AMBODE @ 55

The Governor of Lagos State is 55! Happy birthday Governor Akinwunmi Ambode!

Akinwunmi Ambode was born on 14 June 1963 in Epe, Lagos, into the family of Festus Akinwale Ambode and Christianah Oluleye Ambode. Akinwunmi Ambode is one of ten children of his father Festus Ambode. The now Governor of Lagos State was a civil servant for 27 years and a financial consultant before running for public office as Governor of Lagos State in 2015.

Education

Akinwunmi Ambode attended St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebutte Meta, Lagos, from 1969-1974, where he sat for the National Common Entrance Examinations.

From 1974-81, Ambode, attended Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State. From 1981-1984, he attended University of Lagos where he studied Accounting, graduating at the age of 21. He also has a master's degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos, and he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Ambode was awarded the Fulbright Program scholarship for the Hubert Humphries Fellowship Programme in Boston, Massachusetts. He also attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for Advanced Management Programme. Other institutions he attended for courses and programmes, includes Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, England, the Institute of Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland, INSEAD, Singapore and John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard, Boston, US.

Civil Service Career

From 1988-91, Akinwunmi Ambode was the Assistant Treasurer, Badagry Local Government, Lagos State, Nigeria. In 1991, he was posted to Shomolu Local Government, Lagos State, as an Auditor. He has also held the position of Council Treasurer in Shomolu Local Government in later years.

He also previously served as Council Treasurer at Alimosho Local Government, Lagos State. In 2001, he became acting Auditor General for Local Government, Lagos State, Nigeria. This position was confirmed by the State House of Assembly. In January 2005, Ambode was appointed the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

From 2006- 2012, Ambode was the accountant general for Lagos State, in charge of all the financial activities of the state and directly responsible for over 1400 accountants in the state service. Under his watch, the State Treasury Office (STO) revolutionized the way Lagos State finances were raised, budgeted, managed and planned. In his six years as the Lagos State accountant general, the state’s financial performance improved visibly with the budget performing at a remarkable average of 85% annually.

Consulting Career

After 27 years in the civil service, Ambode voluntarily retired in August 2012. He founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited to provide Public Finance and Management Consulting services to government at all levels, its parastatals and agencies.

Ambode is a very active member of the Federal Government College Lagos, Warri Old Students Association (FEGOCOWOSA) and is credited with revitalizing the Lagos branch of the Association. 

Ambode was a two-time chairman of the Lagos State Branch, and, until recently, was the National President of the Association, a position he held for three years. In those three years, he executed key projects in the school in conjunction with the alumni network to improve the educational and living standards of the students.

In 2012, he founded the non-profit La Roche Leadership Foundation. Its recent goal is to install Nigerian and Lagos State flags in all government owned schools in Lagos State.

In 1991, Akinwunmi Ambode got married to Bolanle Patience (née Odukomaiya) Ambode. They have three children together, twin boys and a girl.  Ambode identifies as Christian.

Ambode ran for office of the Governor of Lagos State in April 2015 as a member of the All Progressives Congress, the state's ruling party. He won the election, just defeating the second-place candidate Jimi Agbaje of the People Democratic Party by 150,000 votes. He began his tenure as the governor of Lagos on 29 May 2015, succeeding former governor Babatunde Fashola.

Credit: Wikipedia