Story by Dili Utomi.
In a period and society where individualism and selfish interests pervade the landscapes, there are still a few public spirited Nigerians who think not only about the self, but are moved to make life better for the collectives. This assertion is exemplified by the actions of a man who over the course of 35 years has worked tirelessly to make a name and fortune for himself and people around him, that man is Dr. Oluwasegun Alade Musa. He is an entrepreneur, a career diplomat by training and a security consultant.
Over the last several years, Dr. Musa who contested the 2019 Lagos State gubernatorial seat under the umbrella of the Advanced National Democratic Party (ANDP) has tried to channel his energy towards educating and informing Nigerians about what they need to know to make life better for themselves and to make the economy grow better.
We caught up with Dr. Musa at his office and asked him some questions and we present the session below.
Question: Good afternoon sir, may we get to meet you?
Answer: I am Dr. Oluwasegun Alade Musa, the group managing director and chief executive officer of Widescope Group of Companies and also the chief executive officer of the Global Transport Policy, a transport planner of 35 years post qualification experience, a security consultant and a career diplomat by training.
Question : Recently, we have been told about your programmes of free training for government agencies and officials on emotional intelligence, can you tell us more about it?
Answer: In 2019, I contested for the position of the Lagos State governor under the Advanced National Democratic Party (ANDP) and during an interview on Television on (TVC) to be precise, someone called me and said “Dr. Musa, must you be a Governor before you can serve Lagos State?”. This question touched me; it touched me to the marrow because this made a whole lot of sense. No, I do not necessarily need to be a Governor before I can serve and that informed the registration of my non-governmental organisation. I established Dr. Oluwasegun Alade Musa foundation, I also established the foundation for my Company as well as the other foundation, the one for the global transport policy which has started the media and the publication of our magazine. It is holistically about transportation, it covers all sectors in the transportation industry and it is bilingual. Annually, we organise a roundtable for stakeholders in Transportation in Nigeria, where we all catalogue discussions on a way forward, policy formulation, that will lift the industry to the next level. Aside that, annually, we also organise a roundtable discussion for the women in transport, where we identify the major actors that are women in transportation in Nigeria. We bring all of them together under the same umbrella to catalogue a discussion on how to build capacity, how to position themsselves strategically in the industry, how to be a mentor to the younger ones that also have interest in moving into transportation on an annual basis. Aside from that, we also venture into training, where we train the state and non-state actors, focusing on training them on emotional intelligence and so far so good, we have been able to train a very high number of them. We have trained officers from the Nigerian immigration, the Nigerian police, LASTMA, the Federal Road Safety Corps, Vigilante services, Civil Defence services, the Nigerian Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Vice Chancellor and all the deans of faculties of Lagos State University participated in the training session where we trained individuals and gave them the necessary materials needed for them to go and train others. Our training being a masterclass training, were organised at a four-star hotel where we provided their breakfast, their lunch and also certificates. The main purpose of the training is to see how to bring everybody into the same page, so as to redeem the image of the country, and also to have interpersonal relationships, not only with indigenes and our citizens, but also to foreign investors and visitors in Nigeria, as well as tourists, so that the narrative about Nigeria can be “snow-whited”, making it able for us to change the wrong narrative. This will make us to begin to showcase what we represent truly in Nigeria, so that people can begin to respect our integrity and that will further position us strategically and will encourage a lot of investors coming into Nigeria, so that they can see Nigeria as a better country that has people with high ethical standards, that understand the need to encourage investments and encourage visitors into the country.
Question: Thank you very much sir, but since when has this particular training on emotional intelligence started and how has it impacted people?
Answer: The first phase started last year; 2024, so the second phase will start by April this year.
Question: How has it been received by the people being trained?
Answer: Excellent; A lot of them have started applying it. I remember vividly about the people in my area visiting me in my home, the District Police Officer (DPO) also visited me with others and when we met, she was trying to look at my face because she said my face looks a bit familiar and likewise, I was looking at her saying the exact same thing, until when she recollected that she was one of my students during one of my classes. She was so happy that she was now narrating to her subordinates about how I was the person that trained her in emotional intelligence and how she has started applying it since she resumed in the office as the DPO. She added that it had really impacted them positively in their day-to-day activities. I have met some of my students that are in the area of the traffic policing and also those that are in the rank-and-file side in traffic policing and I have watched and noticed that they no longer participate in unethical road conducts. Those unethical practices have really reduced drastically and it shows that the training has impacted them positively.
Question: Did they also go back and train their own people?
Answer: Yes, they went back and trained their own people, we also have an arrangement where in a situation where they have a larger group of people that they just cannot train all of them at the same time, they can also call on us and we will send our trainers to support them. It has really impacted them and you will also observe that the narrative has changed from the individuals positively, but just remember that the training is continuous. We will start the second phase of the training in Lagos State and the next stage which will be next year being 2026 will be held in Abuja, then Kano, then Port Harcourt. Those are the four immediately targeted states.
Question: What are the impacts you expect from all these; What level do you expect it to reach over time?
Answer: Over time, I want people to respect the Law Enforcement Agents. I want people to have a second opinion of them, have a better view of the Law Enforcement Agents that work with us today. You can agree with me that most of them have lost credibility in the perception of the citizens and now they are hardly respected in the public unlike what is the case in other climes. I want them to see that the agents are not as bad as they seem, that they are even better than most of the people that are operating outside the clime of Nigeria and they can even be better than how they are being displayed on all forms of media. We want them to see that we have the best hands and only that we need to encourage and continue training them, giving them that good sense of belonging, and providing the basics that will position them strategically.
Question: Sir, the people you have enumerated are mainly public officials or people from the government side, what about the private sectors, because we have more private individuals than public workers in Nigeria. Are you not reaching out to them?
Answer: As I mentioned, we trained members of the Nigerian Labour Congress, all their executives in Lagos State, all the executives of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), but I know that this trade groups involve both the private and the non-state actors. We are also looking at the Teachers Union that we are training, we are also training the emergency services and other associations of non-state actors, business cluster groups, the NURTW, the Transport Union, the Luxury Bus owners, the motorcycle riders, the Taxi drivers and it is all encompassing because it is a long term project and we will achieve it.
Question: This must cost you a whole lot of money, do you have sponsors from home or abroad or from where?
Answer: Yes, it is capital intensive, but when I was contesting for the political position, I spent a whole lot of money. All the money I would have spent on politics has been diverted by me to support the community, to provide social welfare packages to change the narrative of the country and to support both the private and public sectors. I see this as what I can give back after 35 years in business, back to the community, which will take a very reasonable percentage of our income, and set it aside for these programmes.
Question: What message do you have for Nigerians as regards things like these. Being public spirited or trying to give back to the society, to emulate this your good gestures?
Answer: I implore the corporations and the business owners to give financial support to the government for security purposes. Aside doing that, they can also partner with us, it could be either through our platform or through their own independent platforms to also start the training, because it is capital intensive as the government cannot afford it. If all these corporations can also create a platform on their own to start training or to increase the number of people being trained, I think it is going to change the narrative and it is going to be more impactful. Again, we are also appealing to the general public to encourage the Law Enforcement Officers and to also respect them, especially on the road and other public places because respect is reciprocal. We are also inculcating in them, the need for them to respect the public, so if they are willing to respect the public after the training, we also expect the public to reciprocate the same gesture, because to continue to look at their bad sides while not recognising their good sides too. So as they are willing enough to respect the public, the public too should be willing enough to respect them and I think these are ways to enhance the fulfillment of the mission behind the training.
The astute businessman and administrator hopes to take his philanthropic work a notch higher for a better Nigeria.
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