Ademola Rasaq Seriki

Chief Ademola Rasaq Seriki, CON, also known as Demola Seriki, (30 November 1959 – 15 December 2022) was a Nigerian politician, teacher, businessman, and public administrator.

He served until his death as the Nigerian ambassador to Spain, a position he assumed in January 2021, with concurrent accreditation as a permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

He previously served as Nigeria's Minister of State for Defence.

In 1978, Seriki started his career as a clerical officer in the Lagos City Council, City Hall, Lagos, and had a brief stint at the International Bank for West Africa Ltd (IBWA), now Afribank.

As a junior public servant, Seriki was not satisfied with his clerical job, because his secondary school qualification would not guarantee him promotion into the senior ranks of public service.

So, he proceeded to New York where he studied for and earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees in accounting, Finance, and Management from the City University of New York.

He also attended Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he completed a Senior Executive Education and earned a certificate in National and International Security.

Upon completion of his studies, from 1984 to 1986 Seriki became a teacher and counselor at New York's John F. Kennedy High School, Walton High School, and Springfield Gardens High School, teaching accounting and business mathematics.

Seriki was a qualified teacher in business, accounting and mathematics.

From 1986 to 1987, he worked at the Rochester, New York, firm of Koskolowsky and Co. (certified public accountants), as Assistant Manager (Auditing).

He was also Customer Representative/Assistant Manager at Dollar Dry Dock Bank, New York City.

On returning to Nigeria, Seriki joined Equity and Trust Finance Company Limited, from 1987, as business manager until he was appointed chairman of the Lagos State Sports Council in 1992; a position he held until 1994.

More than anywhere else in Nigeria at the time, Seriki's tenure as chairman of the sports council coincided with political instability in Nigeria during the struggle for democratic rule by the National Democratic Coalition, Nigeria, (NADECO) and civil society organisations, following the then military junta's annulment of Nigeria's general elections won by M.K.O. Abiola.

This period witnessed regular youth demonstrations and riots on the streets of Lagos.

In spite of the political instability, Seriki was instrumental in engaging young talent in sporting activities at the state and national levels.

He applied his experiences as a grassroots organiser to orient local youth towards sporting activities, with educational institutions as platforms for youth participation in grassroots sports development programmes.

In 1992, Seriki was the senatorial candidate for Lagos Central District constituency, on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC)

Hence, Seriki was named Best State Chairman of Sports Council, for 1993, by the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF).

He was granted Honorary Life Membership in the Table Tennis Association in 1993, in recognition of his public administration expertise and passion for sports development in Lagos State.

With the Nigerian military due to hand over power (which they ultimately failed to do) in 1993, to elected civilians, Seriki left public service to start the Perpetual Investment and Finance Company Limited (PIFCO), as well as to launch a career in politics.

The annulment of the 12 June 1993 general elections had led him into private business.

From 1994 to 1999, Seriki was vice president of Rosedale New York based Perpetual Associates International (USA) Inc. (an international consulting firm serving multinational oil and aviation companies).

In 1998, he was elected a member of the federal House of Representatives from the Lagos Island federal constituency on the ticket of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP).

This victory was short-lived, with the abrupt end of the General Abacha regime and the inception of General Abdulsalam Abubakar's transitional regime.

He returned to PIFCO Nigeria Limited, from 1999 to 2007, as executive director for Business Development and Marketing.

With the emergence of the 4th Republic, he was appointed a National Fund Raising Committee member in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 1999 National elections.

The PDP also appointed him as a member of the Candidate and Party Relations Committee for the Obasanjo/Atiku presidential election.

From 2000 to 2002, Demola Seriki emerged as the PDP Party Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government Area, and later, in 2003, as the party's flag bearer to the House of Assembly, representing Lagos Island federal constituency.

In 2005, he began serving as Secretary of the Lagos State PDP Disciplinary Committee.

In 2005, until 2006, he was appointed the Lagos State vice-chairman of the PDP, after which, in 2007, he campaigned to become senator for the Lagos Central senatorial district.

Seriki's campaign sought to ensure education and gainful employment of youths in his district.

His political vision aimed to ensure quality education for youths in the rundown areas of his senatorial district, by gaining the support of the federal government through special federal government support schemes, to rejuvenate literacy in such densely populated parts of Lagos State described by him as the most cosmopolitan and populated in Nigeria.

Seriki also sought to advance gender sensitivity in politics and in public service opportunities.

These key issues—along with housing, infrastructure development, and security—have remained cornerstones of his approach to politics.

Seriki served as the Minister of State for Defence between 2008 and 2009.

In 2011, Seriki defected from the PDP to the Action Congress of Nigeria.

In early 2021, Seriki was appointed by The President Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria's ambassador to Spain.

Seriki worked in tandem with the Minister of Interior in the formulation and implementation of policies towards the realization of the ministry's mandate.

He chaired the Nigerian Civil Defence, Immigration, and Prisons Services Board and assisted in overseeing areas such as coordinating and ensuring harmony with the ministry's mandate.

He was responsible for overseeing the Nigeria Prison Service, Federal Fire Service, Seaman Identity Certificate, and Registration of Marriages, according to governing laws of Nigeria.