My achievement in the Lagos state civil service earned me my current post-Folashade Onabolu

Mrs Folashade Onabolu wears many caps, she is the current National Chairperson of the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria (SWAN), the first female Certified Forensic Accountant in Nigeria and also Lagos State Commissioner for Audit Service Commission. In this interview with ESTHER TAIWO AND MUTIAT ALLI, she shares her career life, personal life and advise career women on how to manage home and professionalism.

Can you share with us your growing up years?
I was born in Ile Ife, Osun State into the family of late Joseph Adekanmi Olawoyin, Police Officer and my late mother Mrs. Adunola Olawoyin, who was a textile dealer in her lifetime. I personally love education right from when I was small. I remember starting school at the age of five.

Your educational background?
I went to St. Peters Primary School, Ile-Ife, my secondary school was at Our Lady’s Girls’ High School also in Ile-Ife. And attended The Polytechnic Ibadan for my ‘A’ Levels before I gained admission to study Economics with specialisation in Accounting through a direct entry into the University of Ife. I graduated with Second Class Honours Upper Division in 1979. I did some other exams and I became a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Briefly tell us your journey into accounting profession?
As Deputy Director of Accounts with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, I was made the summit Accountant for the year 2008 Lagos Economic Summit and a member of the Finance Sub-committee. I received a letter of appreciation for my efforts. After becoming chartered, I also went further to become a Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Taxation, Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant, Nigeria.

Can you share some of your experience working in different ministries and departmental agencies?
Prior to my appointment with Lagos state government, I was with the firm of Coopers and Lybrand till 1987 when I became an Audit Supervisor, then I went to a Merchant Bank, as a Deputy Manager and rose to the position of Senior Manager in the bank. From there, I went to a private hospital to become the Executive Director, Finance and Administration till 2002 when I came into the Lagos state civil service as an Assistant Director State Treasury Office.
As head of Documentary Accounts Department of the State Treasury Office, I was in charge of Lagos State Domiciliary Accounts and Foreign Exchange Transactions. I was the head and business manager of the cash Management module of the Oracle Financial 11i Release of Lagos State Global Computerisation Project.
As a woman with exceptional eyes for details, I made huge savings and recovery from banks and financial institutions on behalf of the state government in excess of N400million, which earned me a letter of commendation from the Lagos State Head of Service in appreciation for my efforts. As Deputy Director of Accounts with Lagos State Government, Health Service Commission, I was in charge of the financial activities of 24 Government Hospitals scattered all over Lagos State.

How did you become a Forensic Accountant?
When I was working with Lagos state government, because of my passion for this job, I got interested in Forensic Accounting. The Institute of Chartered Accountant placed an advert in the dailies to train the first set of Forensic Accountants and I applied to become a Forensic Accountant. I enrolled for the Forensic Accounting Certification Programme which was co-sponsored by the health service commission and Ministry of Establishment & Training. I went for the training, (the Institute collaborated with American Institute of Forensic Accountant to train us then) courtesy of Lagos state government. To the glory of God, I was the only female that qualified after the training and I became the first certified forensic female Accountant in the entire public service in Nigeria as a whole.

What are your unforgettable memories as civil servant in Lagos State?
When I came into the Lagos state civil service, I made it known in my application that I’m coming in to add value and to the glory of God I did exactly that, because not long after I came in, I was able to do certain assignments on my own which led to the recovery of over N400 million into the coffers of Lagos state government. These are monies realised from Lagos state exposure to banks and financial institutions, I was able to look into their statements, their offer letters and make comparisons to see where the banks have been overcharging, charging unnecessary fees and the agreed rates are not complied with and this led to the recovery of such a huge sum of money.
This exercise earned me a letter of commendation from the then Head of Service in Lagos state. Due to my ability to have eyes for details, especially in debt management and verification, I was posted to so many ministries in the state: I was in State Treasury Office, and then I was moved to Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, then to the Health Service Commission. When I was in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, I was the Director of Account in charge of the Lagos Economic Summit which was a huge success. In the Health Service Commission I was the Director of Accounts, in charge of the accounts of 24 hospitals scattered all over the state, which I took time to visit to be able to identify their issues in order to address them. Then I was transferred to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, there, I was the Director of Account of a “Study Tour of Dubai and Singapore” which was undertaken by 100 officials of Lagos state government and it was a success. Then I came back to the State Treasury Office then from there I was given a special assignment to go into the Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office. Ironically, it was the present governor of Lagos state, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode who was the Accountant General in the State Treasury Office then that sent me on this assignment because of the confidence he had in me, as a goal-getter and someone who can deliver. So I went into the Establishment and was also able to save a lot of money for the state.
As soon as I resumed there, I decided that we are not going to use the electronic payment but rather issue individual cheque so as to enable me verify the authenticity and genuineness of these pensioners making the claim. Even beyond that, the collision between bankers’ public and insider in the establishment, I was able to break into it and apprehend members of staff that were involved in the fraud. You will be surprised that people that never lived in Lagos were given ID card of pensioners to come and make claims, they were caught and Lagos state government undertook the process to bring them to justice. Also privately, I notified all the bankers that apart from the confirmation letters, I should be notified before the payment of any cheque. That also helped because by the time they were doing confirmation with me, cheques in excess of millions that we did not even write, my signature and that of the Permanent Secretaries were forged and we were able to stop them. So in Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office I was able to combat fraud. Then I was also moved to the Education Ministry from there, where I learnt a lot, it was while I was in the ministry that Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola then appointed me as a Permanent Secretary during his tenure.
In another development, out of a total of 76 pensioners slated for arrears of pension, only 16 pensioners ended up getting paid. The sum of N9, 291,639.29 was saved for government.
Part of the measures I put in place to combat fraud was notifications to banks to carry out verbal confirmation of cheques in addition to written bank confirmation letter from the ministry. This led to the discovery of unauthorised and fake bank confirmation letters in respect of cheques to the tune of N5million which were subsequently not honoured by the bank.

