Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state has appointed former head of banking operations, retail banking and corporate services at the Guarantee Trust Bank (GTBank), Olatokunbo Joseph Talabi as the Secretary to the State Government and information and communications expert, Shuaib Afolabi Salish as Chief of Staff.
Talabi, who hails from Ijebu-Ode in Ogun east senatorial district, same senatorial district where Governor Dapo Abiodun also originates from, is the Chairman of Superflux International Limited, a Lagos-based security printing firm.
A press statement signed and issued in Abeokuta, the state capital on Saturday by Kunle Somorin, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, indicated the new SSG comes to the job with a rich private sector background as a business development professional, banker and entrepreneur.
According to Somorin, the 57-year-old Talabi holds a 1987 Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos. He also trained at the Citibank School of Banking, Long Island, New York.
With over 30 years management experience, the new SSG is also a boardroom guru, chairing 6 (six) corporate bodies and serving on the board of 7 (seven) other institutions, including those of Bitflux Communications, Olabisi Onabanjo University Development Foundation, ATCO Limited, Fate Foundation and the City of Knowledge Academy.
The Chief of Staff, Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, who is fondly SAS, hails from the Odeda local government area in Ogun central senatorial district and holds a 1986 second class (upper) degree in Computer Science from the University of Lagos; from where he also got two Masters degrees – an MBA in 2003 and MSc in Computer Science in 2012.
He led the World Bank project that midwifed the transport sector transformation in Lagos state and was a main ICT consultant in Edo, Ekiti, Kano states and the FCT at different times.
In his previous “incarnation”, Salisu was a banker at the defunct Equitorial Trust Bank and Pacific Merchant Bank.
The 55 year old CoS had an early career in the Oil and Gas sector and worked variously for Total and Mobil Oil.
While announcing the appointments, Governor Abiodun expressed optimism that the rich pedigree of the duo and their track record of excellence, commitment and versatility will help his mission to institutionalise good governance, banish poverty and give dividends of democracy to the citizens and residents of Ogun state.
Both appointments take immediate effect.
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
