In response to clarion call, the convener of Capital Market Round-table in Nigeria and Ekitipanupo Forum, Okan Seye Adetunmbi, has yielded to the collective call to contest for the governorship of Ekiti State in 2022.
This was stated in his annual essay titled “Purpose Driven Governance and Leadership: Paradigm shift Becomes Imperative” presented to the pre-eminent Ekiti indigenous intellectual round-table, Ekitipanupo, to mark its 16th anniversary on March 6, 2021.
On leadership and good government, Adetunmbi wrote: “How benevolent, productive, relevant, and resourceful a government and an administration will be is a function of the purpose of the leadership. The mindset of a leader defines the kind of leadership that will be provided irrespective of the tier of government that is involved. Good leadership in the governance of nations and states is the bedrock for development. Consequently, it is imperative to consciously groom good leadership for future, a visionary leadership characterized by values and commitment to the custom of excellence.
According to Adetunmbi, a chartered broker, “There is need to depart from rat race governing system and entrench a new paradigm for a more enduring purposeful governance for the benefit of the majority on a lasting note,” he said.
The respected investment banker went further: “Calling for a paradigm shift in the way party flag bearers emerge and how we are governed would involve a lot of commitment. The vision is to make Ekiti an example of the model state in the manner Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his team made old Western Region to stand out in Nigeria. The targeted fresh perspective will associate with the successes of the remarkable past and present leaders and heroes. In essence, every good deed of the past and present administrations will be improved upon while those aspects that do not align with the new paradigm will be jettisoned. Past mistakes will be consciously avoided.”
On why he is stepping out, Adetunmbi stated: “Over the years, I have been called upon privately and publicly to run for the office of Governor in Ekiti-State by some well-meaning indigenes. On a number of occasions, a few non-Ekiti associates who have been following my modest socio-political progressive activities all these years on Ekiti also prompted me along this line. My response had always been that I have at various times supported political aspirations of a number of people and stood by those who have governed Ekiti-State personally and through Ekitipanupo Forum. Let me see them through first. A good turn is expected to deserve another and wisdom demands that I should heed the call at the opportune time. In that, if it is not God’s time, you cannot force it; but when it is God’s time, you cannot stop it. To some of my people, it is long overdue. I cannot see a better time than now for me to make myself more available to the service of Ekiti-State. It is a response to a collective call to duty and with all humility, by the grace of God I will be available in 2022 and leave the electorate to decide. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “no man is good enough to govern another without the man’s consent.”
On how he is going to make the difference if given the opportunity to serve, the chartered stockbroker and investment banker wrote: “What I am humbly making myself available for is to unleash the potential, the imponderable goodwill, wide network and huge intellectual capacity of over 1,000 tested professionals in all works of life who constitute Ekitipanupo Forum. No political party parades the calibre of brilliant technocrats in Ekitipanupo Forum. In essence, the forum which is a microcosm of Ekiti-State will be put into optimal use to complement the government of the day with vast and tested integrated intellectual inputs. Ekitipanupo has capacity to provide advisory and consultancy to Ekiti-State pro bono in virtually all sectors of the economy.
On what the Paradigm Shift Movement (PSM) is all about, Adetunmbi, who is also the convener of Capital Market Roundtable in Nigeria stated: “Part of the PSM is to challenge every political party to allow a level playing ground for party flag bearers to emerge by playing down too much influence of money which often throws up the highest bidder. The implication of a warped system relegates to the background, competence, antecedents, relevant experience, character audit and verifiable inclination to the best practices. It tends to deprive the state of good quality government because when the loyalty of the governor is first to the political godfather, then larger interest of the masses is secondary.
PSM is about departure from a system that has become one huge waste. An intervention of a purpose driven governance that will clear debris of deceit, duplicity and double dealing, lies and treachery. An administration that will be bold to check and demobilize politicians who have turned our politics into a hoax, a portal of guile and dissimulation. When one is made a leader or called upon to lead, it comes with responsibility to bring the best out of others. It is not just a matter of wearing a crown or parading the title of being called councillor, commissioner, honourable, governor, senator or president.
In the recall of his antecedents and modest contribution to Ekiti project from 1999 till date, he stated that: “Looking back, I associated with the electioneering of the first civilian governor of Ekiti-State in 1999. His successor was at the 1st Ekiti Day which a group I co-initiated hosted on December 5th 2003. After the anthem I composed was rendered, the governor was so impressed and pronounced it the first Ekiti State anthem. On March 6th 2005, the inspiration to convene an indigenous intellectual Roundtable manifested, Ekitipanupo Forum evolved.
The 1st public lecture of Ekitipanupo Forum was hosted on April 7th, 2007 during emergency rule interregnum and Ekitipanupo Magazine was launched. The 10th anniversary of Ekitipanupo Forum was marked with the 2nd public lecture at Afe Babalola University in 2015 and the Ekitipanupo Legacy Book was formally presented to the public. In 2016, Ekiti Colloquium was hosted by Ekitipanupo Forum.
Seye Adetunmbi is a tested investment banker, a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, a prolific author on a wide range of subjects, a passionate historiographer, an accomplished publisher and a commercial farming venturer.
He convened Ekitipanupo Forum, the pre-eminent intellectual platform of the best of Ekiti indigenes at home and in Diaspora, on March 6th 2005. He is also the convener of Capital Market Roundtable in Nigeria.
Towards driving the paradigm shift to fruition, he has constituted Atokeiberosi Strategic Group (ASG) made up of indigenes of repute from over 50 Ekiti towns who believe in his ability to provide the required leadership. ASG is open to people of good character who can add value to the 2022 mission in Ekiti-State.