Fela Durotoye, the famous Nigerian motivational speaker, recently explained what exactly his six-month stint under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration was about.
Durotoye became Senior Special Assistant on National Values and Social Justice in October 2023, a post he held until March 2024. Although serving a crucial role, Durotoye received no salary or allowance and volunteered to work for nothing.
The announcement is accompanied by intense public discussion on the President’s recent media appointments, most recently the recent appointment of Daniel Bwala as Special Adviser for Public Communications and Media.
Fela Durotoye also went on to say publicly that his time with the administration involved no media obligations.
Durotoye writes in an op-ed piece that he refused to accept any compensation as a government employee during his tenure as a government official out of loyalty to the nation.
Durotoye and his family all personally paid for the costs of living in an apartment and fares to Abuja. He continued to insist that he never asked the government for payment for anything he spent while in office.
Durotoye’s sincere explanation aims to debunk the rumours and generalities that are flying around in the popular discourse about the President’s media entourage.
Read his full statement below:
Fela Durotoye said: “Like many other issues in the public discourse, social commentary often has the tendency to overgeneralise, and broad assumptions may sometimes lead to errors of misconceptions, misstatements, and misinformation.
“One of such errors is in a recent case study that went viral on social media regarding the current media team of the president, where my name was listed as one of the president’s media aides.
Unfortunately, this statement needs to be updated to accurately reflect the current media team of the president.
“For clarity, I served briefly in the role of Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Values and Social Justice (SSA-NVSJ) for a tenure of six months, from October 2023 to March 2024.
“When I was invited to serve in this administration, I expressed, as a condition for accepting the call, my desire to NOT receive a salary from the government, as I considered this to be my service to my nation.
“When I finally accepted the role in October 2023, it was on the condition that I would not receive any salary or allowances. During my six-month tenure, I did not accept any government funds for my service, expenses, or upkeep.
“I rented my apartment and took my personal car to Abuja. My utility cost, fuel cost and upkeep were all borne by me and I never requested a reimbursement from the government for any expenses I incurred.
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Everything I contributed—time, effort, and resources—was paid for by me and my family.”
