentored me; encouraged me and I can say that my professional growth was influenced by him’’.

Dark complexioned, tall with sharp facial features, she is a spitting image of her father. ‘’My dad found a kindred spirit in my mother’’, she continued, remembering her mother who passed away in June 2021. Pastor (Mrs) Emily Aig-Imoukhuede was also an art aficionado, who built one of the first private galleries in Lagos. A former President of Nigerian Council of Women Societies (NCWS), she was also a Minister during the Babangida regime. Ola-Adisa describes her father as a fearless man of strong convictions who raised his children on the core values of honesty and hard work.

Uncle Frank was born to Rev. Isaiah Aigbovbioise and Eunice Aig-Imoukhuede in Edunabon, in what is now Ife North LGA of Osun State., fifth child of six children. But he became the last child when two of his siblings died in infancy. Three short years later, his father died, leaving the young Frank in the care of his mother who ensured that he was well educated up to university level. Uncle Frank was born into royalty and nobility traceable from Oba Ozolua the Great, founder of the Sabongida Ora family ancestral homestead, who ruled Benin in the 15th century. Little wonder that he grew up to become Nigeria’s repository of culture and arts. A loving family man, he sired four children who are successful in their chosen fields. Following the professor is Aigboje, banker and philanthropist. Next is Mrs Kemi Balogun, known as the Servant Leader of Rebirth Ministry with members from all of Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world and married to the well-known stockbroker and capital market operator, Bolaji Balogun. The last is Aigbovbioise, who works in financial advisory and is named after his grandfather.

Over the Christmas holidays and well into January, the family has been busy putting together a reception to celebrate the new nonagenarian who had bequeathed so much for the children. In return, they adore him for varied reasons. ‘’He was a good disciplinarian who taught me how to be independent very early in life’’, said last child Aigbovbioise, Managing Director of Coronation Asset Management Limited. ‘’My dad taught me how to pay NEPA bill when I was 9 years old; and when I was in primary school, he made me pay my school fees on my own – he would give me his First Bank cheque; I would take it to the branch at Apongbon, near Marina, withdraw the cash; take it to school in Ikoyi and pay my school fees. I can say that he taught me the first principle of financial planning or planning for life which is cutting one’s coat according to its size. My dad was very particular about living within one’s means’’, he recalls with that last-born excitement. ‘’My older siblings used to act my father’s plays on TV; but my interest was reading the many comics he collected’’. Besides, Aigbovbioise enjoyed his father’s company during his travels around western Nigeria. ‘’He would take me along on his trips to Ibadan; Abeokuta, and all around most of southern Nigeria’’, he added.

The relationship between a young woman and her husband’s parents could be complicated in many ways, for many reasons. But for his daughter-in-law, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Uncle Frank is a role model, a repository of family history, humorist and a story teller. Married to first son Aigboje means she would have to curate a special relationship with the old man. Herself a daughter of a prominent Urhobo public servant, Senator Fred Brume, Mrs Aig-Imoukhuede calls his father-in-law grandpa and holds him in high esteem and immense admiration.

 ’’When I first met him, he seemed an imposing and distant figure who did not suffer fools gladly. However, as I got to interacting with him more, I found out that he was a deeply intelligent and personable family-oriented man, who has passion for Nigeria’s culture and art; and is keen to share them with everyone around him’’, she told me candidly. She added matter-of-factly: ‘’He is a repository of family history, and loves to tell stories of the Imoukhuede and Aig-Imoukhuede families, making sure that we all know who is who and sharing insights into the various family personalities. He also delights in studying all his grandchildren and revealing ways in which they are similar to family members who are no longer with us. As an avid art lover, he particularly enjoys talking about art with his grandchildren and encouraging their artistic pursuits.’’ Uncle Frank has 17 grandchildren, some of whom are budding writers whose writing skills can easily be traced to his inputs.

Mrs Aig-Imoukhuede is executive vice chairman of Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, a charity she founded with her husband in 2015. Svelte and soft spoken, she speaks passionately about her relationship with her father-in-law. ‘’He treats me very nicely, with love and affection; I have learned so much from him. I learned the importance of family from him and the essence of remembering our roots. I also came to appreciate the amazing culture of our country, much of which seems to be ignored or hardly talked about. Through his stories, I discovered a Nigeria that I had never encountered before, one that is rich with beautiful traditions that deserve to be celebrated more. Nigerians definitely need more people like him; people who help us to remember our traditions and keep them alive. His amazing books in which he catalogued Nigerian culture are vitally important and should be featured on coffee tables around the world’’. 

