Stakeholders in the housing and construction industry on Saturday evening organized a “send off” dinner in honour of the immediate past Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa.
It was an evening of accolade, advice and emotion as dignitaries, colleagues and staff poured out their goodwill messages, describing Dangiwa as a seasoned administrator and leader par excellence.
Setting the tone for the evening at the event held at the 803 Restaurants and Lounge, Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN), Mr. Kayode Omotosho, described the former FMBN boss as “an intelligent and consummate gentleman.”
Rating his administration’s achievements, Omotosho said: “ His tenure was very significant and impactful. Within the short time, he was able to make a mark and turned around a sizable number of activities and operations of the bank.
Also speaking, Arc. Gabriel Aduku, a former Minister of State for Health, while lauding Dangiwa’s tremendous achievements at the FMBN, implored the new management of the bank to “keep his steps and improve on it if they can.”
He went on to say that “ he has made an impressive landmark under a difficult situation that Nigeria finds herself. He has traversed very well and put the name of the bank in proper perspective.”
On her part, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aso Savings and Loans PLC, Mrs. Risikatu Ahmed said the former MD of the FMBN has been very supportive, adding that “in the past, the relationship between Aso Savings and Loans PLC and FMBN was a little bit strained but with his coming, a lot has been achieved and we were able to do a lot of reconciliations and it was fantastic having him onboard.”
Also, the Managing Director of COPEN Group and immediate past president of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Mr. Ugochukwu Chime said that the event became necessary as part of efforts to recount success stories, celebrate hardwork and selfless service.
“This event gives us the opportunity to say one or two things about what he (Dangiwa) has done as a way of encouraging those who are still in office to know that their labours of love are not forgotten and that there are people keeping records of what they’re doing and at the appropriate time, what they have done will be remembered and posterity will be kept in the known as to how they have functioned while in office”, he stated.
Similarly, the convener of the event and Managing Director of Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), Mr. Festus Adebayo, said the essence of celebrating Dangiwa was to encourage other public office holders to ensure commitment, professionalism, and effective discharge of their responsibilities.
“Our reason for celebrating him is to pass a message that once you are appointed into any position, some people are monitoring. We are also passing a message that if you find yourself in any position, do your best. People don’t need to come to your office before they rate your performance.If you do well, we will appreciate you. I think that would be batter than you carting away billions of Naira and then render people poor all because of your personal interest. If we have heard that you embezzle funds, we would have canceled this event 24hours earlier.”
Corroborating the HDAN MD’s view, a retired private sector specialist, Mr. Emmanuel Akinwunmi noted that Dangiwa has done much better than previous chief executives of the bank considering different parameters in terms of accountability, the number of housing financed, among others.
He said: “Seeing the statistics he was rolling out in terms of achievement, it’s obvious that he did very well. In any case, if he didn’t do well, we would not bring him to this forum to celebrate him. We don’t celebrate mediocre, we don’t celebrate fraudsters.”
Responding, the immediate past FMBN boss said: “I feel delighted for this great honour, and I appreciate what you have all stated about me. By the grace of God, we will continue to do our best towards the development of man and our society at large.”
