A Profile in Professional and Administrative Excellence

Henry Dele Alake, a writer, author, and seasoned media professional, was born on 6 October 1956. He had his primary education at Surulere Baptist Primary School, Surulere, in Lagos from 1961 to 1967. He later moved to Christ’s School Ado Ekiti, where he earned the West African School Certificate. He obtained the General Certificate of Education in 1974 while pursuing his Higher School Certificate course at the Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, between 1973 and 1975. Later in 1975, he enrolled in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree programme in Political Science at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, and graduated in 1978. He later returned to the same university and obtained a master’s degree in Mass Communications in 1981.

Alake began his career as a journalist when, as a fresh graduate, he served at the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. After completing the one-year national service as made compulsory by the Nigerian government, Alake secured an appointment at the Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation (LSBC) as Senior Sub-Editor, in which capacity he served till 1980. He had served as Current Affairs Officer and Senior Current Affairs Officer, and was later made Principal Current Affairs Officer in 1983. Through his experience in broadcast media, Alake contributed to the establishment of Lagos Television (LTV 8), the sister station of his employers, the Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation. After a successful engagement in broadcast journalism, Alake moved into print media. In late 1985, he joined the Concord Press publishers of the Concord Group of Newspapers – National Concord and Sunday Concord – as a writer and editor. A year after his employment, he became a columnist in the National Concord and served in that capacity until 1989. Later that year, he was appointed editor of Sunday Concord, a post he held till 1995. Before then, he doubled as a columnist in the Sunday Concord. Later in 1995, he became editor of the National Concord, a post he retained till June 1999.

Mr. Oladele Alakes was the Honourable Commissioner for Information & Strategy in Lagos State between 1999 and 2007. In that capacity, he was involved in formulating the strategic and tactical initiatives which made the administration of Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, then the Governor of Lagos State, record outstanding achievements. These marked its record of excellence in industry, finance, education, health, employment, and community development.

Among the celebrated achievements of the administration are the computerisation of government operations, environmental reforms, Bar Beach reclamation project, increase in revenue generation from N600 million to N7 billion in eight years, N15 billion rehabilitation of the Lagos Island Business District, Lagos Independent Power Project, construction of millennium schools, establishment of new general hospitals, construction of highways and inner city roads, introduction of the Bus Rapid Transfer system and massive employment of youths.

A statesman par excellence gifted with the Midas touch to transform organizations and systems, Alake has been instrumental to the establishment and development of many media organizations, including Lagos Television, The Nation Newspaper, Television Continental (TVC), Max FM station, Adaba FM, and National Life.

Widely travelled and acknowledged as an influential and prodigious political communications guru, Alake rose to the pinnacle of his career as a journalist at the Concord Press of Nigeria, where he was the Editor of Sunday Concord and National Concord newspapers at various times.

He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and a former Vice President of the Guild. He was a Consultant on Public Affairs to the African Finance Corporation, AFC, chairman of Statedgemax, a public relations firm, and director of Gravitas, a media company.

Until his appointment as the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, he was the Special Adviser on Strategy, Communications & Special Duties to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.