• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

      EFCC Arraigns Bauchi Accountant General Over N8bn Fraud as Court Sentences…

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Members of National Regional Development

      FG Inaugurates Boards, Management Teams of Three Regional Development Commissions

      Trade Facilitation: Nigeria Customs, NACCIMA Strengthen Partnership

      Economic Confidential to Host 3rd Public Lecture, Unveil Books on Nigeria’s…

      Luanda Summit: AUDA-NEPAD Taps AI, Green Bonds as it Launches Marketplace…

      Tinubu Jets to Brazil After Japan Summit, Eyes Trade, Security Deals

  • National
    • Military Foil Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto, Katsina

      Former IGP Solomon Arase Dies at 69

      ECOWAS, Nigeria Urged to Tackle Epidemic of Enforced Disappearances

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Arrests 75-Year-Old Grandpa, Destroys Cannabis Farm in Taraba, Seizes Millions…

      Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo

      Para-Military Agencies Get 12-Month Deadline to Deliver Reforms

    • Government
      • ECOWAS, Nigeria Urged to Tackle Epidemic of Enforced Disappearances

        Supporters of Senator Shehu Buba

        PHOTOS: Bauchi Constituents Rally APC to Draft Senator Buba for 2027…

        Pantami Foundation Pays Outstanding Fees for Gombe Students at BUK

        Almajiri

        TRAVELOGUE: Kaduna Almajiris and A Parley Inside Arewa Forum’s House By…

        PRNigeria logo fearured image

        OHCSF Celebrates 57 Retirees for Exemplary Service and Dedication

  • Security
    • Military Foil Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto, Katsina

      Egungun Festival

      Lagos Police Restrict Egungun Festival Activities to Designated Locations

      Former IGP Solomon Arase Dies at 69

      Nigerian Police Force

      Police Arrest Kidnappers, Recover Arms, N6.9m in A’Ibom, Nasarawa

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Arrests 75-Year-Old Grandpa, Destroys Cannabis Farm in Taraba, Seizes Millions…

  • Features
    • Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa CDS

      CDS Musa Launches Operation Enduring Peace, Tasks Troops to ‘Win Peace,…

      Almajiri

      TRAVELOGUE: Kaduna Almajiris and A Parley Inside Arewa Forum’s House By…

      Armed officers of the Mining Marshals

      ‎NSCDC at the Heart of Nigeria’s Mining Sector Revival ‎By Zekeri…

      Nigerian Youths

      National Unity as Nigeria’s Strongest Development Tool, By Mukhtar Ya’u…

      How Security Forces Calmed, Secured, and Evacuated Passengers after Kaduna-Abuja Train…

  • State
    • Military Foil Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto, Katsina

      Egungun Festival

      Lagos Police Restrict Egungun Festival Activities to Designated Locations

      Former IGP Solomon Arase Dies at 69

      Nigerian Police Force

      Police Arrest Kidnappers, Recover Arms, N6.9m in A’Ibom, Nasarawa

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Arrests 75-Year-Old Grandpa, Destroys Cannabis Farm in Taraba, Seizes Millions…

  • Event
    • Erasmus Ikhide damaged Vehicle and Dangote Cement Truck

      Erasmus Ikhide Narrowly Escapes Death in Collision with Dangote Truck

      Supporters of Senator Shehu Buba

      PHOTOS: Bauchi Constituents Rally APC to Draft Senator Buba for 2027…

      The authors and their books

      PHOTOS: NIPR Hails Latest PRNigeria Books at Economic Confidential Lecture

      Alh. Yushau Shuaib, Brig Gen. (rtd) Chris Olukolade and Mallam Kashifu Inuwa

      NITDA, IMPR Spotlight AI as Driver of Nigeria’s Digital Future at…

      DICON and DMG Events to Co-Host AFRIDEX 2026

      DICON, DMG Events to Co-Host Africa Defence Exhibition 2026

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Features Leadership Lessons from AfDB’s Akinwumi Adesina By Femi Adesina
  • Features
  • General
  • National

Leadership Lessons from AfDB’s Akinwumi Adesina By Femi Adesina

By
Femi Adesina
-
June 8, 2025
Former Presidential Spokesperson Femi Adesina and President of African Development Bank Dr Akinwumi Adesina
Former Presidential Spokesperson Femi Adesina and President of African Development Bank Dr Akinwumi Adesina

Leadership Lessons from AfDB’s Akinwumi Adesina By Femi Adesina

It is not the end. Not yet. But it was the beginning of the end. President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Nigeria’s Dr Akinwumi Adesina, was hosting the last Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, as his 10 years at the helm of affairs of the Bank lapses on August 31. A new President resumes September 1.

