Omosefe-Ajayi’s Footprints In The Sands Of LITFC Times And At PACPM

BY CHARLES OKOGENE

Her appointment as the executive director/CEO of Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, LITFC, did not happen by chance or as a result of quota balancing. Neither was it a compensation as a job for ‘boys’ (in this case for girls). No, it was purely on merit. It was as a result of Chief (Mrs.) Omosefe-Ajayi’s long standing loyalty and the competence she exhibited as the chairman of Kosofe Local Government Area of the then Congress of Progressives Change (CPC).

And against all cynicism and jeers by friends and associates, Omosefe-Ajayi went there and displayed that the leadership quality in her is not a flash in the pan. That it is in built, ‘follow come’ like mechanics will say; and that if given the opportunity, she can repeat it over and over again.

While some of her CPC members laughed at her that she was appointed to organise market women and men instead of a more juicy parastatal or agency, Omosefe-Ajayi, turned a deaf ear, accepted the appointment with open arms. She went there, saw and succeeded to the extent that today, even after her first term tenure, both staff of the complex and other stakeholders there are calling for encore. They are not tired of seeing her face! Well, that is another story for another day.

Within the four years she spent there as an executive director cum chief executive officer, the amount of money she remitted to the government coffers proved to the whole world that LITFC is a money spinning complex as against the zero remittance from the concessionnaire she took over from.

That is why it was not surprising to all and sundry then when even before the end of her tenure of office at LITFC, she was made a member of the very important Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM). A Committee that is in charge of suggesting names of prisoners Mr. President can pardon under his prerogative of mercy powers.

While Omosefe-Ajayi has continued to exhibit the stuff she is made of, at the Committees, her legacy has continued to speak for her at LITFC. From the internal roads network in the complex to the refurbished offices, her signature is all over. It is also on record that she brought back electricity to the complex with the purchase of a giant generator that now powers the complex whenever there is power outage from the public electricity supply system.

This writer can go on and on enumerating her achievements in the last four years in the complex, which has also earned her a chieftaincy title from the monarch of the host community of LIFTC; she has been one of the dependable arrow heads of the PACPM in its function of reforming our prisons and inmates.

As we wait and look forward to another responsibility that will come her way to continue to contribute her quota towards nation building, we say kudos to her.