● His Unfulfilled Fantasy To Be Part Of Jagaban’s Kitchen Cabinet
● How He Lost His Bid For A Ministerial Role
Some months ago, fortune flattered Fola Adeola, only to betray him. Few people will forget in a hurry, how frantically Adeola promised to land a ministerial role in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet at the inception of his administration. If that failed to materialize, he hoped to succeed Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Yet no dice!
He was so sure of landing either position courtesy of the assistance and promises of his contacts in the presidency.
So cocksure was Adeola that he had already started to strategise on how he would run either office. But Adeola would learn, albeit the hard way, that fortune, projected in the fantasy of delusion, often imprisons the consciousness of the one who projects it.
Interestingly, that yoke hung precariously around the neck of Fola Adeola until reality yanked it off his neck and flung it into the pit of failed fantasies as President Tinubu refused to appoint or consider him for any role in his administration.
But fortune seems to have smiled on Adeola as President Tinubu is reportedly considering him for a diplomatic role abroad. The Capital findings revealed that Adeola’s name has made it on the list of prospective Nigerian Ambassadors to various countries worldwide.
A high-ranking official in the nation’s foreign service stated that the former Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) might be designated Nigeria’s ambassador to one of the world’s top three economies.
This would no doubt manifest as a great relief to Adeola whose hankering for a political appointment by the incumbent federal government has assumed immeasurable proportions, according to sources very close to him.
It is an open secret that Adeola was miffed and very disappointed by his exclusion from President Tinubu’s ministerial list. His exclusion from the list of frontrunners for the position of CBN governor was equally heartrending to him.
As is always the case at the inception of every new transition, Adeola counted on the false assurances fed to him by certain lobbyists and self-styled powerbrokers, who persistently caressed his ego, telling him that he was on President Tinubu’s list of likely political appointees.
Predictably, Adeola believed their lies and allegedly began to see himself as a member-in-waiting of President Tinubu’s kitchen cabinet. Alas! Mr President appointed every member of his cabinet and Fola Adeola was not on the list.
The former bank chief was inconsolable having placed much hope on making Tinubu’s ministerial list.
Like the proverbial fantasist who swore off every tract of truth, he made himself prey to delusions of grandeur. He saw only the truth that appealed to him and joined together the threads of random heresies very wrongly; of his own volition, he chose to see a brazen lie as gospel truth.
Adeola, 69, is the founder of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc where he is presently on the board of directors. He served the bank as the pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for 12 years. Before founding Guaranty Trust Bank Plc in 1990, Adeola was the Deputy General Manager and divisional Head, Financial Services Division of the Continental Merchant Bank Limited (1986-1990). He also served as a manager of the NAL Merchant Bank Plc from 1982-1986. Before this experience, he served as a senior auditor at D.O. Dafinone & Co.
Adeola has presented over twenty papers in various countries on a wide range of topics. He attended Yaba College of Technology where he obtained his HND in Accountancy. He has also obtained degrees from the London School of Accountancy, the International Institute for Management Development (IEP), the Lagos Business School (CEP) and the Harvard Business School (OPM). In 1999, Adeola was awarded membership of the National Institute of Policy & Strategic Studies (MNI).
Adeola is the founder and chairman of FATE Foundation a charitable foundation to promote entrepreneurship among the youth in Nigeria. With this intimidating track record, he believed nothing could stand in his path as he sought a plum role in President Tinubu’s government but fate had other plans for the astute founder of FATE foundation.
It’s several months since his hopes got dashed in pursuit of a political appointment but the horizons seem promising, once again, for the accomplished banker and management titan.
Perhaps fortune would accord him a fawning glance this time around and manifest in his favour as President Tinubu considers candidates for ambassadorial roles in three of the world’s largest economies.