Two weeks ago, I had received a phone call from Ms Lola Visser-Mabogunje, Special Adviser on Stakeholder Engagement to the AfDB boss, that Dr Adesina would like to invite me as Special Guest at the Annual Meetings. I scanned my schedule for May 26-30, and saw that I could make it. She said I should expect a formal invitation.

Within minutes, I received the invitation by email from a certain Liliane Kouawo, who serves in the Cabinet Office of President Adesina. Efficiency in action. First indication of an institution that is systematic and structured.

So I set forth at dawn on Monday, May 26. Abidjan was to be my abode for the next five days.

Participants were in thousands, as they came from the 81 countries that constitute the AfDB (54 from Africa, and 27 from other regions of the world).

Seeing the turnout, and the involvement of Dr Adesina in the daily proceedings, I didn’t expect that I would have a private meeting with him. But I was wrong. On Thursday, May 29, he asked Ms Lola Visser-Mabogunje if I was around, and that he would love to see me at a certain time in his office at Sofitel Hotel, where the events were taking place. I was pleasantly surprised.

At the dot of the appointed time, I was ushered into the office. While in the waiting room, I had picked from the aides that Dr Adesina was almost in a faint before he closed the previous day. Completely knackered, exhausted from too many events and meetings.

But the man received me warmly, not looking the worse for wear. Spick and span. Well groomed as usual.

Pleasantries over, he began on a note of appreciation for our immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, for the robust support he enjoyed from him. And to me, gratitude for all the press releases I did on their various meetings, and the subsequent articles I wrote, when some elements didn’t want him to have a second term as Governor in 2020.

“President Buhari asked me; did you steal money? Did you misappropriate funds? I said no. And he said: ‘I will not only be behind you, I will also be beside you.’ “

President Buhari lived up to his word, writing personal letters and making phone calls to presidents of AfDB member countries, asking them to support Adesina. The rest is history.

Read Also:

  • Military Foil Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto, Katsina
  • Lagos Police Restrict Egungun Festival Activities to Designated Locations
  • Former IGP Solomon Arase Dies at 69

Never forget a good turn. It is a hallmark of decency. And of leadership. Many times, Dr Adesina has expressed appreciation to President Buhari, and this evening, he couldn’t say the last of it. For me, another lesson in leadership.

We didn’t rise from the meeting till he had invited me to a private dinner in his home.

The election to pick a successor held on May 29. Though there were whispers, nobody could say definitively that this was Adesina’s favorite. Contestants came from Senegal, Chad, Zambia, Mauritania, and South Africa. But like a good leader, there was no anointed person. At the end, Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania won. Free and fair process, from a fair minded leader, who didn’t say the election would be do or die in favor of his candidate.

As busy as he was, (no, not busy, swamped is the word), Dr Adesina is still on top of events at the Bank. This was evident when he gave the welcome speech on Tuesday, May 27, at the opening ceremony. Though it was no valedictory yet, it was like a report card. How he raised the Bank’s capital from 93 billion dollars in 2015, to 325 billion as of today. How his High 5s programs have impacted not less than 565 million lives across the continent in the areas of healthcare, food security, transport, electricity, and water access. And there was almost no ‘I’ but ‘we’ in the speech. It was himself and his battery of dedicated workers. Another lesson in leadership. Success is team work.

When he began to thank African leaders, and particularly Alasanne Quattara of Côte d’Ivoire, his voice broke, and he was almost overcome by emotion. He reached for his handkerchief, and dabbed at his eyes. Yes, leaders are no superhuman. They itch like ordinary people, and scratch as hard. Sentiment and emotions are part of life, and by no means antithetical to leadership.

