Why I Don’t Regret Accepting To Be Fayemi’s Commissioner — Ekiti AG, Fapohunda

The Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Olawale Fapohunda, SAN, has revealed that he never wanted to accept the offer to become Fayemi’s commissioner and also explained why he eventually accepted.

He made this revelation on Sunday while giving his goodwill message at the State Banquet organized in honour of himself and two other sons of the State – Senator Anthony Adeniyi and Dr Adekunle Ojo on their attainment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), held at the Adetiloye Hall, Fountain Hotel, Ado-Ekiti.

In a one-hour-long message which had everyone in the hall listening with rapt attention, Fapohunda explained that in 2012, he was about to resume at a “job of his dream” in Dubai when he got the offer to become commissioner in Ekiti state.

“In 2012, when Governor Fayemi invited me to join his cabinet. I can’t remember what I told him then, but I knew in my heart that I would not accept to become his commissioner. The reason was because, My father was a commissioner, and I lived his life and looking at his life, I felt that this was not the kind of life I wanted to live. I can’t remember what I told Governor Fayemi them but I know deep inside me then, that my answer would be No!

“A short while after, a friend of mine told me that there was this company searching for a legal adviser for Nigeria and they had done two interviews already but all the candidates did not meet their expectations. So, he asked me to come to Abuja for that interview.

“I boarded a plane to Abuja and on arrival found that they lost my bag. So, I went to this interview in a T-shirt and jeans When I got there, even before they started asking, I already told them, I’m sorry, the airline lost my bag and you know with my ‘No Size in London’ kind of height – it would be very hard to quickly get new clothes in Abuja.

“For some reason, the team leader found ‘No size in London’ very funny and started laughing and laughed to the extent that I was wondering why he was laughing so seriously. Then we got talking and I later discovered that we had many things in common. He was Arab, but we went to Kings College London together, we both attended Upsalla university Sweden for a short term course and we also went to Netherlands Institute for International Development together.

“He just said, well, you are the person we want. Then, I left for Dubai, for two weeks of intensive training. Within two days there, I became Africa team lead, there were 47 of us, 12 Africans and I was determined that Africa would not come last. At the end of the two weeks of training, they called all of us to a room and started dishing out our certificates and honorarium.

“They called everyone’s name and I was waiting for my name to be called, but I didn’t hear my name. I was bothered. It was until after the whole exercise that the Managing Director then called me and said ‘Mr Fapouhunda, the board would like to see you in the board room’. I was wondering, what have I done wrong? So when I got to the board room, the chairman stood up and said, Mr Fapohunda, we don’t want you to be our legal adviser again, we want you to be our CEO Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, he said.

Speaking further, Fapohunda explained that, “when I got to my hotel room, I checked the envelope given to me which contained my condition of service and honorarium. You know there’s this stage in your life where you think you have made it, that was my own moment.

“I called my dad to inform him about this good news, he wasn’t reachable, called my mum, the same thing. Then, as I was about to drop my phone, a journalist called me and said the news was everywhere that Governor Fayemi had announced me, Commissioner. I told him immediately that I will not accept.

“I then went to Ibadan to tell my dad about the Dubai job. Before I got to Ibadan, I know my father to be very meticulous. I had used transparent ink to mark every bit of my offer of employment letter, from my salary to my pension and even attached a picture of the apartment I would be staying in Dubai with it.

“So I got home, told my dad the news and was still feeling happy within myself when my father asked me, didn’t you hear that Fayemi has announced you commissioner in Ekiti? I said I heard. Then he asked me, what are you going to do now? I told him I was not going to Ekiti. Look at the juicy job offer I just got from Dubai, how much will they pay me in Ekiti? Then my father said I have to go to Ekiti to accept the offer to be commissioner and lectured me on why I should go to Ekiti. That was one of the saddest days of my life.

“I had to fly back to Dubai to tell the company that I couldn’t take the job and also to return the money given to me, including the one sent to my account. The chairman was impressed that I had to fly to Dubai to return the money and the company documents with me. He told me there would always be a place for me in their company.

Fapohunda also explained that his father’s advised him to stay with Governor Fayemi no matter what, even after the 2014 loss, as that was the time he (Fayemi) needed him most, which he did.

He, however, highlighted some of his achievements since becoming the Attorney General of the state since 2012 and his return to office in 2018, especially in the area of fighting against all forms of violence against women and girls in the State.

He acknowledged the support of the Governor and his wife, thanking them for providing the platform to perform, which contributed rapidly to him getting to the rank of SAN. According to him, maybe he wouldn’t have become silk if he wasn’t Attorney General.

Also present at the occasion were the state Governor, Kayode Fayemi, his deputy, Bisi Egbeyemi, Chief of Staff, Biodun Omoleye, immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji and other top government functionaries.