User:Omooba Dotun Babayemi/sandbox

BABAYEMI:A TECHNOCRAT IN POLITICS

Omooba Dotun Babayemi, is a pragmatic and enigmatic individual whose life is encased in royalty and was born on Monday,5th December, 1966.

The now renowned ODB as fondly called by friends and admirers, had the privilege of an aristocratic background, having been born by late Oba Dr Solomon Oyewole and Olori Florence Ajoke Babayemi. His father was the 8th monarch, the Olufi of Gbongan in Ayedade Local Government area of Osun State.

His mother, the late strong-willed matriarch of Babayemi, was equally a Princess born to Prince Benjamin Oyediran Afolabi of Idowu Akinwowo Ruling House, Isale-Ola, in Ipetumodu, Ife North Local Government area of the state.

He was brought up in the best cultural practices and mores; well groomed by his parents and had the privilege of having sound and quality education within and outside Nigeria.

Despite the labyrinth along his voyage, he has been able to weather the storm, providing the opportunity for him to have high-profiled engagements and rise in corporate business endeavours.

Babayemi, the man imbued with an unequalled 'we-can-do-it' spirit, has an amazing resilience that seemingly is out of this world. He's a goal-getter who strikes a balance in the management of men and resources.

A welfarist to the core; it is instructive to note that he is ever consistent in his commitment towards impacting on his immediate environment and the people he comes across on a daily basis regardless of their background, tribe, religion, belief or creed.

By every standard, Babayemi is scrumptious: brilliant, tolerant, easy-going, accommodating, service driven, compassionate, dandy and above all, God fearing.

ODB, for a proper triangulation and his interesting journey so far, could be viewed in these prisms:

POLITICAL MISSION

Omooba Dotun Babayemi has chosen to evolve a re-engineering process in the politics of his country, especially in his home state, Osun. He has a clear mission to effect enduring changes in the governance of his state, especially as it affects its economy, social integration and the residents within its borders, security, welfare of the people and their political advancement.

This is the parameter upon which he has anchored his desires for the common good of the state and its people. Politically, he has been a visible player in the state in the last 20 years despite the fact that he has never held any political office.

Dreams are like kite which need strings to keep them high. As such, everything in life has its natural rhythm if one flows with it. This is what ODB has been doing; bidding his time, relentlessly

Babayemi is the proverbial tree that bends with the wind and does not break. He has gone through the crucibles; he has learned, unlearned and still learning knowing full well that education in any format, is a life long thing.

Originally, he belongs to the All Progressives Congress but has had cause to briefly traveled through the routes of a relatively unknown party, the Action Democratic Party (ADP) where contested for the Osun West senatorial seat and polled a staggering 44,000(forty-four thousand) votes in 2019. From there, he moved to the PDP, briefly too before returning 'home' to APC.

Babayemi’s participation in politics is beyond adventurism. Rather, he is on a mission to ensure that enduring political and public oriented leadership grounded in people's felt needs, are in place.

As a candidate for Osun West Senatorial District in 2019, he anchored his campaign manifesto on strategic- solution delivery through the maximization of human and financial resources, using enabling technology as a driver of development in diverse environments.

Dotun could not realise his senatorial ambition in 2019 in spite of his well thought-out manifesto and demonstrated capacity to execute it. He, however, did not allow it to derail him from synergizing with his constituents, to whom his development agenda is focused even without holding any political office or enjoying its patronage.

The never-tiring and upwardly mobile technocrat and business executive, sustained a programme of action that culminated in a number of projects devoted to human welfare, empowerment and development with key focus on health and education. Ever forward-looking, he is prepared to soldier on, especially in any area he is called upon to serve the people.

Long before now, he has been reaching out to the people, especially those at the grassroots through meaningful programmes. These include the following;

ALAAFIA DOTUN

It was a health initiative initially designed to provide medical services for natives and residents of all local governments that constitute Osun West Senatorial District of the state. It started in 2017. Over 350,000 constituents have benefited from the program with more than 45,000 recommended glasses distributed to beneficiaries. The health intervention programme also embraced sponsorship of over 420 surgeons to treat life-threatening medical issues that afflict indigent victims across the state.

EDUCATION Dotun Babayemi's commitment to education, especially for the poor but brilliant students, has brightened the future of many young ones for Osun, Nigeria and the world at large. More over, a thousand students have had their university education sponsored and are proud graduates of various disciplines in the last fifteen years while some are just being enrolled. It is interesting that the two key features of his political programme have remained sustainable since his debut in politics.

