A Focused Selfless Service to Humanity - Otunba Ladi Oluwaloni

Otunba Ladi Oluwaloni

Let's go on a journey to know more about Otunba Oladipupo, a fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN), a property developer, a politician and a humanitarian. 


You are a Chartered Accountant and a Politician; what's personal branding to you; and what was the hardest and the easiest thing for you being a Chartered Accountant and a Politician? 

This sounds like a three in one question. I appreciate you for the rare privilege offered by this platform to talk to the people, particularly my constituents in Ayobo-Ipaja and by extension, Nigerians. Branding is the process of creating an image, so to me personalizing it, it’s service. My other name is service, that is what I think, that is what I do. When you make this your watchword, every challenge along your path is also regarded as service. 

So, being a chartered accountant or a ‘chartered politician and chartered property developer', what comes to mind first, is service. It's just like a medical doctor; he is trained to save life; that is service to humanity. Every other thing he does is secondary. So, it becomes very easy for me, of course something you have been involved with, for over a decade. It has become part of you. I hope I have answered the three questions. However, the hardest thing for me to do, is ignore the passion of service, a focused selfless-service to humanity.
When we started, some people queried our intentions, their argument is that politics is not meant for professionals like us, but they fail to acknowledge the impeccable records set by our National leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a seasoned and accomplished chartered accountant, our former Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, who obviously is a lawyer and doing well at the federal level now; and of course our governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode who is also a chartered accountant and an accomplished public servant.

Why are you so passionate about Politics; also as we all know Corruption is being associated with Politics and Politicians, what would you do better in staying off Corruption if elected? 

Otunba Ladi, his wife and Supporters

I already answered this, when you are driven by passion, then it becomes difficult for you to quit what you are doing, especially when you are so convinced, and you see the impact of lives. Then again, my kind of politics conform with that of the new generation of leaders all over the world, that believe in using the experience they have gathered through their achievements in their private endeavours for the benefit of larger society. 

Basically, I believe in politics of engagement, politics of issues, politics without bitterness and politics of objective criticism. For me, politics is essentially the vehicle for service to the people and a medium to impact society. Also, the hallmark of a good leader is to leave a generation better than they met it.

On the issue of corruption; corruption is not synonymous to politics, it’s found in any field of life endeavour. There are corporate executives that have been fired for corruption in this country; there are also religious leaders that have been involved in one issue of corruption or the other. But why there is hue and cry about politicians is because public fund is involved, as we have seen and heard with the Arms deal scandal. 

Now as a finance manager, the first thing is to block leakages. There are so many wastages in our system. Our national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu saw this years ago, when he introduced the Oracle system to the civil service payroll system when he was the governor. This system did not only ensure a prompt payment of salaries and wages of workers, it also ensured an end to the ghost workers phenomenon, you can imagine how much government waste every month through this. Same with the TSA, the treasury single account that the federal and state government has adopted. 

It all requires solid financial engineering, when you adopt the techniques, then you are okay. You can’t continue to expose people to cash and all that. And of course there must be proper co-ordination with stakeholders, to let them know the implication. 

Whatever we shall be doing for the people, they will be involved. If we are constructing a road, they must be involved in the monitoring of the project. We’ll even ask them what they need, not what we feel they need, we shall let them know when there is money and when the funds are not there. Openness and accountability is the word.

You contested for the Chairmanship of Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA in 2011, you are on it again this year, seems there is a force in you that really wants to make a good difference; tell us about it?

Power is not served a la carte, that is what our national leader used to say. This has always prompted me to pursue my ambition in a legitimate way. The only legitimate way to do this is to keep hope alive by contesting for elective post. I have been doing this over some time; I have been consulting with our leaders, groups, and all the major stakeholders, even up to the national level. 

My love for the people and my community which has been my driving force propelled me into active politics, and based on our conviction and persuasion from community leaders, women and youths, we ventured into the political turf. That was the reason I contested for the Chairmanship of Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA in 2011.

How do you keep your temper when provoked and what helps you cope?

