TB @ 65: Profile In Diligence

By Ondaje Ijagwu

As Mr Tunji Bello marks his 65th birthday on July 1, there is a natural temptation to measure his public life by the offices he has held, the policies he has championed or the regulatory milestones achieved under his leadership. Yet those who have worked most closely with him often tell a quieter story, one found in meetings, conversations and decisions that have gradually reshaped the culture of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). It is a story less about the exercise of power than about the judgement required to exercise it fairly.

When Bello resumed as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in July 2024, he could easily have disappeared into the familiar rituals of a leadership transition: routine briefings, files awaiting signature and meetings with senior officials. Instead, before settling into his office, he walked through the Commission. He stopped in departments, greeted members of staff and introduced himself to the people who would be expected to translate policy into daily work. It was not a choreographed tour for photographers or a symbolic courtesy destined for the next day’s newspapers. For everyone who witnessed it, it was an unhurried effort to understand the institution through the people who animated it.

Only afterwards did he take his seat behind the executive desk. His first address to the staff reinforced the same impression. “I have been well received,” he said. “I am confident that I am in the midst of people who can accomplish more.” He spoke less about himself than about the Commission’s obligation to ordinary Nigerians.

“We need to expand our reach. Nigerians need to feel us. How can we be of assistance to the ordinary consumer?… We need to do more market surveillance.”

Many chief executives spend their opening days defining authority. Bello appeared more interested in defining purpose. The emphasis was not on the office he had assumed but on the institution he believed the Commission should become. One that remained close enough to consumers and markets to respond with credibility.

At a recent meeting, the discussion had turned to staff transfers, one of those routine administrative matters. Operational needs had to be balanced. Managers pondered where officers should be deployed across the Commission’s network of zonal and state offices to maximise efficiency.

Then an unexpected question altered the tone of the discussion. “If someone has stayed for up to ten years in one of the Commission’s zonal offices,” Tunji Bello asked, “doesn’t that simply mean the staff must have built a family out there that should not be disrupted?”

For a moment, the conversation paused. The point was not that transfers should never happen. Public institutions cannot function without movement, and leadership sometimes requires difficult decisions. His intervention simply widened the frame through which the issue was being considered. Behind every transfer file was a family that had found its footing in a particular city, children settled into schools, spouses whose own careers had become rooted, ageing parents accustomed to familiar routines and communities that had slowly become home. The Commission’s operational needs remained important, but they were no longer the only consideration.

That brief exchange revealed something official communiqués seldom capture. Bello appeared to approach administration with the conviction that institutions are communities of people as much as systems of process. Efficiency mattered. So did fairness. Leadership required holding both in balance.

Management meetings came to reflect a culture in which ideas were tested, alternative opinions encouraged and disagreement treated as part of sound decision making rather than as a challenge to authority. Although the Executive Vice Chairman retained ultimate responsibility, colleagues recognised that outcomes were genuinely shaped by contributions made during discussions. People contribute more honestly when they know they are expected to think rather than merely agree. That culture of participation would become one of the defining features of Bello’s leadership.

Listening, however, is only the beginning of leadership. Institutions are ultimately judged by whether their decisions reflect the breadth of experience within them.

One of the quieter changes under Bello has been the steady widening of participation in the Commission’s internal governance. Heads of zonal and state offices now participate in management meetings, ensuring that operational realities from across Nigeria help to shape discussions at headquarters. Separate engagements between management and field leadership have also been introduced, creating a direct forum for practical challenges to be discussed without unnecessary bureaucratic layers. Distance from Abuja no longer necessarily means distance from decision-making.

The same philosophy has informed professional development. Local and overseas training opportunities are now distributed more broadly across the organisation, with officers from zonal and state offices participating alongside colleagues at headquarters. Younger officers have gained opportunities that previously appeared beyond reach, while experienced personnel continue to receive specialised development suited to their responsibilities.

The objective is not equal distribution for its own sake. It is the recognition that institutions grow stronger when knowledge and opportunity circulate widely.

Practical support has accompanied these structural changes. Operational vehicles have been provided, strengthening field activities, while increased operational funding has significantly enhanced the capacity of outstation offices. Institutional assignments have also been distributed more evenly across the Commission.

The same attentiveness extends to staff welfare. When the recent conflict in the Middle East drove up fuel prices and increased transportation costs, Bello approved the procurement of brand new staff buses to support employees’ daily commute.

– Mr. Ijagwu is Director, Corporate Affairs Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.