Hello,

How are you? I hope you and your family are doing well.

Let me start today’s newsletter by saying thank you to all those who wrote to me in the last two weeks. Your overwhelming support is fully acknowledged. I also thank all those who have volunteered and are using their time and resources to ensure that we get a second term in office and that Omituntun 2.0 is a success. Be assured that I do not take your support for granted.

Let me also use this opportunity to appreciate those who have refused to be swayed by politically motivated comments and have remained focused on ensuring that we get four more years.

You must have read about how I ran the Berkeley Half Marathon in San Francisco with my first daughter, Feyi. It was a terrific bonding time for us, as we both took time off work to share in this activity. Of course, I was happy to have finished the race in under three hours. As I always say, my life has been a marathon and returning to the tracks after a six-year break reminded me of that metaphor.

Two weeks ago, I introduced you to my book for November, “Against All Odds: Transforming African Agriculture”. As I mentioned last time, this book catalogues the work of one of Nigeria’s finest in the international scene, Dr Akinwumi Adesina. I am just about getting into the juiciest part of the book, where Dr Adesina’s work in fighting the Nigerian fertiliser cabal using technology and applying vital institutional reforms in bringing about critical behavioural change in civil servants and driving reforms are highlighted.

If you still need to read this book with me and are interested in the business of governance, I will encourage you to find a copy. From my reading so far, I can say that one of the reasons development is slow in our country is that we have elevated politics above governance. Don’t get me wrong, politics is essential. However, it is governance that drives development. 

In one of my interviews, I mentioned how I needed to implement institutional reforms, such as applying technology to speed up our file approval process. But it hasn’t proved easy so far. Perhaps, after reading Chapters 8 and 10 of this book, I will get insights into how I can get the necessary buy-in to make some of these institutional reforms possible. 

Before I end my newsletter for today, let me remind you to stay with the message: It’s Omituntun 2.0!