Ondo State commissioner of finance, Adewale Akinterinwa, gas emerged as the chairman of the Forum of Commissioners of Finance in Nigeria.

The forum, consisting of the 36 states finance commissioners in Nigeria, picked Akinterinwa as chairman as a result of his sterling perfomance in managing the economy of Ondo State.

This is coming barely few weeks after the presitigious Yoruba Study Group honored Akinterinwa with an award for his excellent handling of the finances of the sunshine state.

These are just a few of the many awards that have come his way in recent times.

Akinterinwa, like the proverbial gold fish that he is, has become one of the most-sought after finance expert in the country. His mastery of matters of finance has made him the star boy among his peers.

Nowhere is his uncommon knowledge of finance more pronounced and appreciated than the places he has worked, both in private and public practices. His good deeds and excellent track records have become a badge of honour which he wears with great pride.

His sure-footed steps in taking bold decisions sets him apart from the crowd. He recently described himself thus:
“I am a corporate finance professional, with strong Managerial, Strategy, Finance and Accounting background with more than 25 years of excellent training, strategic leadership, mentoring and entrepreneurial prowess in diverse areas of investment banking, project finance and management, venture capital, real estate development, finance and management consulting and public sector engagement.”

Akinterinwa’s hard work and understanding of the biblical qoute, ‘seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men’, has made him one of the most-sought after game changer by state governments and top corporate entities across the country and abroad.

Young and energetic Akinterinwa was one of the beautiful brains behind the huge turn around and success story of the Lagos real estate industry, when between 1999 and 2002, as a special assistant on investment and strategy to the CEO, he worked with his team to turn the wobbling corporation into a viable, profitable, self-financing and self-sustaining entity,

In the private sector, he founded Gideon Trust Investment Limited in 2003. As executivvice chairman/CEO, his roles included supervision of the company in conjunction with the board. He was also responsible for the development, creation, establishment and implementation of business generation strategies for the group, spanning various sectors of the economy, including lease finance, venture capital, capital market, real sector, real estate development and management consulting.

Between 2010 and 2016, Akinterinwa was chair of Gideon Trust Micro-Finance Bank Ltd. His job included, but not limited to development, creation, establishment and implementation of business generation strategies for the bank. This spanned various sectors of the economy including Lease Finance, Venture Capital, Capital Market, Real Sector.

He would later be tapped by his home state of Ondo to help replicate his Lagos success story as the state commissioner for finance. Though his stint at the ministry was shortlived, but he had put in place lasting structures that have helped put the state better standing for future challenges.

Between 2015 and 2017, he veered into the energy sector as a board member/non-executive director of Emergent Power and Energy Dev. Company Ltd. He was in charge of giving the company the much-desired strategic direction and concept management in conjunction with other board members.

Highly cerebral and cosmopolitan, Akinterinwa could not be drawn away from his first love – accountancy- as he was again tapped by Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in 2017, to help manage the finances of the state and put it in better shape after a perilous past.

Expectedly, Ondo State is reaping the decision of the governor to tap one of the best brains from the state to manage it’s finances.

From 2017 when he assumed office as the commissioner for finance, the state has been on a steady rise with disciplined fiscal measures.

Now the outside world is aware of the positive impact of the suave man and has decided to honour him.

SEGUN AJIBOYE