Uncle Frank grew up in Yaba with other young men who later achieved their own respective renown. The Petgraves; the Fowlers; and the late Otunba Subomi Balogun, to mention a few. Today, they are related in marriage. Aigbovioise's wife, Funke, is Tunde Fowler's daughter while Otunba Balogun's son, Bolaji, is married to Uncle Frank's daughter, Kemi. 

In 2006, President Olusegun Obasanjo bestowed the Order of the Niger (OON) National Award on Uncle Frank in acknowledgement of his immense contributions to the development of Nigeria’s art and culture. He deserves more: an honourary doctorate degree from one of our universities and a road in Abuja, Lagos or Benin named after him would be a fitting recognition. The children should come together and write his biography, for his has been a life of virtue, integrity and enlightened thinking.

This piece was meant to be my address and reflection during a planned courtesy visit in 2024 to the Federal Civil Service Commission of my old boss, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, commander of the federal republic (CFR), former Head of Service of the Federation, former SGF and Hon. Minister, Ajiyan Katagum, and Chairman of the Governing Council, Ahmadu Bello Univerity, Zaria; a visit, which objective indeed had achieved by other means. When a personality like Mahmud Yayale Ahmed decides to pay a visit to an organization like the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) to honour his mentee, then such a visit is far from being a mere courtesy visit. Such visitation generates reflections and discourses, and activate possibilities. That is the kind of personality Yayale Ahmed is. And such visit especially to the FCSC carries both the burden of administrative history and reform possibilities. Yayale Ahmed was not just my former boss, he is also a veritable mentor; I owe a significant portion of my trajectory into becoming a bureaucrat-scholar-reformer to his mentorship. He had a fundamental impact in shaping my foray into the maelstrom of public service institutional reform programme management in the federal service. Having such an old boss visit his boy at the FCSC is an event in itself, one that is sufficient to make me tremble at the possible comments I would receive.

However, when he is visiting in his capacity as the national chairman of the Council for Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS), the matter becomes even more critical. CORFEPS is the association of retired administrative professionals that has been throwing the weight of its institutional memory and competences behind the ongoing efforts to transform the dwindling status and reputation of public administration and the capacity readiness of the public service in Nigeria. Thus, when CORFEPS meets FCSC, we are already not only laying the templates for all hands to be on deck, but also articulating the critical historical and administrative records that must undergird the necessity of institutionally rehabilitating Nigeria’s public administration architecture. 

When CORFEPS held its maiden colloquium on 5-7 March, 2024, and had in attendance the administrative bigwigs—from HRM Olu Falae to Amb. Babagana Kingibe and, Dr. Bukar Usman, as lead speaker—the association demonstrates that the past administrative leadership cannot be retired out of the collective responsibility of institutional reform that the public administration and public service sorely need in Nigeria. Indeed, that maiden colloquium brought a new energy into the functionality of the communities of practice and service—retired heads of service and permanent secretaries at both the federal and state levels, platforms of retired directors, pensioners, Nigerian Association of Public Administration and Management (NAPAM), etc.—and the strategic and restorative responsibility for the institutional repositioning of public administration as a noble vocation in Nigeria. And the fundamental objective is clear: how the Nigerian public administration framework, and the public service system, can be reformed to jumpstart Nigeria’s strategic inclusion in the fourth industrial revolution and its implication for infrastructural development to service the wellbeing of Nigerians. 

In this piece, my objective is to insert the administrative personality of Mahmud Yayale Ahmed into the reform trajectory of the Nigerian civil service system during the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency. This is with the aim of filling out some missing gaps in the reform experiment at the commencement of Nigeria’s democratic governance in 1999. His proactive role as an institutional reformer par excellence also constitutes the occasion to ask fundamental question about the capacity of the civil service system to reform itself. This will eventually not only provide a historical and administrative basis for situating his significance in Nigeria’s reform progress, but also his current role as the chairperson of CORFEPS and its ongoing efforts to backstop restorative institutional reform.

