Former Director, Lagos Liaison Office of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Mr. Louis Eriomala on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 resumed office as Acting Executive Secretary at the Institute’s Head Office in Abuja as Assoc. Prof. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma ended his tour of service as Executive Secretary of the Institute.

In his remark at a brief handover ceremony which took place at the Institute’s Board Room, immediate past ES of NICO, Prof. Ayakoroma was full of thanks to God for the privilege to serve as Executive Secretary of the Institute for the past eight years.

His words: “Today is not a working day for me. I want to return all the glory to God because but for Him, it would not have happened and I also want to say a big thank you for the privilege of been your boss for the past 8 years”.

“My time has come and today, I am handing over the baton of leadership but I must say I am happy that all of you seated here can stand up anywhere, especially in the culture sector and say we are a training institute. Incidentally for me, I feel it is never enough. I look at life as if I have not achieved anything because there is a lot more for us to do but then, I have contributed my little quota to the development of the Institute”, he said.

Continuing, “One thing you have to realize is that at the end of the day, NICO will remain. You will serve your turn and go or you will spend up to 60 years and retire but NICO will still remain and the question you have to ask yourself is what legacy are you going to leave behind when you leave NICO or on what side of posterity will people judge you? Will it be on the positive side or the negative side?”.

While admonishing the entire management team to always think of ways to affect the lives of people they will be working with positively, Ayakoroma maintained that for one to be a leader, he must have followers or people around him to help in achieving success.

“Whatever you are doing, God is watching you just as men, women and children are watching so you have to think of the lives you are affecting positively and one thing is that a leader is a leader because he has followers or people around him to help him and that is why leadership is all about using what you have to get what you want”.

In his response, the incoming Acting Executive Secretary, Mr. Louis Eriomala thanked God for preserving the life of the immediate past ES, Prof. Ayakoroma, especially for the finishing grace He granted him, saying that is his greatest testimony.

Eriomala while congratulating Ayakoroma for his meritorious service to NICO, called on management staff to support him in carrying out his new assignment, saying the bar for him is very high just as the shoes are equally big, stressing that there is no magic he can do without their support.

His words “All I want to say is that I will need your support. There is no magic about it because I cannot do it alone. I believe that with good understanding and cooperation, we can do it together”.

Recall that before now, Mr. Louis Eriomala was Director, Lagos Liaison office of the Institute and as the most senior director in the institute; he has now taken the baton of leadership of the institute in acting capacity.

Other Management staff present at the briefing were: Mr. Alex Omijie (Director, Orientation & Cultural Affairs); Alhaji Ibrahim Husseni (Director, Admin & Human Resources); Mr. Mike Ekoko (Acting Director, Research & Documentation); Mr. Law Ezeh (Deputy Director/SA to Immediate past ES); Mr. Herbert Ogbe (Head, Finance & Accounts) and Barrister Musa Kakamba (Deputy Director/Head, Legal Services).

Others were Mrs. Jane Anigala (Deputy Director, Admin & Human Resources); Mrs. Chioma Duru (Deputy Director, Research & Documentation); Mrs. Franca Okoro (Assistant Director, Orientation); Mrs. Maria Okpuzor (Assistant Director, Research & Documentation); Mr. Segun Adegbaju (Assistant Director, Orientation & Cultural Affairs); Dr. Regina Onouha (Coordinator, NICO Training School, Abuja Study Centre); Mr. Uremu Okorodudu (Head, Internal Audit); and Alhaji Ndaman (Chief Admin Officer).

Caleb Nor

Media Assistant to ES

NICO HQ

Abuja-FCT