When great men of intellectual reckoning make significant events in their usually eventful lives a subject of a book, the content should be worth a good read. From ancient times, reputable scholars like the
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and a host of other intellectual luminaries had their lives and
thoughts chronicled by themselves or by other equally reputable biographers in perspectives that illuminate further learning and inspiration.
In recent discourses in Africa, intellectual autobiographies of great scholars do not abound owing largely to poor reading attitudes and other reasons that bother on non-appreciation of intellectual prowess.
The intellectual who attempted to chronicle his efforts and thought process is sometimes perceived as over daring and the work not given proper attention. But what is intellectualism without the
tendency to dare?
It is in the light of this intellectual daring that people from all waljs of life will gather at the Shehu Musa Yaradua Centre in Abuja on Thursday, 6th April, 2023 to celebrate the public presentation of Professor Tunji Olaopa’s intellectual memoir, ‘’The Unending Quest for Reform.’’
This memoir is a product of deep retrospection by an accomplished
reformer who rose through the ranks of civil service with a knack for reforming the public sector so as to reduce inefficient bureuacracy and achieve results that stand the test of time. Reading through the
pages of this extensive intellectual memoir, one would find Professor Olaopa’s reflection of his journey into public service, the deep dig into his life to identify key experiences that have led him to his
career choices as a rewarding read.
The book highlights the most prominent moments of the erudite intellectual’s life that have led him to academic aspirations within the ivory towers of Nigeria’s foremost citadel of learning, the University of Ibadan, to his transition to civil service where intellectual reforms of a system in dire need of one became his priority.
The memoir is heralded by insightful forwards written by two notable
Nigerians: the indefatigable Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah and the reputable Professor of Economics, Eghosa Osaghae. Both forwards are of the consensus that Professor Olaopa’s memoir held ancient truths and promised to be ‘’a rewarding intellectual experience,’’ in Bishop Kukah’s succinct words.
According to Professor Olaopa, the catchy title of his biography was largely informed by Karl Popper’s Unended Quest: An Intellectual Biography, wherein the writers share a common love for books, how
philosophy and deep passion for social thoughts influenced their academic maturation. The autobiographer also acknowledged that some predecessors in public service and leaders of thoughts like Chief Simeon Adebo’s the Unforgetable Years and Professor Ojetunji Aboyade’s
A Prophet is With Honour inspired him to put his thoughts into similar
fashion.
The heart of the memoir chronicles Olaopa’s times from his early
beginnings in Okeho, Oyo state through to his foundational education and his forays at the University of Ibadan, to his eventual entry into federal civil service where he rose to the pinnacle of achievements, his post-retirement engagements at the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP) and now alighting at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
Olaopa’s entry into civil service was circumstantial, as revealed in
the memoir. He had thought of a long and fulfilling academic career at the University of Ibadan but the need to meet the immediate challenges of raising a young family’s need prompted him to taking appointment with the Directorate of Social Mobilization (MAMSER), where the burning
zeal for reforms made him to make immediate impacts.
During this time,
he had been an avid reader, a thoughtful writer and public speaker. So, MAMSER became a needed environment.
While at MAMSER, the young Olaopa’s prowess became evident and it was
only a matter of a short time before then President Ibrahim Babangida
got wind of him and conscripted him into the Speech and Policy Analysis Unit of the State House in 1992.
It could be said that Olaopa cut his teeth in public service while at the State House serving as Speech Writer to the President as it was there he got exposed to the bureaucracy of the public sector. ‘’…I
was confronted with a dysfunctional manifestation that made me
incredulous,’’ he wrote in the memoir. From this point, he declared that he was going to commit himself and his voracious intellect to pursuing institutional reforms.
During the course of the proceeding years in service, he was to be the doyen of public service reforms and implementation. At some strategic points, he was the secretary for the Ayida White Paper Panel for Public
Service Reforms, where he made significant impacts. His deep studies
enabled him to design a blueprint for public service reforms which President Olusegun Obasanjo came to appreciate and led to the
establishment of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR).
Olaopa developed the reforms model, took the concept note to Professor Akin
Mobogunje who was a close associate of President Obasanjo and thus the
ground was set for BPSR to take off.
Through the trajectory of public service, Olaopa left indelible footprints that fashioned a sterling career for him. After a good while through various responsibilities in government, Olaopa was
appointed permanent secretary by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010.
At this pinnacle of his career, he demonstrated unalloyed passion to
reforms in the various ministries he administered but somewhat
regretted that he could have made more meaningful impact with a more
stable posting. A reader could deduce that he was expectant of an elevation to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation where he would have brought his wealth of reforms experience to bear.
It’s worth mentioning that while serving in the respective capacities in government, Olaopa also authored over a dozen books on public administration and reforms with countless newspaper opinion
articles. This became his hallmark: intellectual doggedness in every
sphere of endeavours.
After a meritorious service, it was instructive that the Lead City
University in Ibadan, tapped into the intellectual endowments of
Olaopa and promoted him to the rank of a professor of public administration in 2018. His inaugural lecture at the university in
December 2018 was a rollcall of who-is-who in the academic and public
sector.
Professor Olaopa’s post-retirement brain project, ISGPP, was what he established as a think tank to suggest public policy models for governance, an idea akin to the prestigous Kennedy School of
Government in America. At NIPSS, where he is presently engaged, it is
another opportunity for the reform-thinker to put his intellect to national use.
The Unending Quest for Reforms, An Intellectual Memoir by Professor
Olaopa is presented in flowing prose, encapsulating his early
childhood, his extensive academic pursuit, his family and religious life, the extent of his impact in public service and the inadequacies he strove to amend. It is in all facets an interesting read.
Abonu, a development journalist and public affairs analyst, writes
from Asokoro, Abuja.