The years between 2000 and 2007 were significant in Nigeria’s administrative and reform history because they present a moment of a major paradigm shift in change management praxis that contributed a fundamental template of reform progress to Nigeria’s reform architecture and achievements. And Yayale Ahmed was right in the centre of the critical efforts to lay the foundation of a world class civil service institution for the Nigerian state. It was at a critical juncture that Yayale Ahmed took over the rein of administrative affairs of a civil service system that had weathered several reform commissions and reports meant to translate the fortunes of the system into concrete administrative advances that Nigerians can relate with in terms of service delivery. The Udoji Commission (1974), Dotun Phillips Study Team (1984) and Ayida Review Panel (1994), all attempted to ground the public service on a pedestal of managerial efficiency and effectiveness that delivers the goods and the services. 

When I met Yayale Ahmed, it was right in the midst of the unfolding reform efforts at making sense of the public service system within Nigeria’s democratic experiment. He was the permanent secretary at the federal ministry of education when I was the head of the policy division, as well as the special assistant to Prof. Tunde Adeniran who later mentioned me to his successor (the late Prof. Babalola Borishade). I was later introduced by the late Prof. Akin Mabogunje to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who then seconded me, on the strength of my articulation through a concept note of the institutional reform challenges and direction of the civil service, to serve as the technical head of the secretariat of the strategy team located within the Management Services Office. I report directly to the permanent secretary, late Mr. O. O. Oyelakin, who reports directly to the head of Service, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed. 

Given the reputation of someone that the president, Olusegun Obasanjo, referred to as “Mr. Civil Servant,” his in-depth grounding in the dynamics of the system, as well as the crucial understanding of the democratic imperative underlying institutional change, Yayale Ahmed was able to courageously articulate a reform methodology that jumpstarted a new era of administrative reforms in Nigeria. In 2001, as the second phase of the implementation of the Ayida Report was underway, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed faced the federal executive council presided over by President Olusegun Obasanjo, and boldly asserted that the civil service possessed the sufficient resident capacity to diagnose its institutional debilitation, articulate a reform strategy and oversee its own reform. And this revolutionary declaration was coming at a time when skeptics were not sure anything good could ever come out of the civil service. 

Indeed, I strongly believed that it was part of the determination to prove the strength of his conviction about the system’s capability to reform itself that facilitated the broadminded learning and proactive space that led to the institutional and professional maturation of someone like me and my eventual transformation into a bureaucrat-scholar. What I mean to say is that under Yayale Ahmed’s watch, I saw the evolution and full maturation of my growing research expertise that came at a crucial point when the diagnostic study and strategic development of the reform methodology was unfolding. No wonder therefore that it was under his ambitious, firm and visionary headship that one of the largest reform programs in the annals of change management in Nigeria was successfully implemented.  

Yayale Ahmed’s stature as a public servant cannot be properly decided outside of the reform architecture during his time as the head of service. Indeed, his reputation is tied in with the establishment and fortune of the Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR) which is supposed to be the arrowhead of the courageous assertion that the civil service is able to diagnose and reform itself. The BPSR was established in 2003 as the lead reform implementation and monitoring coordinating agency armed with the objective of managing and sustaining service-wide reforms agenda of the Obasanjo administration, while also ensuring that the reform mandate was implemented in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the operational units carrying out government business. The three major justification for the existence of the BPSR are:

›   The need to create a clearing house, a one-stop-shop of a sort, where all stakeholders could receive information and guidance on all the reform programmes of the Federal Government;

›      The strong conviction that the reforms objectives will not be realized in the long term, through an ad-hoc committee or task force; and

›      The need to have an “engine room” that is enabled with the required capability and resources to leverage on local and international knowledge networks and communities of public administration best practices, to support policy, institutional and governance reform processes with required expertise, and good practices on an on-going basis (http://www.bpsr.gov.ng/index.php).  

However, the trajectory of the operational dynamics of the BPSR since 2007 has been less than optimal. And so, the question of whether it has been able to live up to its mandate is a difficult one to answer. And this is because of so many crippling circumstances, bureaucratic and political, that attended its operations. Since 2008, the capacity of the BPSR to manage and sustain institutional reforms has been stunted. For instance, by transferring its supervision from the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) to the OSGF, its mandate was though expanded from being confined solely to the core civil service rather than the wider public service, but at that it lost the required professional supervision it needs so badly to function. And it also implies that it would henceforth be managed as an appendage of the OSGF rather than as an active player in the few significant initiatives that have taken place in the civil/public service since then.

