By Ademuyiwa Balikis
One month after appointing Muhammad Babangida, son of former military president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, to a prominent government position, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has named Rinsola Abiola, daughter of the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, as the new Director General of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (CLTC).
The move carries strong symbolic significance, bringing together appointees connected to two of Nigeria’s most defining political figures of the 1990s, Babangida, under whose government the June 12, 1993 presidential election was annulled, and Abiola, widely regarded as the rightful winner of that election and a martyr of Nigeria’s pro democracy struggle.
Rinsola Abiola is a strategic communications expert, political technocrat, and advocate for youth and women’s participation in governance. She previously served as Special Assistant on New Media to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and later as a Senior Special Assistant to the President.
She is the founder of the APC Young Women Forum and sits on the APC Board of Trustees as its youth representative. Through the Derinsola Abiola Foundation, she has funded scholarships, provided empowerment grants, and organised civic education programmes for young Nigerians.
Her father, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, is remembered as the presumed winner of the annulled June 12 election, whose detention and eventual death in 1998 became a rallying point for Nigeria’s return to democratic rule.
Alongside Rinsola’s appointment, President Tinubu also named Nasir Bala Aminu Ja’oji as Senior Special Assistant on Citizenship and Leadership.
A grassroots mobiliser from Kano State, Ja’oji is a board member of the Federal College of Education, Technical, Potiskum and an influential youth and women’s empowerment advocate. He has implemented numerous projects including the distribution of N50 million in grants to over 1,000 beneficiaries, provision of vocational tools like sewing machines and motorcycles, and scholarships for Master’s degree studies abroad.
These efforts have earned him the traditional title Adon Garin Kasar Hausa, conferred by the Emir of Daura. Ja’oji has also served as Special Adviser on Mobilisation and played key roles in political advocacy groups supporting Tinubu’s agenda.
According to the Presidency, the appointments are part of Tinubu’s strategy to revitalise the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre as a hub for promoting national values, leadership skills, and unity.
By selecting individuals tied both to Nigeria’s political history and to active grassroots work, the administration is signalling a blend of symbolic heritage and hands on community impact.