How else or more can you control your emotions than to join politics. Politics is about leadership and one of the things leadership does is to teach you the good virtues of life. Patience, humility, dedication etc., these are what you learn. And of course there are leaders of the party that will always guide when you want to go out of the lane. Emotions and tempers would always be provoked anyway, but when you realised you are in office because of the people then you control yourself. You can’t pretend to serve people and not be accommodating; you must accommodate all; that is the essence of leadership. 

I need to also stress that, I am a successful manager of men and resources, which is what governance essentially entails; a politician should be disciplined in thoughts, emotions and actions. As a man with deep social interaction, I believe politicians should constantly engage with the people, who are the owners of power. The thoughts and feelings of the people should be the driver of government initiatives.

You are so charitable, we see this in all your activities through OLO Foundation which was founded by you over a decade ago, your foundation helps the needy and also gives back to your community; what is the drive behind this? 

OLO Foundation's "empowerment donation"

So, yes there is a force in me, the force is the passion, the passion to provide basic primary health care for our people, basic primary education for our children, get good and motorable roads for our communities and create a platform for our young ones to get good job. That, to me is the driving passion we are talking about.

What do you plan to have accomplished in five, ten, twenty years personally and professionally? 

One word, selfless-service! If I live for a day or for a century, service is what I would hope to have accomplished. Let people smile through the service I have rendered to them, that would be my greatest accomplishment.

Who and what inspired you?

God and the smiles I bring to faces around me, I hate to see people cry or mourn around me. In 2004, through the grace and wisdom of God, I brought together a group of fresh graduates and undergraduates. Our sole aspiration was to contribute our quota to the crusade of making our beloved country, Nigeria a better place to live in. As a very young group of people; mostly fresh graduates who are serving and students, we are aware of the challenge of social vices on our various tertiary institutions and, of course its negative impact on the society at large. At the same time, the group is aware of the rich endowments in their beloved country, with her scattered potentials, yet the impact is not felt by the citizens. No doubt, Nigeria has come of a long way despite the ups and downs, yet the manifested progress is far from what can be attained based on her vast potentials and resources.

This knowledge of our society and our country prompted the coming together of my humble self and these young people, to start a movement of change; a movement of progress and be a crusader of Hope.

We discovered that future will only be bright, if the leaders of tomorrow are prepared for the challenges. It noted also that there is a need for an orientation or perhaps a re-orientation of the younger generation on whom the challenges of sustaining the gradual progress of this most populous black nation lie. This group has over the years metamorphosed to a movement against poverty. And it was at the point we saw some of our achievements that we named it OLO foundation which you talked about earlier. With the help of God we have been able to assist people in form of scholarships to indigent students; we have also given out poverty alleviation materials to assist people in fighting poverty in our communities. These we did on our own and we pledge to continue to do more. 

For few readers that don’t know you, what would you like them to know about you and to always remember you for?

I am a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC). I am from Baruwa, ward E in Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA of Lagos State and I have been a dedicated member of the party. I have played active roles in my party from the ward level to the state level. I have been involved in a number of activities for different developmental purposes of the party. I have privately initiated empowerment initiatives for our people especially students, artisans, market women and the elderly both within my party and outside. More specifically, I have used my position; even when we are not in government to positively affect a lot of people.

I graduated with B.Sc degree in Management Science from University of Ado Ekiti (UNAD) and Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), where I got my Post Graduate degree. I am a Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN). Quest for more knowledge led me out of the country, it was in the course of this journey I attended various management courses at Citibank School of Banking, NY, USA, where I learnt about Credit Risk Management II as well as London Management Centre where I was schooled in Leadership, Innovation & Entrepreneurial Skills.

On returning to Nigeria, I worked with an ICT corporation that consult for a multi-national telecom operator in Nigeria. From there I resigned to start REDMGR INTL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED which is a subsidiary of REDMGR PROPERTIES LTD. REDMGR is an investment and Funds Management, Project and Real Estate, as well as Consulting firm. 

We do acquire real estate not only on the profit margin but to participate in ensuring that one of the most essentially needed for life (Shelter) is made available at avoidable rate to mediocre. The vision of the company is driven by Board of Directors made up of eminent personalities who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields of endeavour.

Thank you for the opportunity giving to me.

Otunba Ladi Oluwaloni (OLO1)