What do you think earned you the position of a commissioner?
I believe my achievement in the Lagos state civil service earned me the post. On my retirement as a Permanent Secretary, I was again re-appointed by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as a Commissioner in the Audit Service Commission, a newly established Commission and a functional one. I remember during the ratification of my nomination by Governor Ambode, I had to face members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, who were all praising me after listening to my achievements in the civil service and being the first female certified Forensic Accountant in Nigeria.
How do you cope with your marriage as a career woman?
I am lucky to have married to a wonderful and an understanding husband who is a medical doctor, Dr Rotimi Onabolu, trained in Greece Athens, he gave me all the necessary support which I needed at that time. He has been extremely supportive if not I wouldn’t have come this far., he encourages me to put in my best and be focused, if he had been given me problems at home it would have affected me in the office, but he showed me love and gave me peace of mind. Our marriage is blessed with four wonderful kids, two girls and two boys, some are married. In fact I’m happy to tell you that I’m a proud grandmother.
Your advice for career women on how to manage their home front?
A woman must be determined, focused and must have vision of where she is going in life. she must be able to maintain a balance between home and work, it has to do with a lot of planning, she should be conscious of her responsibilities, as a woman she must not see herself as a weaker sex, who is unable to do anything, a woman’s responsibility is more than that of a man, she is in charge of the children, her husband and the home front.

What is your happiest day in life?
There are so many happy days in my life, I have always been counting my blessings; the day I got married, had my first child, the day I became the Permanent Secretary, became the first female Certified Forensic Accountant in Nigeria, the day my son became valedictorian in Fisk University, USA and the day I became SWAN National Chairperson, they are so many.

Do you have passion for mentoring?
I believe in mentoring. As far as this profession is concerned, I have some people that I look up to. I have some female Accountants that I’m training to become experts as far as this profession is concerned. Apart from my biological children, I also have some other children that I’m sponsoring their education, presently they are in the secondary school and I intend sponsoring them to the university level.

What is your life’s philosophy?
I believe that with God on your side, coupled with hard work and dedication you can do exploits. I believe so much in the power of God with hard work, not even the sky is your limit..

Your final word for prospective women accountant?
As women we must realise that we are in a male-dominated work environment. We must understand that women have natural occurrences, which may not be due to their making; they get pregnant, go on maternity leave but that shouldn’t hinder their getting to the top. Women have great potential and they have the tendency to get to the top if given the right support. We must also ensure equality in wages and think of succession plan for women.

Your plan for SWAN as the new Chairperson?
As the new SWAN Chairperson my aim is to promote the image of ICAN as the women wing of ICAN in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility such as hospital visitation, workshop on sexual harassment on campus, career development and every other thing that will impact on people’s lives generally, we also want to enhance and improve the status of women in accounting profession, we give scholarship to female students studying accounting in institutions.

What is your advice on successful marriage?
The success of any marriage is love, you must your spouse unconditionally. People marry for so many reasons which can fade away, basically you must love the person you want to marry, love conquers so many ills, when you love, it is then you can persevere, endure and be patient with the person, when you love somebody unconditionally, you can forgive easily and forget. There is no marriage without its ups and downs but don’t allow third party interference.

How do you unwind?
I unwind in the company of friends, my good old friends. I also enjoy exercise and cooking, I love writing too, maybe that’s why I wrote my book Forensic Auditing in Nigeria Public Sector. I am a socialite, I like meeting people and I love travelling.