Jonathan Sacks SURE-P Chairman for Delivering Obasanjo's Birthday Lecture!

The Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programe, SURE-P, retired General Martin Luther Agwai has been relieved of his position. This was made known via a statement signed by Dr. Reuben Abati, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity on Tuesday.

Mr. Ishaya Dare Akau has been named as the new Chairman and his appointment takes immediate effect.

The statement reads “in furtherance of his efforts to continuously re-energize and reposition agencies of the Federal Government for optimal service delivery, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has appointed Mr. Ishaya Dare Akau as the new Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

Mr. Akau, whose appointment takes immediate effect, replaces Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.) who served as Chairman of the SURE-P until today.

The new SURE-P Chairman hails from Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State and holds Bachelors’ Degrees in the Arts and Law.

Mr. Akau comes to the job with years of experience as a high-level administrator in the nation’s public service. His record of service includes tenures as Chairman of the Kaduna State Universal Education Board and Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission.

President Jonathan thanks the outgoing Chairman of SURE-P, Gen Agwai for his service to the nation and wishes him well in his future endeavours”.

Checks have however revealed that General Agwai’s sack might not have been unconnected with the speech he delivered at the recent 78th birthday celebration hosted by Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

At the reception which was held 5 days ago, the retired Chief of Army Staff delivered a lecture titled “Imperatives of a national security framework for the development and progress of Nigeria” in which he said “In life, you find out that everything needs change, if that is what the community wants, what the people want, you must give it to them and as such, it becomes inevitable.

“You can have everything nice, but if you don’t have the right leadership to propel it, it cannot go anywhere. Integrity matters, doing what is good for the larger society, and not just what you want to do for a narrow society to please yourself.”