•The Story Of His Principal Secretary
•What City People Found Out
This is the story of one young man who the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu trusts a lot. He is one man he depends on and doesn’t joke with. It is the story of Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, his Principal Secretary. Over the last few months, he has emerged the most powerful aide of Mr. President at the Presidency.
They have been close for over 40 years. The President has been close to the Muri-Okunola family since his days as a young man. HMO and his siblings all grew up knowing Asiwaju as a Big Uncle. HMO’s dad, late Justice Muri Okunola is a well respected man in Lagos. He has been variously described as a good man. When he was in service as a Judge, he was able to establish his reputation as a fair minded, yet fearless judge and a man of great eradition on the bench. In 1990, he was appointed as a judge of the Appeal Court. At the time of his death, he was the Presiding justice of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan.
He loved Pres. Bola Tinubu, who he took on like a son. And both enjoyed a close relationship.
It is no longer news that the Lagos Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola has joined President Bola Tinubu’s team in Abuja as his Principal Secretary.
The rumour mill had been agog with the news for a while now but last year, HMO was announced as the Principal Secretary to Pres. Tinubu. HMO himself announced his appointment. In a short release he wrote; “My dear colleagues in the Lagos State Public Service. It is with a mixed heart that I inform you that my civil service career comes to an end on the 29th Of September. I informed Mr Governor of my voluntary retirement from the Lagos State Civil Service after nearly five years of being your Head Of Service. I am grateful to MG and MDG and the entire executive council, the Body Of Permanent Secretaries and the entire workforce of Lagos State for the opportunity to serve.”
“It has been a really fulfilling journey and experience, one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I want to thank the entire public service for your support during the entirety of my tenure as your servant leader. You made me shine. You helped me clear the doubts of the naysayers. You gave me confidence and inspired my modest but fulfilled service. I appreciate you all individually and collaboratively as a family. We took the Lagos State Public Service to become the most vibrant and excellent public service in Nigeria in particular and sub Saharan Africa in general as the most professional workforce.”
“I move on to serve the man who inspired and brought me into public service and to take it as a career which eventually took me to the zenith as your Head Of Service. I will be taking on a new role in The Presidency to assist and contribute my quota in achieving The Renewed Hope agenda of our President And Commander In Chief, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. I feel humbled and privileged to be taking on this new challenge and pray that The Almighty Allah will enable me in the discharge of this solemn duty to our nation.”
“I count on your continued support, cooperation and prayers. Finally, I want to congratulate whoever emerges as my successor, and the 22nd Head of Service Of Lagos State Government and to request you to give him or her all the support and more than ever, to grow and take our proud public service to greater heights.”
Why the choice of HMO? It is because he is one of the trusted aides of President Tinubu and they have worked together since 1999,when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was governor of Lagos.Beyond that, HMO is like a son to Asiwaju. He has been like a son to him since HMO was young. And HMO’s late father was one of the President’s godfathers.
Citypeople can also reveal that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was instrumental to HMO joining the Lagos Civil Service. So HMO has been tried and tested. He has also paid his dues in the Civil service, rising to be Head of service in Lagos State.
Hakeem Muri-Okunola was 41. He is a lawyer, public administrator, technocrat and was Lagos State Head of Service. And he is the first son of the late respected Justice Muritala Okunola.
What is his educational background like?
After his primary education in Lagos Island, where he grew up, a young Muri-Okunola became a student of the Nigeria Navy Secondary School, Lagos in 1982. By 1989, he had become an undergraduate of the Lagos State University, Ojo, graduating in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in Law, following which he completed the mandatory one year of study at the Nigeria Law School.
Three years on, he gained admission into the prestigious Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London, obtaining a master’s degree in International Business Law in 1999.
Let’s tell you more about his career.
Between 1996-1999, he served as an Associate Solicitor with Adepetun, Caxton-Martins and Agbor, before joining Company Secretary/Legal Adviser at Ibile Holdings Limited, the Investment Company of Lagos State Government, a position he held from 2000 to 2003.
How about his foray into the Lagos Civil Service? Hakeem Muri-Okunola joined the Lagos state civil service in 2001.
Between 2003-2005, he was a Personal Assistant to Gov. Bola Tinubu, then governor of Lagos until Tinubu appointed him Executive Secretary to the Governor, Land Use and Allocation Committee. Afterwards, he was promoted to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Public Service in 2011. He was deployed to the Lands Bureau in the Governor’s Office where he supervised the State’s Lands Administration machinery. In this capacity, he played significant roles in improving the state’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. These include the Electronic Certificate of Occupancy (E-C of O), the Electronic Data Management System (EDMS) and the 30-day processing of consent applications.
In 2015, he was named Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, working on the amended version of the Child’s Rights Law and the Child Protection Policy among other things. During this period, he was also on the board of the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA).
Muri-Okunola was appointed Head of Service on 28 December 2018, being the most senior ranking member of the Body of Permanent Secretaries in Lagos State.
What is his personal life like?
He lives in Abuja and is happily married with children. He is a member of the Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos Motor Boat Club, Lagos Polo Club and F’s Club, his hobbies include soccer, athletics, polo, boating, squash, basketball and many other water sports.
