By Hassan Zaggi
“Sir, you are my coach, you are my mentor, you are a strategists, you are NAFDAC’s library. We passed a school through you. You thought us many things. The man Dr. Jimoh has sympathy, empathy and has compassion and he understands the environment of the people he works with. He has everything concerning emotional intelligence,” says Mrs Chinyere Nwankow, a staff of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), during the valedictory session in honour of Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, yesterday.
She continued that: “His journey in the agency is mixed up. The moments of good and the moments of bad.
“There was a time, him and his team were beaten. They came back in rags in this office. There was a time we stayed till midnight and by 8am we were back here. There was a time he forgot his child in school all because of this work.
“I think the Lord saw all these things and when the enemy attacked you, you overcame the attack. Some are not so lucky. The Lord said I will give mercy to whom I will give mercy and you got that mercy from God. Many died and many are still going.
“If Jimoh does not have something to give you, I learnt a strategy, he will split whatever he wants to give you into bits.
“Sir, we learnt so many things from you. You are compassionate, don’t be afraid of retirement. You are retiring but you are not tired.
“I want to make a statement. You did not leave through dismissal. You did not leave through death. You did not leave through retrenchment or compulsory retirement. You are leaving because it is time for you to leave. Just few months could have been left. You are leaving by government policy. I wish you all the best.”
On his part, one of the senior officers in the Public Relations department, Paul Oyemonlan, commended Dr. Jimoh for serving NAFDAC diligently and effectively over the years, insisting that the contribution of Dr. Jimoh will continue to be remembered in NAFDAC.
“Mr Jimoh has served the agency effectively, you cannot remove his contribution to the agency. His retirement is very glorious.
“There is no doubt that Dr. Jimoh did very well as head of the PR department, at the end of the day, whoever is going to take over the seat, will do everything to the glory of the agency. I want to wish you well in your retirement.”
Dr. Jimoh, an astute Journalist, Consummate Public Relations Practitioner and Director of Public Affairs of NAFDAC, joined the agency over 30 years ago. He served and retired meritoriously.
Dr. Jimoh who was one of the several of Directors in the Federal Civil Service affected by the 8 years tenure policy of the Federal Government for Directors has handed over to one of the Deputy Directors in the Department, Mr. Paul Oyemonlan.
Acclaimed as one of the best Public Relations Practitioners in Federal Civil Service, Dr. Jimoh was employed in 1993 when NAFDAC was newly established and he was saddled with onerous task of setting up the Public Relations Unit for the fledgling Agency.
Barely two years into the operations of NAFDAC, Dr. Jimoh deployed his investigative journalism skill that led to the arrest of two Chinese nationals, Messrs. Fred Huang and Joseph Huang and confiscation of 28 Lorry Loads of Counterfeits Medicines worth millions of naira imported into the country.
Findings showed that in 1999, he was given double promotion by the pioneer Director – General of NAFDAC Emeritus Professor Gabriel Osuide for his hard work, diligence dedication to duty and confrontation with Drug Counterfeiters.
A recipient of several Awards and recognitions, Dr. Jimoh had also received the best worker’s award and Letters of commendation from successive Directors – General, Late Prof. Dora Akunyili and Dr. Paul Orhii.
In 2018, Dr. Jimoh was one of the members of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA) inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari. He worked very hard and assiduously under the chairmanship of Brigadier – General Muhammed Buba Marwa who is currently doing a great job as Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In her response to Dr. Jimoh’s retirement notice, Incumbent Director – General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Christianah Adeyeye said: “I want to say thank you for the five years plus that we have worked together. The activities of the Public Affairs in the last many months have been impactful and it is very appreciated and I know it will continue. I wish you the best in future endeavours”.
Dr. Jimoh who holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy won two academic prizes in 1987 for the best graduating student in Political Science Department and also best graduating student in the faculty of the Social Sciences of University of Ibadan.
In 1993, he bagged a Masters Degree in Political Science from University of Lagos and Postgraduate Diploma in Management Information System from University of Ibadan in 1997.
In his 5 years journalism career at Kano State Government owned Triumph Newspapers, Dr. Jimoh once served as Aviation Correspondent in Lagos and Kwara State Editor of the Newspaper.
Also speaking during the valedictory session, the President, Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ), Hassan Zaggi, described Dr. Jimoh as a good ambassador of journalists in Nigeria.
According to Zaggi, “We are proud to call Dr. Jimoh one of our own. He has represented us well in NAFDAC. He made the agency a household name in Nigeria over the years.
“We are also happy that he is retiring peacefully, strong and healthy. His service will be needed at the national level and we believe that very soon, he will be given the opportunity to contribute at national space.”
Zaggi, therefore, charged the official that will take over from Dr. Jimoh to emulate him by relating well with journalists so as to make their work easier.