Reform efforts before the BPSR have always been hampered by an oscillation between comprehensiveness and selectivity in the choice of methodology for pushing reform through. And that indecisiveness also played out within the operational dynamics of the BPSR. But then the many attempts at pushing the BPSR into strategic irrelevance could not diminish a paradigmatic reform methodology: there was a decisive transition away from a decade of episodic structural review of the civil service system to a methodological perception of administrative reform as one trajectory of continuous learning and incremental improvement. And this is where the BPSR proved its most fundamental importance in providing the organizing framework for enhancing this paradigmatic reform methodology. It did this by developing a generic guideline for restructuring, streamlining and monitoring the operational bases of the MDAs. 

Pilot MDA reforms were carried out as basis for measuring and documenting the administrative challenges confronted by the public service that undermine its performance efficiency. The pilot study also enabled the scaling up of the reform implementation strategy to other MDAs at: (a) service-wide systemic reform level, (b) the MDAs’ specific level which entails the implementation of performance improvement plans and the deepening and consolidation of reforms as it concerns cross-cutting reform programs with instruments such as challenge and performance improvement funds, and (c) the implementation of such reform programs as pension reform, national health insurance scheme, statistical reform, pay reform, SERVICOM, to name just a few. 

It was therefore from broad-based analyses of the fundamental assumptions, presuppositions, indications, deductions and findings from the pilot MDAs study that generated the initiatives for designing and firming up the irreducible national strategy for public service reform (NSPSR). The document constitutes a fundamental reform blueprint for articulating the trajectory of reform management in Nigeria. The significance of the NSPSR derives from the host of reform initiatives and achievements that its methodological emergence made possible, especially post-Yayale Ahmed. I could mention a few. There was the finalization of the African Public Service Charter that encompass a continental administrative blueprint around which the NSPSR could also be mainstreamed. There was also a concerted and genuine effort to resurrect the National Association for Public Administration and Management (NAPAM) which fell through because of a lack of push-through by the bureaucratic leadership. We cannot but mention the service-wide significance of the tenure policy and the concern to contain the exploding but unsustainable institutional redundancies that birthed the Oronsaye panel on the rationalization of agencies and parastatals that became a poster initiative for the post-Obasanjo reform era. That reform policy is still the focal point of every effort to deal with the cost of governance problem that bedevils the public service. We must also signal the introduction of the ministerial scorecard as a managerial strategy for performance management under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. This is complemented by other initiatives like online training programme which has been expanded into the formidable Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme (LEAD-P). 

In retrospect, the courage displayed by Yayale in insisting that the civil service possesses the capacity to reform itself, and the series of administrative incidences that attended the BPSR’s effort to championing that argument, only makes the issue even more cogent. All across the world, there are healthy scepticism around the possibility of a bureaucracy leading its own administrative reform. And the jury is still out on whether the Yayale Ahmed’s leadership of the civil service was able to undermine that skepticism enough given the undercurrent of the battle-royal between the federal service and the economic management team during the president Obasanjo second-term. And this generates more questions and discourses that public administration theorists and institutional reformers in Nigeria cannot run away from. Institutional reform in Nigeria always appears Sisyphean, as if the reformers are confronted with the task of rolling the boulder of administrative reform up a hill only to watch it roll back down perpetually. So, why is the task of institutional reform a series of motions without many substantive movements? In concrete terms, why is it the case that despite the numerous service-wide reform initiatives from 1999 to date, the federal civil service system is still, on balance, progressively declining in some critical performance indicators and parameters that overall, limit its capability readiness to sustain service delivery to Nigerians? 

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the French satirist, once remarked: ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In change management terms, this is a crippling observation that not only inhibit the capacity of the system to backstop Nigeria’s democratic governance, but also gloss over, in an unfair manner, the enormous and paradigmatic efforts of institutional reformers like my old boss, Yayale Ahmed. I am however optimistic that Nigeria’s change management discourse will receive a new lease on life. For one, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed is not one to give up easily. His chairmanship of CORFEPS is just one significant indication of that. Second, the collaboration between CORFEPS and the Federal service, if concretized, portends a fundamental direction that brings the institutional experiences of retired permanent secretaries and heads of service in critical conversation with successive serving administrative leadership in time and space to move the civil service forward. This is why I am excited that my old boss had chosen to reach out to his mentee at the FCSC the way he did.