Feature
The Professional Excellence Foundation of Nigeria in line with its mandate of recognizing professionals who have excelled in their chosen fields, have chosen on merit Osita Chidoka, the Ike Obosi, for the Distinguished Fellow Award.
Chidoka apart from serving as the Minister of Aviation in the last regime in Nigeria, was also the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, where he transformed the agency to an award wining organisation.
In the process, the FRSC won various international awards and became, according to the World Bank, a model for other road safety organisations across Africa.
These were some of the achievements that earned Chidoka the Distinguished Fellow Award.
Chidoka obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters of Public Policy degree from the prestigious School of Public Policy at George Mason University in the United States of America.
He has a Certificate in Global Strategy and Political Economy from Oxford University, UK and a Graduate Diploma in Maritime and Ports Management from the National University of Singapore.
The induction of Chidoka will take place at The Hotel Victoria Palace, Victoria Island, Lagos on Thursday (April 27, 2017).
PEFON, a non-profit and a Non-Governmental Organization, was established primarily to mitigate the dire shortage in the supply of professionally qualified and competent manpower for the various sectors of Nigerian economy.
The Foundation was an initiative of Dr. Dipo Bailey and it is an off shoot of Bailey Professional Training and Development Center, which was established in 1998. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees made up of distinguished professionals, including Engr. Edet Amana, Alhaji Mohammed Hayatudeen, Akinbayo Adenubi and Dr. Stella Okoli.
The Board is headed by Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi.
PEFON’s major strength as a Foundation lies in its Board of Trustees, the Council and Distinguished fellows who are accomplished industrialists, technocrats, qualified professionals in diverse areas, present and past presidents of professional institutes and other core professionals who have excelled in private and public administration and who have distinguished themselves in various fields within and outside Nigeria.
These distinguished professionals under the umbrella of PEFON periodically organize fora to deliberate on policies for promoting development of Nigeria economically and industrially.
After a stellar and award-winning public career, Chidoka joined Mobil Producing Nigeria, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, as a Senior Adviser on Government and Business Relations.
It was in this role, in 2007, that the then President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, sought him out and appointed him as the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps.
His leadership of the FRSC led to the transformation of the Commission to a functional Lead Agency in Road Traffic Administration and Safety Management in the country, driven by information and communication technology.
His visionary leadership and pursuit of global standard at FRSC led to the certification of the Commission by the Standards Organization of Nigeria, which conferred the Quality Management System Certificate (ISO 9001:2008 Certification) on the Commission on April 15, 2013.
In recognition of Chidoka’s enormous contributions to national and community development, he was invested with the traditional title of Ike-Obosi (Strength of Obosi) and a member of Ndi-Ichie, the highest decision making body of Obosi Traditional Council of Anambra State in May, 2009.
He bagged the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria Merit Award on November 27, 2010, and the Institute of Logistics Management of Nigeria Fellowship Award in July 2011.
He was conferred with the Distinguished Alumnus Award for Good Governance and Model on Road Safety by the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka on November 12, 2011.
And in recognition of his patriotic disposition to his fatherland, former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, on November 14, 2011 conferred him with Nigeria’s national honour of Officer of the Federal Republic.
He won the Sun and Hallmark Newspapers Public Servant of the Year 2012 awards and under him, the FRSC won Leadership Newspapers Government Agency of the year 2012 award.
Chidoka was born on July 18, 1971.