TheCable

Babajide Sanwo-Olu , governor of Lagos state, has appointed Lekan Fatodu as senior special assistant (SSA) on sustainable development goals (SDGs).

In the statement, the governor said Fatodu would assist with his desire to strengthen the delivery of the United Nation’s agenda in the areas of education, healthcare, poverty eradication, environment and sanitation among others.

“The new Senior Special Assistant will support Governor Sanwo-Olu’s vision to mainstream the UN Sustainable Development Goals across Ministries, Departments, Agencies and the Local Council Development Areas to ensure Lagosians feel the impact of governance in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda of the government,” the statement read.

Fatodu has over 18 years of experience in the areas of international development, strategic communications and diplomacy.

Prior to his appointment, he was the publisher of Checkout magazine, a business and development-focused publication; the lead consultant at Leeman Communications, a development, digital solutions and strategic communications firm and the producer of the highly successful entrepreneurship forum, the Africa Shapers Initiative, a platform for the exchange of great ideas between established and aspiring entrepreneurs on the continent.

He has been facilitating greater support and initiatives from the international development space to Africa and Nigeria in particular, thereby opening up the country to invaluable skills and resources that will enable it confront its development challenges more effectively.

In 2017, Fatodu convened the first African Roundtable on Business and Sustainable Development in the British house of parliament, a high-level engagement that played host to John Howell, then British prime minister’s envoy on trade to Nigeria, and Iain Stewart, private parliamentary secretary on international trade.

Fatodu has received many recognition and awards. He was the recipient of the most outstanding entrepreneur by Strides Media UK (2011) and also named “outstanding achievement and exemplary public endeavours” by the University of Lagos Alumni Association, Lagos State Chapter in 2014.

He is a graduate of the University of Lagos, Nigeria where he bagged a degree in mass communication. He also attended the University of Westminster, London for his master’s degree in diplomatic studies.