The Federal Commissioner representing Kebbi State at the National Population Commission (NPC), Dr. Haliru Bala Jikan-Daudu yesterday expressed excitement over Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s recent appointment of Barrister (Mrs.) Bimbo Salu-Hundeyin as the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG), saying that it has again confirmed that the rare excellence, commitment and patriotism of serving Federal Commissioners at the NPC were being well noticed and considered for higher assignments.
He thanked the governor for exhibiting a rare sense of observation and discovery that Federal Commissioners at the Commission were working hard and attaining targets that qualify them for higher assignments.
Describing Governor Sanwo-Olu move as a courageous act of leadership and statesmanship, he enjoined other highly-placed elected political officeholders and stakeholders across the three tiers of governance in the country to emulate the gesture.
Until her recent widely-applauded appointment and swearing-in by the Lagos State governor as the new SSG replacing Mrs. Folasade Jaji, Mrs. Bimbo Salu-Hundeyin was the immediate past Federal Commissioner representing Lagos State at the NPC. The new Lagos SSG was widely reputed as having conducted a highly successful population digitalization exercise in Lagos State leading to her popular election and emergence in 2019 in Cairo, Egypt as Chairperson of the African Union (AU)- African Population Experts Committee (APEC), a feat that brought immediate glory and honour to Nigeria.
Dr. Haliru Bala Jikan-Daudu, who spoke to select top journalists in Abuja yesterday described Mrs. Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin as a deep, cerebral and highly dependable colleague and national icon whose contributions to the critical plans, projects and entire activities of the National Population Commission in the past six years leading to the present high rating and status of the nation’s population architecture, cannot be forgotten easily.
‘’The new Lagos State SSG, Mrs.Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin was an excellent factor in the NPC not only because of her radiance and chummy looks but by the depth and quality of thinking she offered while she was with us.
”You know in our meetings, I always sat next to her according to the alphabetical arrangement of seats which puts Kebbi next to Lagos in the order of alphabet K to L, so we have sat close to each other for about six years now. I know her well enough to appreciate the depth of this recognition that qualified her for the appointment
‘’She has been such a highly brilliant, focussed, accommodating, detribalized, respectful and resourceful colleague who is a very committed patriot, sincere pan-Nigerian, fantastic team player, dedicated and fair-minded personality that you would always love to be with and share her profound thoughts.
”Here at the National Population Commission, we found her as a focused, result-oriented, reliable and dependable ally. She is truly a poster girl for the unique beauty and radiance of Lagos State. No wonder the state is called the Center of Excellence. We shall surely miss her excellent company.
‘’It may also interest you to know that my colleagues who are Federal Commissioners, we are a special breed of top-rated people who are ready and willing always to answer any national call to serve, we are wired to fit into any higher national calling based on our love for the peace, growth, prosperity and progress of this country particularly now that we have a new highly focused national leadership in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, that has hit the ground running, proving again to naysayers that Nigeria’s major problem is leadership. As a scholar, I know Nigeria’s worst problems can be fixed by leadership at the top. They say the fish shines from the head, the fish also rots from the head. I’m so happy I can see Nigeria rising again for our children and generations yet unborn.
‘’Among my fellow Federal Commissioners are eminent Nigerians comprising former deputy governors, former SSGs, highly peer-reviewed academics and professors of Law, former Heads of Service, former senators, university administrators, astute captains of industry, ambassadors, and what have you. Our chairman, Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwarra, a good man, had repeatedly stated and maintained that Nigerians will be proud of the outcome of the next national and housing census’’, he said.
According to him, having worked alongside excellent icons and patriots like Barrister (Mrs.) Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin for upwards of six years on the national census and housing project, he could see a new nation rising from the ashes and gearing up and gathering momentum to strike again under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose excellent track record as former Lagos State governor established a workable and enduring leadership recruitment base that has become a global reference point.
‘’I schooled at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where I obtained my M.Phil in 2005 and PhD in 2008, I used to know what Lagos was at the time and what it is now, there is a huge difference because of what Governor Bola Tinubu did.
”I will like to advocate that other serious state governors in the country especially those in their first-term in office should consider the possibility and necessity of understudying the workings of Lagos State as a peer review mechanism to lay proper foundation to transform their states and the nation in general.
”I congratulate Governor Sanwo-Olu for picking my eminently qualified dear colleague as his SSG. He will never regret it. I wish her a very successful, impactful and phenomenal tenure’’, he said.
