The President & Chairman of Council of IoD Nigeria, Chief Chris Okunowo  led Members of the Governing Council to pay a courtesy visit to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, M.IoD on November 5, 2019.

 

One of the objectives of the visit was to formally congratulate the Governor, who is also a member of the Institute, on his successful election earlier in March 2019 and to identify with his vision for and giant developmental  strides in Lagos State. Another key objective was to solicit the support and approval of the Governor for an early and expedited approval of the building plan of the Institute on the IoD Head Office, located at No. 8, Temple Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. To this end, the members of the IoD Nigeria delegation on the visit include the following:

1. Chief Chris O. Okunowo, F.IoD            President and Chairman of Council

2. Dr. (Mrs.) Ike Jidenma, F.IoD               1^st Vice President

3. Alhaji Tijani Borodo, F.IoD                    2^nd Vice President

4. Prince Austin Enajemo-Isire, F.IoD        Honorary Treasurer

5. Mrs. Funmi Roberts, M.IoD                    Honorary Legal Adviser

6. Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere, DF.IoD              Past President

7. Mr. Femi Ekundayo, DF.IoD                   Past President

8. Arch. Thomas C. Awagu, DF.IoD            Past President  

9. Chief (Mrs.) Eniola Fadayomi, DF.IoD     Past President

10. Mr. Samuel Yemi Akeju, DF.IoD             Past President

11. Mr. Akin Iroko, F.IoD                              Council Member

13. Mrs. Irene Ubah, F.IoD                           Council Member

14. Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, F.IoD                   Council Member

15. Iyalode Alaba Lawson, F.IoD                  Council Member

16. Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, F.IoD                   Council Member

17. Mr. Dele Alimi, M.IoD,                           Director General/CEO

18. Mr. Kevin Nwanze                                Asst. Director, Research & Advocacy

19. Mr. Kene Nwanegbo                            Asst. Director, Legal & Corporate Services

20. Arch. Olusegun Ladega                      Managing Director, Interstate Architects

21. Prof. F. A. Falade                                  Director, Promaco Associates    

 

The meeting which started at about 2.15pm had the IoD delegation warmly received by the Governor, Mr. Sanwo-Olu and some members of his cabinet. The Governor, in his welcome remarks, appreciated the IoD team for the visit, and thereafter introduced the members of his cabinet present at the meeting, and warmly welcomed the IoD delegation via a formal introduction and acknowledgement of each person and by personally going round to have  a handshake with every member of the IoD Team.

 

In his opening speech, the President and Chairman of Council of IoD Nigeria, Chief Chris Okunowo, thanked His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, Executive Governor of Lagos State for honouring the Institute’s request to pay a Courtesy call on him and for the very warm reception accorded the IoD delegation.

 

He further noted that the Council of IoD Nigeria was very mindful of the busy nature of the office of His Excellency, and accordingly considered the honour of the visit to be a clear and unambiguous manifestation of the high esteem in which the Governor holds the leadership of the Private Sector and his recognition of the important role of IoD Nigeria as a partner with his administration in his untiring quest to deliver good governance to the people of Lagos State.

                                                                            

Continuing, he stated that although the Governor had only been in office for five months, the Institute of Directors Nigeria had seen his dynamism in the various interventions put in place to address the challenges facing the people of Lagos State. While commending the Governor for the bold steps, he admonished him to keep up the level of political will in order to remain consistent.

 

The President & Chairman of Council of IoD Nigeria also noted that Lagos State has been good example in the areas of good governance and the development of human capital and infrastructure, and added that that the Governor had sustained this through the selection of professionals in his cabinet, who IoD Nigeria believes can make the difference in governance in Lagos State. Furthermore, he acknowledged the Governor’s efforts in the areas of security of lives and property of the citizens, improved ease of doing business, attraction of foreign direct investment, self-sustenance and good ethical conduct in the implementation and delivery of government’s projects and services.

 

He also saluted the Governor and his able team for the courage and commitment in building an enduring culture of good corporate governance and ethics in his administration and in the management of the affairs of Lagos State, while noting that he was not surprised at the Governor’s developmental strides, given that the Governor is  a Member of IoD Nigeria.

 

Moreover, he went down history lane and told the Governor how IoD Nigeria started with respect to its first location address at Jibowu Street, Yaba, in 1983 and how it later moved to Elsie Femi Pearse Street in Victoria Island, while adding that from there, the Secretariat of the Institute moved to Ikoyi where, within a few years and through the help of its members and the support of the Federal Government, it acquired a property at 53 Glover Road, Ikoyi, where the Governing Council resolved to build the head office of the Institute.

 

He stated, however, that as the Institute was preparing to commence the construction of its head office in 2014, Transcorp Hotels Plc, which was building its iconic Hilton hotel in Lagos, approached the Institute for a land swap for another location in Ikoyi.  He said that this agreement had been finally consummated and that IoD Nigeria was now ready to build its head office at the swapped location at No 8 Temple Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. He informed the Governor that the plan of the Institute was to construct a modest and contemporary office edifice to enable it accommodate its activities and office administration akin to the international headquarters of IoD UK located at the famous Pall Mall in London, and which would also complement the ongoing infrastructural development of the Governor in Lagos State.

 

Further, he informed the Governor that the Governing Council of the Institute of Directors would like to use the opportunity of the visit to solicit the support and approval of the Governor for an early and accelerated approval of the building plan for the IoD Head Office at No 8  Temple Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, while assuring the Governor that the new IoD House would complement the rapid infrastructural development that his  administration has been pursuing since inception and also assist in complementing the growing beautiful landscape that is now prevalent in the environment.

 

He expressed the wishes of IoD Nigeria to identify with the Governor in his administration’s vigorous pursuit of capacity development in the public sector of Lagos State, and commended the effort of his administration in the area of human capacity development in view of the various seminars, workshops and training programmes that his administration has sponsored on behalf of the numerous members of the state public service.

 

Chief Okunowo noted that indeed, IoD had been privileged to train a number of  Directors and Permanent Secretaries working in the  administration of the Governor and observed that among all the governments in Nigeria, only Lagos State Government and the Federal Government have been the major beneficiaries of IoD’s executive training programmes. He observed that this development explained why the performance of the administration of the Governor far outweighed that of all the other states in the country, while adding that as a result of this relationship, many of the Directors and Permanent Secretaries in the Administration of the Governor have now become eminent members of the Institute of Directors Nigeria.

 

Moreover, and in order for Lagos State to fully consolidate on the benefit of the capacity development programmes of the Institute, he solicited the approval of the Governor  for a further collaboration with his administration for IoD to provide the much needed private sector perspective in improving the capacity of his civil service personnel, while adding that the curriculum of IoD in corporate direction, good governance and visioning would go a long way in enriching Lagos State with a qualitative manpower that is essential in order to sustain the enviable status of Lagos State as the nation’s centre of Excellence.

 

Furthermore, he informed the Governor of the desire of the Institute to partner more with his administration in its entrepreneurship development programme for young business entrepreneurs in Lagos State, while adding that the new programme of the Institute, tagged, “Young Directors Forum” is aimed at inculcating the values of good governance in the nation’s emerging young entrepreneurs, which is deemed to fit perfectly into his administration’s ongoing plan for mentoring young entrepreneurs for business sustainability and employment creation in Lagos State.

 

In his conclusion, he invited the Governor to honour the Institute by performing the Foundation Laying ceremony of the head office building scheduled to hold in December 2019, as well as the Institute’s upcoming flagship end-of-the-year event - the IoD Annual Directors Dinner & Awards, scheduled to hold on Thursday, 12 December 2019 at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos as our Guest of Honour.