By Toby Prince
As the curtains draw to a close on her illustrious career, Chief Dr. Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein FCCA, Ph.D., stepped out of the spotlight, leaving behind a legacy of excellence that will forever be etched in the annals of Nigeria’s history. With a storied career spanning over three decades, Madein’s remarkable journey as the first female Accountant-General of the Federation was a masterclass in visionary leadership, marked by her sharp mind, generous spirit, and deep devotion to the public good.
The Holy Bible describes a virtuous woman, as priceless and yet responsible and weighty. She is considered to be well above the ordinary, standing tall and driven by qualitative traits. She is a blessing not just to her husband and children but to her nation in general. Chief Dr. Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein gives eloquent and unmistakable verity to this assertion. Not only have her several reformative positive efforts lifted the country’s financial sector, but it has impacted significantly on the prosperity of her citizens and brought goodwill and confidence, leading to patronage from foreign nations.
From joining the civil service over 32 years ago to her appointment as the Accountant General of the Federation on 18th May 2023, Chief Mrs Madein’s outstanding streak of innovative dedication and patriotic zeal has been that of a bright northern star, noticed by all and giving her accelerated advantage even in her early days in the public service, granting her career progressions.
Her character was further reinforced by a sound education, and an eagerness to consistently develop her capacity intellectually. Where others saw pecuniary benefits, she saw an opportunity to develop her capacity, be accountable, maintain her integrity and remain uncompromisingly elegant and confident. These clever but simple attributes became preparation towards the highest calling and also a means through which she was able to cut a niche for her unique style of leadership.
A multifaceted woman and an exceptionally focused, passionate and well-motivated team player, Dr Madein facilitated an inclusive working ambience everywhere she went, enhancing productivity and enlisting vibrant support from her subordinates and the entire workforce.
Her steady growth and ascendancy to the coveted office of the Accountant General of the Federation after 32 years of meritorious service did not therefore come as a surprise, as she was seen by many keen observers as her inspirational model and exceptional life, embodying service and the prioritization of commitment for the public good, as a square peg in a square hole.
A worker-friendly administrator, she prioritized capacity development through training and re-training of staff, across all cadres. She therefore worked out a collaboration between her offices and the ASCON for a training programme which provides adequate capacity development training for OAGF staff. She also upgraded the Federal Treasury Academy at Orozo, Abuja into a premier institution for developing human capacity in public finance management, thereby preparing middle-level staff to meet the challenges and dynamic complexities of the financial global trends, creating sustained measures of tackling them, and complying with world best practices in global financing rating worldwide.
In a bid to enhance motivation, and provide a quick stop-gap avenue for the workforce for handy financial aid and rehabilitation, she established the Staff Cooperative Societies in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government. Aside from giving credit facilities at short notice on a single-digit interest rate, the Cooperatives is also a place of succour, generating interest which is shared at the end of the year, and providing other help services to staff.
Dr. Oluwatoyin’s demonstrations and superlative record of achievements reveal excellent testimonies of exemplary leadership worldwide. Her exceptional integrity, solidity, and transparent and accountable lifestyle were zealously guarded throughout her distinguished career, revealing a highly consistent God-fearing and splendid professional.
An assertive result-oriented professional, she deliberately introduced transparency, accountability and judicious utilization of public funds and also uncompromisingly sustained the policy of publishing the details of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue distribution to the three tiers of government. Through this, she has been able to bring about inclusivity in the running of government, and a process whereby citizens are properly informed on the path of revenue distribution, inflows and expenditures, and kept abreast of the revenue trajectory and distribution of the Federal Government giving out comprehensive idea about government spending and creating a means through which government’s performance can be compared with revenue inflows at all levels, thereby sustain core democratic tenets.
Dr. Madein also created the Public Finance Management (PFM) Reform initiatives and subsequently initiated the sponsorship of the Bill which gave strong legal effect to it, thereby repealing the Finance Control and Management Act of 1958 which though obsolete inadequate and defective in supporting the present day international best practices in global financing was in effect. Today, that law has established Public Finance Management (PFM) Reforms, as well as regulated the management of public funds.
Her robust, strategic engagements and interface with the IPPIS Service Providers and the critical stakeholders at various levels, led to collaborative buy-ins, understanding and consequently the resolution of the crises which before then affected the implementation of the payment system and its acceptability by all sides. Today, there is an effective implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) Payment System across the federal civil service, including the security services and all tertiary institutions, with industrial peace and harmony.
The gains of the implementation of the payment system also include a significant reduction of corruption in the public service through fraudulent payments of salaries and emoluments, blocking of revenue leakages, growth in federal government revenue, drastic elimination of cases of ghost workers and multiple payments.
Dr Mrs Oluwatoyin also established an E-library in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF). The state-of-the-art infrastructure provides relevant information and resources to support OAGF activities towards achieving its mandate, including printing, non-print and e-resources for consultation, research, planning, and recreation; and for effective and efficient public service delivery, with the specific schedules of collecting developments and the organization of the Library resources. It also provides adequate E-Library services with enablement for reference and readers services as well as documentation services, reprographic services, and online services. Other services rendered by the library include; indexing of materials or publications and bibliographic compilations.
She demonstrated unequal determination towards establishing lasting and sustainable solutions to the observable constraints mitigating the implementation of the Financial Management Reform Initiatives, particularly the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS), Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), and Assets Tracking Management Project (ATMP) through various reform initiatives including the introduction and subsequent adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS), which brought about the transition from a Cash-Based Reporting to an Accrual-Based Reporting. Again, the implementation of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) has become the platform for the centralization of the government’s budgeting and expenditure.
An honest, result-oriented and bold administrator, Dr Madein reversed the ugly trend in the revenue collection system, which became a conduit for corruption, leakages and fraudulent manipulations, by bringing an efficient cashless revenue payment system targeted at eliminating the foretasted loopholes and establishing a system of probity, transparency and accountability.
Her confident reforms have brought about the monthly consistent hitch-free and timely release of funds to all the MDAs and the three tiers of government. This has also led to the delivery of various infrastructural and developmental projects all over the country.
Her unique style of leadership coupled with her exemplary lifestyle has led to a consistent increase in the revenue generated by the federal government.
Indeed Iperu Remo was born in 2019 at Commonwealth University, a Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa), a Fellow of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA), UK, and a 2020 Doctoral Degree holder in Management Finance from the prestigious Walden University, Minnesota, United States and core professional Accountant has cut out a niche for herself before leaving the office as Accountant General of the Federation on Friday.
Certainly, she came, she saw and she conquered. She is an enviable story of how excellent women can serve and deliver when given the opportunity. We are not asking Chief Dr Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein FCCA, Ph. D., to venture into politics for any reason. She is a proven technocrat whose usefulness will outlive generations. But we need her around to help the Renewed Hope Agenda work.
***Prince, a media expert, writes from Abuja
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