“THE TOP DOG LEADER”

“HAKEEM OLAOGUN DICKSON”

“Hakeem Olaogun Dickson” The mirror in which people saw their cherished ideals reflected, He saw “WHERE, WHEN, HOW and He went against all ODD’S”.

Prince Hakeem, the second son of the Princess of the Onikoyi Royal Family and Alhaji Subair Olaogun Dickson.

Who Is Hakeem Olaogun Dickson Onikoyi ?

Hon. Hakeem Olaogun Dickson is a seasoned Accountant and Health and Safety practitioner by profession as well as a Politician. He is happily married with amazing children. Hakeem graduated from Victory High School, Abule Onigbagbo, Ikeja, as a brilliant student, he participated in all School activities and was the School Food Prefect before embarking on an Accounting career in the United States of America to further his Education. Among his many philanthropic and environmental endeavors are Hakeem introducing a traffic control agency to regulate the chaotic traffic in Surulere which birthed the popular Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASMA) and the first-ever Local Government Chairman to generate 1billion Naira Internal Governmental revenue (IGR) for Lagos State during Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Regime as the Governor for Lagos State. Hon. Hakeem Dickson bagged numerous awards “for his extraordinary efforts and performance to strengthen security, safety, and youth empowerment during and after his tenure in office as the DG/CEO Lagos State Safety Commission.”

FAMILY

Alhaji Subair Olaogun Dickson Sr, an Awori man, (aged 99years old) was a Nigerian senior Governmental civil servant, a well-respected and accomplished senior civil servant, and the father of Hon. Hakeem Olaogun Dickson. He is a central figure in his son’s life. Alhaji Subair was married to two wives and had eleven children. He first worked as a civil servant in Lagos State before beginning work at the Nigerian Postal Service (Marina Branch). He was among the cadre of young Nigerian men who had been educated in the West in a program supported by the Government. Hakeem’s mother, Alhaja Onikoyi Dickson was a princess of the Onikoyi Royal family and a trader by profession.

EDUCATION

Hon. Hakeem Olaogun Dickson attended Breadfruit Primary School in Lagos Island and then transferred to Surulere Baptist School in the late ’60s after his family relocated to Surulere, Lagos due to the construction of Eko Bridge which greatly affected the Dickson’s family house. Upon completion of his primary school, he gained admission into Academic Life Secondary School and completed his secondary education at Victory High School, Abule Onigbagbo in Ikeja. During his time in secondary school, he was known to be very brilliant and participated in all the various school activities and was given the School Food Prefect post amongst others. He gained admission into Albany Business College in New York City; he graduated with AOS (Hon) in Accounting. Hakeem has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Accounting from Thomas A. Edison State College, Trenton NJK, U.S.A and he received his first M.Sc. at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutherford, NJ, U.S.A He returned to Nigeria in 1983, and in 1984 he served in the one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program. He led a rather ascetic life and read works of philosophy and philanthropy. After serving for a year as an Internal Auditor for Nigerian Airways, He returned to the United States of America for his 2nd MBA. He took a position as an Accountant/External Auditor/Tax Adviser at the Coopers and Lybrand CPA firm in Newark, NJ, U.S.A

POLITICS

In 1998 Hakeem Olaogun Dickson was elected to the Surulere Local Government and sworn in on the 2nd of June 1999, where most notably, he helped improve safety and security regulations, expanded healthcare to poor families, and reformed the welfare of the youths. His great works wove a public narrative of Hakeem’s personality with the understanding that all humans are connected in ways that transcend political, cultural, and geographical differences.

Hakeem’s personal charisma, stirring philanthropy, and his promise to bring change to the established political system resonated with many people, especially the youths and middle-aged residents of Surulere. He became the first-ever Chairman to give free education to all Primary School students.

In an effort to improve the image of Surulere – which many believed had been much damaged during the former administration – Hakeem took quite an amazing number of steps that indicated a significant shift in tone. He is the first Local Government Chairman in Surulere that modernized the police force in Surulere and equip them with walkie talkies to improve security through communication; proposed a “fresh start” to the area boys, youths, and middle-aged residents by creating job opportunities and vocational training through the establishment and implementation of Job Creation Centers in Surulere, such as Tailoring Training, Carpentry, Catering and Hotel Management, Computer Training amongst others.

