Prince Dapo Abiodun, the governor of Ogun State has appointed Mr Olatokunbo Talabi and Alhaji Shuaib Salisu, as Secretary to the State Government and Chief of Staff respectively.
Abiodun in an e-statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, made available to reporters in Abeokuta, on Saturday, said the new SSG was coming from a rich private sector background, a business development professional, banker and entrepreneur.
He was until his appointment the Chief Executive Officer of Superflux International Limited, a market leader in security printing and hails from Oru-Ijebu in Ijebu North Local Government Area.
The 57-year-old Talabi holds a 1987 Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos and also trained at the Citibank School of Banking, Long Island, New York.
Talabi according to the statement was a pioneer staff of the Guarantee Trust Bank where he worked in several executive positions and equally worked at The Nigerian Economist, gaining insight on product performance, sales, marketing and financial management.
With over 30 years management experience, the new SSG is also a boardroom guru, chairing 6 (six) corporate bodies and serving on the board of 7 (seven) other institutions, including those of Bitflux Communications, Olabisi Onabanjo University Development Foundation, ATCO Limited, Fate Foundation and the City of Knowledge Academy.
Tokunbo Talabi is a prolific writer, who has spoken at many forums across the globe and is the author of the magnum opus, “The Minds Game”. He’s an affiliate of several professional associations, among which are National Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (NASME), Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON) and the Entrepreneurship Development Centre of the Lagos Business School.
While new Chief of Staff, Salisu, is an award-winning information and communications expert and accomplished administrator.
He served as deputy and (later acting) Chief of Staff to former governor Ibikunle Amosun between 2011 and 2014
He holds a 1986 second class (upper) degree in Computer Science of the University of Lagos; from where he also got two masters degrees – an MBA in 2003 and MSc in Computer Science in 2012.
A consummate intellectual, Alhaji Salisu has diverse and extensive knowledge of the corporate world, public service and not-for-profit organisations. A certified business intelligence consultant (CBIC) and a fellow of the Computer Society of Nigeria, he has attended and delivered papers on corporate governance, ICT and management across four continents and is a respected voice in the ICT industry.
He is credited as a pivotal partner in the restoration of the integrity of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) through computer-based tests.
Before then, he led the World Bank project that midwifed the transport sector transformation in Lagos state and was the main ICT consultant in Edo, Ekiti, Kano states and the FCT at different times.
In his previous “incarnation”, Salisu was a banker at the defunct Equitorial Trust Bank and Pacific Merchant Bank.
The 55-year-old CoS had an early career in the Oil and Gas sector and worked variously for Total and Mobil Oil.
Until his appointment as the senior aide to Gov. Abiodun, Alhaji Salisu runs his private company, Simplex Automation System, an IT solutions providing company.
While announcing the appointments, Governor Abiodun expressed optimism that the rich pedigree of the duo and their track record of excellence, commitment and versatility will help his mission to institutionalise good governance, banish poverty and give dividends of democracy to the citizens and residents of Ogun state.
Credit: tribuneonlineng.com
