Federal College of Education ( special) oyo on Thursday honoured Barrister Olusegun Adeyemi Adekunle OON with meritorious award.
Adekunle was among the eminent Nigerians presented with an Awards for their contributions to the education of people with special needs in Nigeria.
Other awardee includes, Oyo state governor, Engineer Oluseyi Makinde, Professor Adeolu Akande. immediate past chairman NCC, Professor Segun Ajiboye ,Chairman Teacher’s Registration Council, Senator Tanko Almakura, Professor Babangana Zulum, Alhaji Wasiu Adebisi and Dr. Wasilat Titilola, the immediate past chairman SPED Governing Council.
The award presentation which was held at the main auditorium is part of activities marking the 17th graduation ceremony of the institution.
Olusegun Adeyemi Adekunle, Lawyer, Administrator, Manager and Planner is a career civil servant with over three decades of experience in the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria.
His educational and professional background span several fields including Law, Public Administration, Intellectual Property Rights Management, Project Management, Multi-lateral Trade Negotiations and Humanities.
He has served in key economic sector Ministries of Government including Agriculture, Aviation, Finance, Petroleum and Industry, Trade & Investment.
He has also served on a number of Governing Boards of Government Agencies including the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) and as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Petroleum Equalisation (Management) Fund (PEF(M) B).
Sir. Adekunle has built capacity for management and coordination of donor assisted development projects and has been involved in the management of World Bank Assisted (Social Sector & Reform) Projects within the Nigerian portfolio. These projects include the Health Systems Development Project (HSDP II), HIV/AIDS Program Development, Malaria Control Booster Project, Community Based Poverty Reduction Project and Economic Reforms & Governance Project (ERGP). He similarly had responsibility for the OPEC-FUND for International Development (OFID), International Finance Cooperation and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
Sir. Olusegun Adekunle also spent a part of his career in the Intellectual Property (IP) Management & Strategy Sector. He worked at the Nigerian Copyrights Commission as Director (Planning, Research & Statistics) during which he drove reforms in the areas of review of the statute & initiation of processes for the development of IP Policy and Strategy for Nigeria. He also led the Research Team on the contributions of Copyright-Based Industries to the Nigerian Economy.
At the global level, Sir. Adekunle at various times represented Nigeria on major Standing Committees of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). They include the Committee on Copyright & Related Rights; Committee on Development & Intellectual Property (CDIP); and the Committee on Program & Budget.
As part of the amplification of his Intellectual Property Rights Management experience, the Government assigned him to work in dual capacity as the Director (Commercial Law Department) & Registrar (Trademarks, Patent & Designs) in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. He superintended the commencement of WIPO-Assisted digitisation of Nigeria’s Trademarks database for the Registry.
He also represented Nigeria as a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The Registry of Trademarks, Patent & Designs is critical to the growth of Small & Medium Enterprise (SMEs), implementation of the Industrial Revolution Plan and economic development of Nigeria.
The assignment makes him one of the very limited number of serving Principal Managers in the Federal Civil Service that possess combined managerial skills in Copyrights and Industrial Property components of Intellectual Property in Nigeria.
He served as a member of the Enlarged National Focal Point (ENFP) on Trade for over a decade. This Body has the responsibility for developing Nigeria’s strategy for multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.
Sir. Adekunle was deployed to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in October 2015 as the capacity of the Director (Planning, Research & Statistics). His duties involved policy initiation, coordination, implementation and institutional capacity building.
He was appointed National Representative on the OPEC Economic Commission Board (ECB) with effect from January, 2016 and was elected the Alternate Chairman for the 127th session of the OPEC-ECB in May 2017. He also served as the Alternate National Representative on the Committee of Experts of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO).
In the course of his career, Sir Adekunle played major parts in the development of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2013); National Intellectual Property Management Policy, the National Petroleum Policy (NGP 2017), the National Gas Policy (NGP 2017); the Petroleum Sector Fiscal Policy, Gas Flare Commercialisation Policy and the Policy for exiting the Joint Venture Cash Call (JVCC) Conundrum. Similarly, he participated in the drafting of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).
Olusegun Adeyemi Adekunle was the focal person and Coordinator for the implementation of the initiative on the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) He also Coordinated the 7-Big Wins Project Management Office.
Olusegun Adeyemi Adekunle was appointed a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria on 10th August, 2017 after a very rigorous merit-based examination and selection process. Because of his hard work and dedication to excellence. He was subsequently deployed as Permanent Secretary, (General Services Office), Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
He served on the Federal Government Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage as well as Member of the Consequential Adjustment Committee of the National Minimum Wage.
He also Chaired the Committee on the Structure and Manning level of the newly Merged and De-merged Ministries in 2019 and the Committee on the Review of Eligibility Policy for Federal Government Official Passports.
His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, extended his appointment for one more year in September 2019 after serving the country meritoriously for 35 years.
Prior to his final exit from the Public Service in September 2020, he served as the Secretary to the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and the Secretary, 2023 Presidential Inauguration Committee.
He was also the Chairman of the 5th NSWG of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
He is the Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Ogbomosho (Anglican Communion) and a Knight of John Wesley in the Methodist Church of Nigeria. He is also the Chairman of University of Ilorin Alumni Association, Abuja Chapter.
He is a Member of the Executive Committee of the IBB International Golf and Country Club and a BoT member of the Ogbomoso Recreation Club.
He is result-driven, focused, has a passion for reading, self-development, mentoring and soccer.
He is happily married with two children.
