IT came like a rumour, but eventually turned out be
true that the immediate past Chief Operating Officer of the Nigeria Internet
Registration Association (NIRA), Mr. Opeoluwa Odusan has resigned from the
multi-stakeholder formed in 2005, after almost two years of steering the
organization.
It was Mr. Odusan who confirmed this to DigitalSENSE
Business News, saying “Just want to let you know … I look forward to
working with you in my new job.”
And so it came to pass that once upon a time, Mr. Odusan was
in Nigeria to contribute his quota in the history of NIRA.
But buttressing this, a press statement came from the new
employer of Mr. Odusan on Tuesday, July 9 dated the previous day, Monday, from
the Africa.com chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Teresa Clarke from
her South African office, saying that Odusan’s appointment as Managing Director
of Africa.com Domain Services, was with immediate effect.
She disclosed that following a comprehensive search that
considered a broad list of highly qualified candidates, Ope’s unique
combination of knowledge of the African internet market, management skills,
professional experience and African domain name industry connections made him
the ideal choice to serve as Africa.com’s Managing Director of Domain Name
Services.
“We are launching our domain name business this month
(July). We are very impressed at how Ope’s vision is confluent with that of the
organization, and how he plans to lead Africa.com into the future,” she said.
Pointing out that since 2011, Mr. Odusan had served as Chief Operating Officer
of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), driving its strategy
and operations of the .ng domain, the official domain of Nigeria, which also
includes .com.ng, among other domains; attributing the aligning of the NG
domain with global market practices to Odusan.
In his official reaction, Mr. Odusan told DigitalSENSE
Business News that he is honored to have been selected as Africa.com’s new
Managing Director of Domain Name Services, expressing his excitement to drive
this mission of bringing African small businesses online.
“I look forward to working with the Africa.com staff towards
an exciting future focused on helping African SMEs bring their products and
services to the global online community. Together, we will advance African
small business to improve economic development, and create jobs, for Africans
across the continent,” he said.
Exit of a gentleman:
However, soon after, Mr. Sola Fanawopo, a Lagos-based media
practitioner wrote on his blog a piece entitled “NIRA: Exit of a Perfect
Gentleman” which gave several pictures including that there was alleged
high-handedness that may have ‘forced’ Mr. Odusan to take his trade elsewhere.
According to Fanawopo, “Though he worked under a ‘mutually
mistrust’ but ‘interesting’ arrangement of which the part time board members
are entrusted with wider executive roles than the operating officers. Ope was
able to manage all the disparate fractions and egos in NIRA. I doubt if the
association could find anyone again to work under this ‘interesting’
arrangement without much ado. I am too sure that Ope could have performed even
better if he had the power to take responsive and responsible executive
decisions while he piloted NIRA affairs.”
He further posited that Nigeria’s loss in Ope is Africa’s
gain, stressing “Ope has moved upstairs where he would have all the power to
take responsible and responsive decisions. He is now Managing Director of
Africa.com Domain Services.”
Board accepts Odusan’s resignation:
The President, NIRA, Mrs. Mary Uduma, in her official
reaction said that the Executive Board of NIRA accepted his resignation as COO
and Secretary to the Board with effect from August 5, 2013.
She recalled that Mr. Odusan joined NIRA in June 2011,
bringing his wealth of experience in domain registration to bear on the
operations of NIRA, adding that his tenure witnessed improvements in its
registry operations and stakeholder engagements.
“The Executive Board, therefore, wishes him well in all his
future endeavours,” she stated in a press statement made available to DigitalSENSE
Business News. In the interim, she said, the Board has seconded one of its
own, Mr. Akinbo Adebunmi Adeola Cornerstone, as the Acting Secretary to the
Executive Board/Chief Operating Officer of the NIRA, pending the appointment of
a substantive COO who will also double as Secretary to the Board.
Mrs. Uduma pointed out that while plans are underway to
replace the outgoing COO who is currently on terminal leave, as at the time of
going to the press, the Board is committed to ensuring that the next COO will
fit into the dynamics of positioning NIRA as a high performance organisation.
Insisting, NiRA secretariat is intact and could be reached through various
contact channels including phone lines and e-mail.
Folayan’s take:
In his own personal comment on the blog post by Mr.
Fanawopo, the Vice President of NIRA, Mr. Sunday Folayan tried to put the
records straight and lamented non-inclusion of NIRA’s position in the piece.
He, also totally agreed with Fanawopo that Ope “is a gentleman per excellence,
and I am bold to say so.” He stressed that the Board does not mistrust Ope in
any way, noting, there is a difference between a Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
and a Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Ope was aware before taking the COO
role. He explained that the CEO is the President of the board and there are
also Executive Directors.
Folayan argued that Ope was not asked to take on the CEO
role, was not as a result of mistrust in any way, but the structure of a
community not-for-profit driven organization, a Country Code Tope Level Domain
(ccTLD). For him, there is abundance of talents in Nigeria, and again, the role
of a national ccTLD is beyond profit.
Exporting skills:
“Permit me to say that NIRA is very pleased that it is in a
position to “Export” Ope’s skills, which were horned within the period he
served in NIRA. Definitely, there is a limit on job challenges and
remunerations. I am seated at the afTLD meeting in Durban and Ope is just
across the room. His new employers sponsored our dinner yesterday (July 12,
2013),” Folayana said.
Elucidating further, he said that Mr. Odusan took up a more
challenging and more financially rewarding role and position, but Ope and NIRA
board remain a family. Folayan added that in the event he meets Odusan, he will
likely tell him that Nigeria’s contributions and influence in the global
community is beyond individuals.
The Ope Odusan we know:
Mr. Odusan has over 20 years of experience in computer and
biological science. Since Odusan joined the NIRA, he has become a leader in the
African domain name industry, and in addition to running one of the continent’s
largest domain names, is a frequent contributor to regulatory and policy
development for African domain names.
Prior to joining NIRA, Odusan served as Manager of the
Johnson & Johnson QA Laboratory Computer Systems Group in New Jersey, USA.
Odusan held previous positions as a Senior Research Scientist in Laboratory
Computer Systems at Centocor Ortho Biotech in New Jersey, USA, as well as a
software application scientist at global software development firm in
California.
Odusan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry
from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, a Master of Science degree in
Biotechnology from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Master of Science
degree in Technology Management from the University of Maryland.
Africa.com
Africa.com, launched in 2010, claims the largest
Africa-related website with over 3 million visitors per month from over 200
countries around the world. Africa.com
brings its users carefully selected news, travel and lifestyle stories on all
54 countries in Africa. Africa.com was
selected to join the White House Traveling Press Corps to cover President Obama
on his historic visit to Africa in 2013.
Africa.com is the producer of the highly successful documentary, Africa
Straight Up, which has been broadcast on television in the UK and the US.
Wrapping up:
Investigations by DigitalSENSE Business News shows that for
now, there is no love-lost between NIRA executive board and its erstwhile chief
operating officer, Mr. Ope Odusan, but it goes to tell how well local media and
practitioners know about NIRA operations in recent times.
Therefore, its highest time good media education evolves to
not only draw media and its operators nearer to NIRA and also to offer the
association an ample time and opportunity to ride on the media to tell its own
story, which in all ramifications would deepen the understanding and adaptation
of the ng brand beyond the immediate internet community in Nigeria, as we join
NIRA board to say congratulations to Mr. Odusan in his latest endeavour.
Remmy Nweke/DigitalSENSE Business News
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
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