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MALLAM OLAWALE RASHEED
Brief Profile
Mallam Rasheed is a consummate writer, journalist, media entrepreneur, administrator, public/policy affairs analyst with local, state, national and international experience. He has a rare combination of attributes through his sojourn in life that adequately equipped him for the challenges of public office.
Current Position
He is today a member of the Osun State Executive Council chaired by Governor Ademola Adeleke. Rasheed is the Special Adviser and Spokesperson to the State Governor from 2022 to date.
Education
With English language studies from the University of Ilorin, he opted for a masters programme in public administration immediately after his national service at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) in Abuja. He was the brain behind the formation of the Post- Graduate Students Association of University of Ilorin and the Association of Masters of Public Administration Students of the same institution.
Political Career
Rasheed's life took a multiple dimension manifesting in his hands entering various sectors of life. He witnessed the 1994 National Constitutional Conference in Abuja where he was opportune to interact at close quarters with top political leaders from all over the country. This was in addition to his access to top political documents on governance ,governments and the Nigerian nation.
From the confab, he entered journalism as a proofreader, then senior reporter ,Assistant Editor, Deputy editor, Abuja Bureau Chief ,Group Political Editor and Regional Editor North, covering political beats from National Assembly to political parties and public bureaucracy.
Reputed to be a prolific , resourceful analyst,he spent close to twenty five years within the service of African Newspapers of Nigeria, publishers of Tribune newspapers before he launched the Sahel Media group consisting of online newspaper, online reputation management and media/ political consultancy.
Rasheed was born into a political family as his late father was a founding member of Action Group, Unity Party of Nigeria, Social Democratic Party and the Alliance for Democracy. From his teenage years he was exposed to politicking and he grew within the political system.
He was active within the youth wing of the Peoples Solidarity Party which later fused with defunct Peoples Front to form the Social Democratic Party. From Imeri Unity Group,New Era Movement to the formation of the United Congress Party to the processes preceding the formation of the Peoples Democratic Party, Rasheed was involved. He was at the first meeting of the PDP held at Ladi Kwali hall of Sheraton Hotel, Abuja and the first South West meeting of the PDP held at the Ibadan residence of Prof Tunde Adeniran.
In 1999, he was the Director of Publicity for Olu Alabi Governorship Campaign Organisation for the Osun state governorship election. At the federal level, he is a party strategist connected to many power brokers in the country.
Rasheed has diligently served many political leaders in the course of his political sojourn. As he used to say , he has many leaders. His political experience is therefore intellectual in nature as a politics reporter and editor for close to twenty years; practical in the partisan field as an actor in local,state and national politics.
From his unusual decision to secure a professional Masters degree in Public Administration to his political participation, Rasheed is privileged to have served government in critical capacities.
His experience in government avails him of the needed skills and understanding of the working of public bureaucracy,the relationship between political functionaries and bureaucrats, the workings of executive and legislative organs of government and a closer grasp of what an ideal citizens - government relations should be.
He was briefly a Chief Information Officer at the Federal Capital Development Authority serving the Board of Directors under the chairmanship of Dr Olu Alabi. He later served as the unofficial media aide of late Chief Sunday Afolabi during his days as the Minister of Internal Affairs.
For close to four years ,he was the Sole special Assistant to the then Minister of Youth Development, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi. That period remains till date the golden age of youth development in Nigeria when innovative youth policies and agenda were fashioned out and implemented.
Few years later, Rasheed moved into the infrastructure sector when he was appointed Special Assistant Media to the minister of State for power. It was the critical stage of the privatization and stabilisation of the power sector.
In 2017, he joined the governorship race in Osun state but later stepped down for Governor Adeleke who assigned him with the responsibility of media management of the campaign.
After the 2018 election, he was appointed Executive Director of the National Chamber Policy Centre where he served for four years until 2022. He again anchored the publicity for Governor Adeleke's campaign for the 2022 governorship election.
Olawale Rasheed is the founder of the African Railway Consulting limited and a director of the African Railway Roundtable. He is equally the founder of the Center for Climate Business and Development and a member of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers and the Nigerian Union of Journalists.
As a businessman, Rasheed is a member of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Deputy President, Iwo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Vice President of the Osun State Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He is married to Tolulope, nee Oniororo.