September 24, (THEWILL) – There have been dissenting voices over the choice of a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, as one of the Senior Special Assistants appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs for the South-West.
The appointment came about three months after the United Nations in Nigeria honoured her with the ‘DGs Champion Award in recognition of her commitment and visionary leadership in promoting the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in Nigeria under former President Muhammadu Buhari. While many hailed her recent reappointment to the same position as proof that she delivered excellently on her job in former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, not a few, particularly from her region, are of the opinion that she ought to have ‘hung her boots’ rather than lobby for the position.
This set of people who feel she should bow out when the ovation is loudest, consider her recent appointment as a ‘third term in office,’ having served in the same position all through Buhari’s government, thus making her the longest-serving SSA to the President on SDGs. With the budget of SDGs in billions of dollars, these people consider it dangerous for her to spend 12 years in a particular political office and inadvertently attracting vituperative criticism. And what is more? At 64, they want her to retire and spend precious time with her grandchildren rather than hustle with younger minds who have more innovative ideas to offer as the nation moves forward from the dark times of the past eight years.