Hakeem entered Surulere Local Government as something new in Lagos history, he wasn’t chosen on the basis of experience or for his role as a member of any party. He had never been a general or a governor. He was elected purely for himself- his message and what he symbolized. In 4 brief years (1999-2002) he rose from the obscurity of an Accountant to become the first Chairman in decades to receive over 2500 awards from Lagos State. He offered himself as an Exhibit in the case of Hope and Change. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Hakeem captured the state’s attention and given people hope for a better future”. And then there is the health sector, he delivered on a promise that others had made for generations: collaborating with dental clinics to consult and provide free treatments for natives of Surulere, working together with Health Care Centers for pregnant women to receive free medical pre-natal and post-natal care in Surulere; An unprecedented effort to break the fever of runaway medical costs.

To improve student performance, Hakeem set aside Bursary awards that were distributed in Government Colleges all around Surulere to over 120 (one hundred and twenty) Students with exceptional Academic performances annually. Even as Hakeem was dealing with the Healthcare and Education Sectors, he knew that too many Elderly people in Surulere had left the workforce without having saved enough for a dignified retirement, “and it is not as if they have not tried he said” Hakeem ensured monthly allowances were given to both the Elders and Disabled in Surulere, making him the first Local Government Chairman to achieve that.

FURTHER INTO POLITICS

In 2003 Hon. Hakeem Olaogun Dickson was appointed as Special Adviser to The Minister of Works, while at this office, he was the mirror in which people saw their cherished ideals reflected, he invested in building the economy of the future from physical and technological infrastructure- including Federal roads, particularly within the state, his major role played in this department, alongside others derived the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) initiation. He also strived to ascertain more construction of roads within Lagos State.

In October 2016, Hakeem issued a simple and powerful pledge to restore safety to its rightful place. Coming into office as the Director-General/CEO of Lagos State Safety Commission, he was committed to reinvigorating the Safety Commission through a strong commitment to basic and applied safety practices, innovation, and education; to restoring integrity to safety policy, and most importantly, to make decisions on the basis of evidence. He noted that Safety, Security, Technology, and innovation are essential to sustaining economic growth, enabling Lagosians to lead longer and healthier lives, and providing them with the tools they need to succeed in every way.

EXPANDING SAFETY, SECURITY, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION CAPACITY AND IMPACT ACROSS THE STATE

Rebranded the Lagos State Safety Commission, by introducing a new logo and a new means of identification for staff and consultants in 2017

Developing Safety Guidelines and Checklist in 18 sectors of the Economy from 2017 to August 2019

Training Safety Champions in MDAs on issues Bothering Safety from 2017 till August 2019

Made Lagos State Safety Commission a member of the International Labor Organization? (ILO) and International Social Security Association (ISSA) from 2017 till date

Represented Lagos State Government and delivered a lecture at the XXI World Safety and Health at Work Conference with over 7,000 delegates worldwide in 2017. Where he was handed the mantle of Vision Zero, which was successfully launched in Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia as well as Lagos State.

Launched Vision Zero in Lagos State, which aims to achieve Zero Accidents, Zero Injuries, Zero Fatalities in all workplaces, it was attended by over 3,000 delegates from Nigeria, Africa, Europe, and USA for 3 days. Till 2018

The signing of Health and Safety Policy for Lagos State Public Servant by the Head of Service till 2018

Implementing corporate planning strategy in the commission in collaboration with international

Organizations.

Developing Safety Regulations in 7 Sectors of the Economy from 2018 till August 2019.

Establishing Safety Training in collaboration with international Organizations: Institute of work and Health DRESDEN Germany, (DGUV) target of 50,000 practitioners to be trained till 2019 Institute of Occupational Safety and Health United Kingdom (IOSH) target of 500,000 practitioners to be trained till 2019 Institute of Work at Height, South Africa, and Height Safety Training of work at Height Technicians in Lagos State. Hon. Hakeem Dickson received numerous awards for his outstanding performance during and even after his tenure in office as the DG/CEO Lagos State Safety Commission. He is currently the Director General/C.E.O of Total Workplace Safety Management Systems Limited (TWPS) a certified ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management System Organization which specializes in Occupational Health and Safety support services- projects and operations, Consultancy services, Training, Facility management and Commercial services and, provision of Manpower for Projects.

“THE NIGERIAN PEOPLE MAY HAVE VOTED FOR A DIVIDED GOVERNMENT, BUT THEY DIDN’T VOTE FOR A DYSFUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT”.—Hon. Hakeem Olaogun Dickson.

WRITTEN BY: CHIOMA STEPHANIE OKEKE (DS)

CREDITS:        Pastor Anthony Olurotimi Oyetayo. JP

                       Samuel Oluwasegun Ojo