Guardian Nigeria
He is a trailblazer. His name is synonymous with success and it is evidenced by how successful he has become in the sector to which he belongs and everywhere around him. His portfolio speaks volumes and he is not done yet as he keeps aiming higher in all ramifications.
Nigeria and indeed Africa can not afford not to mention Fatai Agboola Aremu Afolabi, the brain behind foremost development services limited as he has carved a nitch for himself as one of the notable leaders in corporate Nigeria.
Born in the Mainland part of Lagos in 1958, Afolabi started his education career from the primary level in 1971 up to the peak level, where he is currently pursuing his PhD in Natural Resources Management at the University of Ibadan.
After his tertiary education at the University of Ibadan, where he graduated in 1983, with a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in agriculture science, he served and completed his NYSC with the National Cereals Research Institute, Moore Plantation, Ibadan, in 1984.
In his quest to increase his professional capacity, Afolabi secured the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) scholarship of the British government to undertake development studies at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, in 1990.
He finished at the University of East Anglia with a master of science degree in development planning in 1991. After a successful professional career course abroad, Afolabi came back home and started his professional career in 1985 into the employment of Knight Frank & Rutley as a consultant in the Agricultural Services department of the firm.
At Knight Frank, he participated in the formulation, design, study and execution of notable agricultural and rural development projects across Nigeria for big corporate organisations and government establishments.
With the aspiration to become a boss of his own, Afolabi started his practice in 1992, when he established his company, Foremost Agricultural Services Limited, which was later changed to Foremost Development Services Limited; a firm of development projects consultants.
The firm’s expertise includes – Project identification, design, planning, natural resources conservation, environmental services and sustainability.
As the Managing Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Foremost Development Services Limited, Afolabi has been an active player in agriculture, rural development and environmental management in Nigeria.
With utmost dedication, commitment and quality leadership style, his career as a development planner has saw his hands in notable development projects for governments at national and state levels, large corporate/multinational establishments, international organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
As the Founder and Managing Consultant of Foremost Development Services Limited, he has successfully led a team of professionals with over 100 years of combined experience in over 30 years of the company’s existence.
The company provides services in the areas of Environmental Compliance Monitoring, Environmental and Social Development Studies, Environmental Audit, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), as well as Pollution Control and Management.
On the agricultural side, services rendered include Soil Survey and Land Evaluation, Feasibility Studies, Agro-Industrial Development, Marketing and Procurement Services, Farm Planning and Management Services.
Currently, you can not mention an agricultural and sustainability expert in Nigeria without mentioning Afolabi’s name He has been an active player in agriculture, rural development, and environmental management in Nigeria.
His achievements are too numerous to be ignored and his success story is a testament to the enduring power of dream, courage, honesty and integrity.
He has led and coordinated studies and services in the areas of agriculture and agro industrial development planning, environmental services in the food and agricultural sector including ESIA, environmental compliance monitoring, environmental audit as well as pollution control and management.
He is prominent in policy advocacy relating to agriculture and Food security in Nigeria, especially in the Nigerian oil palm industry where he champions the production of sustainable palm oil based on the principles and criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
The Foremost Development Services Limited boss has vast experience in providing technical and advisory services for government, private sector and international bodies.
He has set an example of high corporate governance standards by providing high-quality leadership to one of the most diversified and widely spread organisations in Nigeria.
He has built a management structure in which operational processes are geared towards quality leadership that delivers corporate objectives.
For his outstanding corporate governance quality, outstanding milestones and phenomenal growth recorded by Foremost Development Services Limited under his leadership, Afolabi received the TELL award as one of the 20 most outstanding Nigerians in 2023.
He is also a recipient of the Global Excellence Recognition Award 2024 and several awards at home and abroad.
He is an active member of Lagos Country Club and various professional bodies, including a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management Consultants and has served on the presidential and ministerial committees of several agricultural development committees at the national level in Nigeria.
He was previously the founding Executive Secretary of the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria (POFON) and a former Facilitator of the National Interpretation of the Principles and Criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Nigeria (RSPO).
His passion for agriculture was underlined by his membership of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), where he was previously a facilitator and currently a steering committee member of the Agriculture and Food Security Policy Commission.
He was also until recently a technical committee member of the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation; an organisation committed to promoting and empowering smallholder farmers in Nigeria.
Afolabi was also a member of the Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board and a Board/Hajj Committee Member (2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014).
Being an environmental expert, Afolabi believes that the citizens need to return to its values of practicing environmental sanitation daily.
According to him, the environment reflects the people, because it is the quality of the people that determines the quality of the environment.
He said when the quality of people improves, so will the quality of the environment.
On his advice to the younger generation, he said “I believe we need to discuss how we will be able to bring all of the contending and conflicting forces together to achieve sustainable development. There is also a need for social re-orientation, to educate a new generation of Nigerians, and that education must revolve around the Nigerian traditional values, chief of which is the conservation of natural resources.”
Some of his other fellowships and awards include:
• British Chevening Fellow (1991)
• Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management Consultants;
• Fellow, Institute of Management Specialists (UK),
• Fellow, Africa Business Club
• Leadership Excellence Award, The Africa Business Club (2023)
• Africa Brands CEO Awards 2023.
• Africa Business CEO Award, 2023
• Excellence Recognition Awards, 2024
• Achiever in Agriculture (Nigeria Agricultural Award 2018)
• Certified Management Consultant Award (2021)
• Appreciation Award, British America Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (20240
• ETC. ETC.