He appealed to whoever would be his successor (this was before the election) to please continue with the strides they had attained. Yes, a good leader must be conscious of the sustenance of legacy.

On my way out of Abidjan, at different desks in the airport; immigration, customs, security, whenever they checked my passport, and saw that I was Adesina, they asked if I was blood brother to the AfDB boss. One said, “He speaks fluent French. I just love him.” Another said: “He has done well for Africa.”

I felt very proud.

Abidjan was some sort of farewell for Adesina, though a formal one may still come in August. Shakespeare said in Act 5, Scene1 of Julius Caesar: “If we do meet again, why we shall smile. If not, why then this parting was well made.”

Adesina was Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari, 2015-2023

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Akinwumi Adesina
  • Femi Adesina
  • Leadership Lessons
  • President of African Development Bank
Previous articleNational Assembly Delegation Commends NAHCON on Pilgrims’ Welfare During Visit to Mina
Next articleSecurity Forces Eliminate 3 Bandits, Arrest One as Worshippers Attacked in Zamfara Mosque
Femi Adesina
Femi Adesina

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Military Foil Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto, Katsina

Former IGP Solomon Arase Dies at 69

ECOWAS, Nigeria Urged to Tackle Epidemic of Enforced Disappearances

Nigerian Police Force

Police Arrest Kidnappers, Recover Arms, N6.9m in A’Ibom, Nasarawa

NDLEA Logo

NDLEA Arrests 75-Year-Old Grandpa, Destroys Cannabis Farm in Taraba, Seizes Millions of Pills Nationwide

CP Jimoh Moshood

Lagos Police Bust Car Theft Syndicate, Recover Stolen Bus

Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo

Para-Military Agencies Get 12-Month Deadline to Deliver Reforms

Troops Sustain Offensive Against Bandits, Eliminate Scores in North West, North Central Regions

Police Officer

FCT Police Arrest 10 Suspected Drug Dealers, Recover Drugs, Kidnapping Proceeds

Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa CDS

CDS Musa Launches Operation Enduring Peace, Tasks Troops to ‘Win Peace, Not Just War’

Almajiri

TRAVELOGUE: Kaduna Almajiris and A Parley Inside Arewa Forum’s House By Lawal Dahiru Mamman

Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

Alake Orders Mining Marshals to Seal Illegal Gold Mining Site in Gwagwalada

Recent Posts

  • Military Foil Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto, Katsina
  • Lagos Police Restrict Egungun Festival Activities to Designated Locations
  • Former IGP Solomon Arase Dies at 69
  • ECOWAS, Nigeria Urged to Tackle Epidemic of Enforced Disappearances
  • Police Arrest Kidnappers, Recover Arms, N6.9m in A’Ibom, Nasarawa
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Military Foil Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto, KatsinaLagos Police Restrict Egungun Festival Activities to Designated LocationsFormer IGP Solomon Arase Dies at 69ECOWAS, Nigeria Urged to Tackle Epidemic of Enforced DisappearancesPolice Arrest Kidnappers, Recover Arms, N6.9m in A'Ibom, NasarawaNDLEA Arrests 75-Year-Old Grandpa, Destroys Cannabis Farm in Taraba, Seizes Millions of Pills NationwideLagos Police Bust Car Theft Syndicate, Recover Stolen BusFACT-CHECK: Did Kwara Police Nab King of Alabe, Queen and Babanla Monarch With over ₦120m Banditry Loot?Troops Kill 12 ISWAP Fighters in Borno, Foil More Attacks in North-EastPara-Military Agencies Get 12-Month Deadline to Deliver ReformsErasmus Ikhide Narrowly Escapes Death in Collision with Dangote TruckTroops Sustain Offensive Against Bandits, Eliminate Scores in North West, North Central RegionsFCT Police Arrest 10 Suspected Drug Dealers, Recover Drugs, Kidnapping ProceedsSecurity Forces Bust Child Trafficking Syndicate, Arrest 5 Suspects in A'IbomPHOTOS: Bauchi Constituents Rally APC to Draft Senator Buba for 2027 Governorship Race
X whatsapp