RUTH OMOSAYIN
Thousands of goodwill messages poured in as former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Presidency, Prince Olusola Akanmode clocked 70 years on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.
But two of the goodwill messages that stood out among others were those from two Military Governors he worked with as a senior Civil Servant in the position of Permanent Secretary in Kwara and Secretary to the State Government(SSG) in Kogi State respectively.
See quotable quotes from their comments below:
“As the Director General of Government House,Sola,you were a vibrant young officer in your
forties, with a razor sharp mind who brought to bear on the job the knowledge and experience of
a much, much older person. You were a highly articulate,committed,dutiful and enterprising staff.
These attributes would endear you to so many of your colleagues and fellow staff officers in the
governor’s office and. indeed the entire State Government at that time. But perhaps most
importantly,was the Chief Executive who appreciated you most, so much that when the time came
to let the indigenous of the newly created Kogi State leave Kwara for their new state, it was an uphill
task and a huge challenge to allow you among others to leave. This was, despite the fact that you
were equally being sought after by the new state(Kogi)”.
General(Dr) Alwali Jauji Kazir(Rtd)
Governor, Kwara State, 1990-1991
The occasion of your 70th birthday”brought me to reminisce on how we met on the night of 26/27 September 1991 when I arrived Lokoja to set up a new state with new administrative structure fused from two states of Benue and Kwara with two different characteristics, aspirations and intrigues. With all these challenges, you stood out and I grabbed your intelligence fitness which helped me tremendously in navigating through the process of setting up an administration”…
” If you can remember, you were the only person I recommended to my successor when I was leaving because you earned such recommendation. You did not disappoint me at any time in all your subsequent career path even though we drifted apart”.
Brig Gen Danladi M Zakari (Rtd)
Pioneer Military Governor, Kogi State
1991