POLITICE:-Buhari Appoints Iwo Born Media Magnate As New NEITI BOSS

President Muhammadu Buhari has constituted the new governing board of
Nigeria Extractive Transparency Initiative (NEITI), with the publisher
of Metropole Magazine, Waziri Adio an Iwo born media magnate, as the
board's executive secretary.
SOURCE:-Oluniyi Hisamotu | Topup9ja Staff

Mr. Adio was appointed alongside 23 others to serve as board members.

This are ten amazing facts about the new executive secretary of NEITI
As compiled by an online news medium(TheCable)

10 Amazing Facts You Should Know About Him...


1. BORN IN IWO, MADE IN YOBE;

Although he was born on June 13, 1968 to parents from Iwo, Osun state,
he got his name, Waziri, from his grandfather who had sojourned in
northern Nigeria, working and living for years in what is today's Yobe
state. Waziri is a very common name in the Yobe-Borno axis and his
grandfather must have fallen in love with the name. The full name of
the new NEITI chief executive is: Waziri Onibiyo Adebowale Adio. He
married Sandra from Edo state in 2001 and they are blessed with three
children.



2. HE ALMOST BECAME A TAILOR;

After finishing his higher school certificate in 1986, he struggled to
secure university admission because he did not score enough points to
be offered his preferred course – mass communication. He tried for two
more years, during which he took to farming. His grandfather advised
him to relocate to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, to learn tailoring if he
still did not get his preferred course by 1988. However, Adio finally
got admission to read mass communication at the University of Lagos
that year. Destiny obviously tailored a different robe for him.


3. BEST FROM GUN TO TAPE;

Adio was the best undergraduate in the faculty of social sciences from
his first year in the university, meaning he got the vice chancellor's
scholarship. This was a great economic relief as the resources allowed
him to continue his education even if on a shoe-string budget. He was
the best student in mass communication every year, from 100 level to
400 level. This also meant the scholarship funds kept trickling in
till the very end. He was also editor of Unilag Sun, the university's
newspaper, and editor of Masscope, the magazine, both produced by the
mass communication department.


4. HE MISSED FIRST CLASS BY THE TINIEST FRACTION;

Although he was the best graduating student of the faculty of social
sciences in 1992, the icing on the cake would have been a first-class
degree, but his cumulative GPA was 0.01 short! He was allegedly marked
down in a course in controversial circumstances. It was said then that
the department debated on whether to upgrade him or not. Nevertheless,
everyone recognised him as a first-class brain, even if academic
politics denied him the official grade.


5. HE WAS ONCE A 'GUERRILLA' JOURNALIST;

From 1993 to 1995, Adio was a reporter with TheNews/TEMPO group known
for adopting "guerrilla journalism" tactics during the military era.
The publications were target of harassment and intimidation by
security agencies, and the staff had to go underground to be able to
operate. They held meetings at bus stops and the national stadium in
Lagos as their offices were often under lock and key. One of his
colleagues, Bagauda Kaltho, soon disappeared in 1996 and a picture of
his dead body was released by the police two years later. Adio had a
brush with soldiers in 1994 when he wrote an "alternative report" on
the activities of Musa Bamaiyi, the then chief executive of the
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Bamaiyi did not find it
flattering. The young reporter narrowly escaped the gulag when
soldiers stormed the office in search of him. He worked at THISDAY,
where he was assistant editor, political editor, New York bureau
chief, editorial page editor and columnist from November 1995 to
August 2003.


6. HE LOVES HIS BOOKS;
Adio has devoted much of his life to learning. Apart from his first
degree in mass communication, he has two master's degrees — one in
public administration, from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University (2009) and the other in journalism from Columbia
University, New York (1999). He was a Mason Fellow in Public Policy
and Management (2008/2009) and Nieman Fellow in Journalism
(2001/2002). Other courses and trainings he has attended are: leaders
in development: managing change in a dynamic world at Harvard, June
2015; leading professional service firms, 2010, at Harvard Business
School; essentials of public sector consultancy, 2010, at Public
Administration International, London; training on performance in
presentation, London, 2007, at the Central School Of Speech And Drama,
London; and training on strategic communications, 2006, at UNDP
Virtual Development Academy, Bangkok, Thailand.


7. HE IS NOT A NEW COMER TO NEITI;

He was director of communications at NEITI from May 2007 to June 2008,
when he resigned to pursue his second master's degree in the US. He
coordinated the last-minute legislative advocacy that led to the
passage and signing of the NEITI bill into law, developed and
coordinated the implementation of a result-oriented, post-act
communication strategy for NEITI; and initiated constructive
engagement with the media and civil society groups to ensure greater
visibility for NEITI and nuanced understanding of its work.


8. HE IS A POLICY COMMUNICATION CONSULTANT;

In July 2009, he set up Think Tank Consult office in Abuja to offer
policy communication services. As the lead consultant, he coordinated
the provision of crisis-communication support to the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) on the reform of the banking sector in Nigeria in 2009
and led the development of advocacy campaign for the federal ministry
of agriculture and water resources on efforts to combat the menace of
quelea birds in northern Nigeria. He also developed the policy
document for the youth employment programme of ministry of youth and
provided communication support to NYSC reforms.


9. HE IS A PUBLISHER AS WELL;

In 2012, he established the all-colour, all-gloss culture magazine,
Metropole, for the Abuja metropolis. Before then, was communications
specialist at UNDP Nigeria (2004-2007), and special adviser, research
and strategy to the senate president, Adolphus Wabara (2003-2004). He
wrote speeches for the senate president on a range of national and
global issues, and later edited the speeches into a book titled "This
is Where I Stand".


10. HE IS A CHELSEA SUPPORTER;

Adio spent his childhood rooting for IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan,
now called 3SC, but he is today a supporter of Chelsea Football Club
in the English premier league. He is also a supporter of anything Jose
Mourinho, and "followed" him to Inter Milan and Real Madrid. So will
he switch to Manchester United if the Special One is appointed to
replace Louis van Gaal next in the summer? He may be too busy trying
to clean up the mess in the extractive industry by then.



Source; The Cable