Atunto Osun

On Thursday, December 7,2023, some fecund minds led by Omooba Dotun Babayemi, converged on Freedom Park in Osogbo, with over 20,000(twenty thousand) people from across the state to launch Atunto Osun(Resetting Osun) from its mangled position as occasioned by those currently steering its ship. In a nutshell, he can simply be tagged as an Apostle of good governance and an avant-garde of sort.

Atunto Osun Cooperative Society.

This is aimed at assisting the people at the grassroots, especially the peasant farmers, artisans, petty traders, market women, etc, with revolving loans. Already, over N100 millions have gone into it. The beneficiaries are all over the state.

Atunto Osun Agric Initiative

Under this scheme, the aim is to cushion the effect of the biting cost of foods. As a result, acres of lands were acquired across the three senatorial districts in the state and arable crops planted. Already, yields have been harvested and distributed to the beneficiaries. It's a continuous engagement.

The Essence

The ultimate aim of Babayemi is for his state and its people to be well off on all fronts. So, he is determined to replicate the gains of corporate experience and success thereof, in the theatre of politics, public administration and governance.

For a reason, the effervescent lawyer who is also a corporate financial strategist, technology and security expert, never ceases to clamour for good governance at all levels in the country, especially in Osun, his home state.

BABAYEMI'S EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

Foundation: Orita Mefa Baptist Nursery & Primary School, Ibadan: Sept 1970-June 1977. Secondary: St Patrick's Grammar School Ibadan-Sept 1977-June 1982

Post Secondary: Graduated at Ogun State University with a Bachelor's degree In Law,1989. Nigerian Law School-1989 Qualified as Solicitor & Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria-1990

• Attended London Business School for Advanced Business Management
• Professional Management Project in the United States.

CAREER EXPERIENCE & EXPOSURE.

The strings of academic degrees and professional qualifications aided his strides and achievements in the corporate and strategic business sectors as a legal practitioner, financial strategist, information & communication technologist, as well as defence - intelligence service provider.

SUMMARY OF CAREER PROGRESSION

BABAYEMI & Co-Sept 1990-Dec 1991 Portfolio: Head of Chamber Function/Responsibilities- Legal practice.

London Underground Limited, United Kingdom:1992-April 1999 Portfolio-Business Lead Function/Responsibilities-Business System Replacement Project Operations Portfolio-Project Manager/Business Analyst Function/ Responsibilities-Passenger Service Directorate Portfolio-Senior Operations Manager Function/ Responsibilities-Northern Line

AXA Finance Incorporated-inc United States: April 1999-June,2007 PORTFOLIO-Vice President & Managing Director Function/Responsibilities: Development & management of initiatives on medium and long-term strategies for the company.

Portfolio: Vice President, Technology Solution Group Function/Responsibilities-Technology service delivery and service support for 7,500 sales advisers in 50 states in the USA. Portfolio: Vice President, Planning & Sales Applications Function/Responsibilities-Development and Delivery of Planning Applications. Portfolio-Director, Project Management Office Function/Responsibilities-Executive Manager, Buy & Build Decisions and management of twelve(12) vendors with annual budget of $400 million.

CELTEL NIGERIA/AIRTEL NIGERIA: July 2007-May 2009 Portfolio-Group General Manager, Director-North Central Region Function/Responsibilities-Strategic management policies.

FORT KNOX GROUP-June 2009- Date Portfolio- Chief Executive Officer Function/Responsibilities- Dotun Babayemi as a visionary individual, he has the distinction and knack for initiating strategic direction for people, solution delivery and services in any employable or related settings from start to the end of operations,

He led Fort Knox from zero ground level to the enviable height it has attained today, making the company's executive team to become the dominant security solutions provider in chosen segments such as telecommunications and financial services.

Similarly, he led the management team in the deployment and maintenance of innovative technology solutions with global partners from Europe, United States, and far east in telecommunications sector.

Aside from this, ODB is equally leading seven different active companies and organizations that made up the Fort Knox Group with over 20,000 members of staff across West and East Africa.

So with the level democracy has attained vis-a-vis the sophistication of the Nigerians, it therefore behoves that people with track records and proven mettle filled with sound intellectual, global exposure and appreciable pedigree, be pushed forward for assignments that can improve on the situation on ground in the country.