A Life that Outshone Time, Tribute to Olusegun Awolowo Jr – My Friend, Boss then Brother

I met Mr Awolowo 21 years ago when he worked as Special Assistant to President Obasanjo, just before I joined SERVICOM in the Presidency. We always discussed Nigeria, contemporary world issues and shared jokes. Two years later I resigned from SERVICOM and we kept in touch.
When he was appointed CEO of Nigerian Export Promotion Council in 2013, he laughed at himself, as many would know, because he shared openly, that his eyes had been on NEPZA, Petroleum Equalization Fund, ITF and likes but certainly not NEPC, which he had never heard of. NEPC was a sleeping giant, and I think
Dr Olusegun Aganga, then Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, must have known that if anyone was going to awaken and push it to achieve its potential, it had to be Olusegun Awolowo.

Walking into NEPC for the first time in 2014, I met a construction site, it had been one for decades, the entrance was a storage space, no reception, the stairs to his office on 5th floor were unpaved and had no railings. I recall how he laughed at my statement, “this is a safety hazard”. A week later, he told me he had engaged the contractor, who promised to move back to site. The positive result is the edifice he
left behind – he made things happen!

Among his first visitors was Mr Tony Elumelu, CON who extended the TEF Technical Expertise Support to African governments programme reserved then for Ministers and Presidents to Mr Awolowo. Mine was among the CVs he sent, and I was appointed Technical Adviser to NEPC, as an Elumelu Fellow. This signaled the start of a 7-year journey filled with lessons on transformative leadership encapsulated in 3G’s – Genuine, Generative and Generosity. They were disruptive years – from the 2015 global oil crisis to the
COVID-19 crisis, things were volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous but he was a steady anchor keeping us all confident using one of his most famous phrases ‘Keep Cool and Carry On’.

As a leader, his greatest attribute was listening and he took action! When he was briefed about the looming global oil crisis on his first day at work in January 2015, his generative mind immediately responded with a call to action –
“Non-oil Exports, the next line of defense for the Nigerian Economy”. He called a stand-up town hall meeting, looping in the Regional Offices to transmit the urgency and direction of travel.
He went to work, assembled a team and birthed the Zero Oil Plan. With him, you just give the hint and you will be greeted with a vision that is heavy to carry.

For the next 4 years Mr Awolowo carried the message everywhere, that Nigeria must survive in a world without oil, drawing on his vast network and using every platform in and out of Nigeria to canvass to private organisations, international agencies, States, and FEC. He always had copies of the book with him, there are occasions you’ll find him moving from his seat on flights, before take-off or just as the seatbelt signs are turned off to present the plan to contemporaries and contacts, that was how passionate he was about Nigeria!

In December 2020, the FGN under the National Economic Sustainability Plan gave its largest ever stimulus grant to the non-oil export sector – the Export Expansion Facility Programme. I was overjoyed, this would cement his legacy in non-oil exports. Finally, we had funds to implement the Zero Oil Plan and demonstrate the real potential of the non-oil export sector on scale.
With the use of an ICT enabled grant management platform and an electronic performance dashboard, he ensured the democratization of the grant process for transparency and measurement. The beneficiaries cut across the entire non-oil export eco-system including over 1,000 SMEs, 100s of Women & youth owned businesses, export infrastructure, thousands of farmers, the academia and others. When we presented the Zero Oil Plan and EEFP achievements to the then VP, he said this should be an agency not just a programme, you need an EEFP for Zero Oil Plan to succeed. In testament to the success of the
programme, in 2022 a year later, the non-oil exports value reached $4.82billion, the highest since the establishment of NEPC over 40 years ago.

He was genuine, bold, warm, humorous and himself at every point, an avid reader and a lifelong learner. The testimonials about how different people experienced him are consistent, every contact became a network. His leadership inspired, he was very generous – you got a gift if you visited, you got a gift if he visited and he was very intentional about the gifts he gave.

He enabled presentation of the best of Nigeria to the world; he was an enthusiastic promoter of the ‘brand Nigeria’. From Nigeria cashew -FoodPro, cocoa -Oluji, chocolate –Loom to fashion –Winston, Lelook; Music, theatre – he took them to the world stage. When he heard Egyptians love Fela, he included a mini-
Fela show by Terra Kulture during the Nigeria Night at the first IATF hosted in Cairo, Egypt. He was a great collaborator, always willing to expand the pie to achieve great presence for Nigeria and he had no fears about who took the credit. Little wonder his approach was –
“Forging strategic partnerships to drive
non-oil exports”.

Mr Awolowo had a way of inspiring others, not through authority, but grace, encouragement and well-timed laughter. He attracted respect and admiration. The main institution for Trade Promotion Organisations (TPO) is the International Trade Centre (ITC), which he called the ‘Mother Ship’. At a World TPO Conference
in Marrakech, his colleagues from 2 sub-regional groups left to engage separately with ITC. He inquired and learnt they had their sub-regional networks while West African region had not organised its sub-regional group. Before the conference was over, he had rallied round other West African TPO CEOs and steered the group, eventually leading to the establishment of ECOWAS TPO Network. When it was time
to launch and vote for its 1st President, he was returned unopposed.

Mr Awolowo is indeed a generational legend. As a country, let this lesson not be lost on us. Papa left us a strategy 55 years ago in his book ‘ The Strategy and Tactics of the People’ s Republic of Nigeria’ , his grandson gave us another 10 years ago, ‘The Zero Oil Plan’ , please Nigeria, let us run with these plans.

It’s been difficult since the news of his passing broke, I’m filled with emotions, some of which I cannot express. I was privileged to know him, meeting him in person after reading various features on him, his dear mum, his wedding and his friends on the pages of Prime People Magazine in the late 80s and early 90s all the way in Ahoada. I feel blessed to have worked with him for 7 years, he gave me a platform to
prove myself in an unfamiliar territory, he trusted my advice and valued my input. Every day with him was a lesson of – life, opportunities, world experience, deeper knowledge, networking and dealing with people and situations. We had great days and moments of joyous celebrations with work and our families – graduations, weddings, promotions. There were also trying and tragic moments. We showed up for each other, and he showed up for people. I often joked about how he’s the first only child I know that has countless brothers and sisters.

Time cannot erase the joy, courage, laughter, and wisdom he shared. His legacy lives on in every story, every smile, every life he touched. I honour a friend, a mentor, a colleague, and a man whose energy, generosity, and heart made all of us better.

Thank you, Mr Olusegun Awolowo Jr, our ED, for everything. You will be remembered, celebrated, and carried forward in every life you touched. You have created a strong army of exporters, they are moving forward with your call to make ‘Non-oil exports the next line of defense for the Nigerian economy’!

You were too alive to be gone, it is hard to imagine this world without you. Yet, as time moves forward, your spirit remains. As Shakespeare wrote:

“ And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand, Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.”
My deepest condolences to his family he loved so dearly – his Mum, Wife, Children and Granddaughters.

Adieu my friend, boss and brother. I miss you sorely. Rest in Peace

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Maureen Ideozu
TA 2014 and PC-EEFP, 2021