During the recently held Special Convention and Presidential Primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was elected as the party’s flag bearer for the 2023 polls. However, the need to pick a running mate who has the capacity, experience, vibrant potential and intellectual prowess has become inevitable.
I have beamed my searchlight on the antecedents and pedigree of a few good sons and daughters from the North-east where the office of the Vice President is zoned.
In the cause of the search, I discovered the undaunted and impactful antecedents of Chief Ezekiel Irmiya Afunkoyo. Afunkoyo is a dogged, noble, humble and committed member of the APC, who has also made several personal sacrifices to ensure the continuous growth and sustainability of the party.
With the current political and economic stake becoming higher and more precarious in Nigeria, the need for Tinubu to pick Ezekiel Afunkoyo as a running mate is intrinsic. This perception is premised on the outstanding capacity, tremendous achievements, political influence and vast security expertise of Afunkoyo, who is intellectually exposed and politically inclined with the needs of Nigerians.
He is a highly skilled diplomat, a seasoned public servant with over 20 years of experience, a security expert, an investment consultant, an organisational strategist, author, goal oriented administrator with several development skills and a mentor with proven track record that transcends cultural diversity.
As a security expert, Afunkoyo joined the service of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in 1997, until his voluntary retirement in 2010. Before retirement, he had attended the agency’s specialist institute as well as undertook other professional training within Nigeria and abroad.
Ezekiel Afunkoyo is a pioneer member of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He had represented Nigeria at various international fora and in different capacity. They include the Oil and Gas Conference in Ravenna, Italy, International Conference for Security Experts held in Abu Dhabi, Conference on Poverty Eradication in Africa held at Lebreville, Gabon.
He represented Nigeria at the ECOWAS Expert Draft Committee Meeting on Child Trafficking in Ghana.
As a member of the Joint Expert Training on Immigration Programme in Netherlands, Afunkoyo led the team that evacuated Nigerian refugees and prisoners in Bangkok, Thailand. He had represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in UK, after which he was appointed as Secretary (Security), Christian Pilgrimage to Israel from 2001 to 2002, among other national and international representations.
Chief Afunkoyo is currently the Chairman of Board of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH). As the chairman of NAUTH, he has made several impressive achievements which include the completion of the permanent site of NAUTH, abandoned for over 30 years. Today, the permanent site of NAUTH has been completed and the institution now enjoys several advanced improvements with emphasis on quality training and service delivery.
In retrospect of his political experience, it is on record that Chief Afunkoyo was the chairmanship candidate for National Republican Convention (NRC) from 1994 to 1995.
From 1995 to 1996, he was the director of research and member Board of Trustees of the Democratic People’s Party (DPN). In 2011, he was appointed as GMB 2011 Campaign Coordinator for Taraba state and was later a gubernatorial aspirant of the then newly birthed Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Taraba state.
After the dynamics that led to the emergence of the.APC as the ruling party, Chief Afunkoyo maintained his interest in the growth and development of the party as he remained undauntedly committed in campaign crusades for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election. In 2019, Chief Afunkoyo made several efforts to ensure that the ruling APC remained in power, especially at the presidential level.
All of these put together justify why the cap of the Vice President of Nigeria best fits Chief Ezekiel Irmiya Afunkoyo, as he remains committed to development and strategic supports to ensure the victory of APC and the candidacy of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next President of Nigeria.
Ikpotun writes from Jalingo, Taraba state
