President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has today, Friday, June 2, made one of the most impactful decisions in the life of his administration with the choice of Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila as his Chief of Staff. Such is the importance of the position in a presidential democracy. The Chief of Staff is the president’s buffer, shield, lead administrator, adviser and manager of tasks to ensure compliance with set goals and other key priorities.
Although a few notable figures understandably jostled for the position given the advantages that come with it, Gbajabiamila’s specific skillsets and experience placed him head and shoulder above the competition and made his selection the best choice by the president. Reasons include:
Proven leadership skills and ego management
As Speaker, Gbajabiamila excelled at the political art of saying no to powerful actors without losing their support. He makes rejection or even rebuke palatable with mature delivery and exceptional ego management. This is a skill he will need as Chief of Staff on occasions, inevitable as they are, when he needs to wield the big stick to enforce the president’s wishes or manage access to him in the interest of productivity.
His experience as Speaker also means he received the best training possible on how to manage difficult conversations and communicate tough decisions, something he will do a lot as Chief of Staff.
Importantly too, he knows how to read the political temperature of any room, count numbers and maintain majority support through careful moves and smart deals. The consequence of this is that he can offer useful counsel to the president on how to manage the political class to successfully push through beneficial reforms and other desired governance outcomes requiring external support.
High performer and stickler for excellence
Gbajabiamila will have no problems raising the productivity bar at the presidency, like he did the Speaker’s office, with his admirable insistence on excellence and performance-driven operations. A trained lawyer with globally-acclaimed success in the legal field before his pivot to politics, he is known to work round-the-clock without losing composure in pursuit of ambitiously set KPIs. Essentially, he marries the profit-driven discipline of the private sector with the public-spiritedness of the public sector to build and maintain a team that prioritizes competence and results.
This explains his towering success as both a representative and Speaker. In Surulere, his home constituency, Gbajabiamila is highly revered due to his performance and transformative contributions.
High discretion
Gbajabiamila is comfortable operating from behind the scenes. He is neither thirsty for attention nor interested in dramatics. He commands power without being unnecessarily intrusive or overbearing. These are qualities that helped him succeed as Speaker of the House of Representatives and are required attributes of a Chief of Staff.
He displayed his high level of restraint and maturity recently on Thursday when he was cornered by a journalist seeking confirmation of his then-rumoured appointment. Although he, of course, knew he had clinched the position at the time, he nudged the curious reporter to let the system function as designed and in its own way. He was not going to feed the rumour mills and torpedo the process with a statement, even when pressed for one. Respect for due process, ability to step away from the spotlight and keep the focus on his principal’s wishes, not personal elevation or distractive power tussles.