Senator David O. Dafinone, OFR
A Legend @ 82
At 82, Elder statesman, Senator David Dafinone appears to be fighting the battle for the future of Nigeria. A committed and unrepentant believer and apostle of the equitable distribution of resources, the Second Republic Senator has in the past forty years mounted a strong campaign for the emancipation of the people of Niger Delta and the equitable distribution of the resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In his 15 paged – document on the Roadmap to Peace in the Niger Delta region, Dafinone outlined eight cardinal points, which he argued would serve as roadmap to peace in the oil rich but violent prone region of Niger Delta.
For example, he argued that the practice whereby entrepreneurs represented by international oil companies fail to rehabilitate and ameliorate the hazards from oil and mining exploration during and after their cessation of activities constitute a health and environmental hazard, which this Nation cannot sustain.
To stop hostage taking in the area, Dafinone said “There should be broad based consultation and dialoguing between the people, the oil companies, the state and the stakeholders.
He equally called for the establishment of a mechanism to protect oil pipelines and to create jobs for disenfranchised youths, both in and those who are already out of the creeks. Part of such strategy, he said, is the establishment of Pipelines Marshals Corporation (PMC).
He also called for the creation of an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the Niger Delta. The bank, into which all royalties from the oil companies will be paid according to Dafinone, will be the custodian of the funds as well as preventing misuse of funds now and in future. The previous policies of the Federal Government, the States, Local Governments or other statutory institutions, he emphasised, have not been successful.
Dafinone also said that Nigeria would need the support of the international community to resolve the Niger Delta crisis.
Today, the renowned accountant leads an active life that would defeat the average forty year old and speaks on issues close to his heart, with the passion of a zealot. A nationalist of note and one of the driving forces of The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians committed to the restructuring of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Born on March 12, 1927, in Sapele, Delta State, Senator Dafinone is a scion of the ancient family; the Dafinone dynasty that combined with others to establish the Okpe Kingdom in the fifteenth century. He became a pupil at Government School, Benin, from 1934 to 1938 and Edo College, Benin, from 1939 to 1942. Between 1943 and 1945, the young Dafinone moved to Abeokuta Grammar school where he remained until completing his secondary education and emerged as the overall best candidate in Mathematics in the Cambridge School Certificate Examination in West Africa for that year. The feat automatically won him a scholarship from the then Lt. Governor of Northern Nigeria, L. H. Gobble, to further his studies overseas.
During his days at Abeokuta Grammar School, Dafinone imbibed the motto of the school that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” and the emphasis of the school on the Letter of Paul in Romans 12 is instructive. Being a brilliant, quiet and obedient pupil, he escaped being caned by the principal throughout the years he stayed in the school. However, on his last day as a pupil at Abeokuta Grammar School in December 1945, the principal of the school, Rev. I. O. Ransome-Kuti wondered why Dafinone was not a familiar face to him. The principal drew 18 year old David close to himself and rubbed his ears continuously for several minutes resulting in a swollen face – with a message: If you went through this school free, you will think the world that is waiting for you outside there is without any difficulties. Painfully and in tears, Dafinone responded, “Thank you, Principal” as was the tradition with Rev. I. O. Ransome-Kuti’s pupils. That was our David Omueya Dafinone’s first lesson of life!
Before leaving Nigeria for further studies, he worked in Kaduna. He joined the civil service on 28 August, 1946 in the lower cadre as a third class clerk in the Registration and Records Department and worked closely under the supervision of Mr. E. Ejueyitchie who was the administrative officer in the Finance Department. In 1948 when Mr. Ejueyitchie was transferred to the Zaria Training Institute, Dafinone was appointed Acting Administrative officer in the Finance Department.
At 21, Dafinone became saddled with the responsibility of preparing the native treasury estimates for the entire Northern Nigeria. The task entailed the entire paper work on revenue and expenditures of the entire 92 native treasury in Northern Nigeria. Whenever the estimates were prepared, they were taken before a special Finance Committee appointed by the colonial administration for approval before they eventually received the Governor’s consent. The membership of that committee consisted of five notable Nigeria, who today would be regarded as the founding fathers of Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, Alhaji Aliyu Makaman Bida and Alhaji Yahaya Madawakin Ilorin.
So pleased with Dafinone’s job as Acting Administrative Officer in the Finance Department as well as Assistant Secretary to the Special Finance Committee of the Big Five, they recommended Dafinone for the First Devonshire Course in Public Administration at the University of Exeter in August 1951.
He spent two years between 1951 and 1953 at Exeter University where he obtained a Diploma in Public Administration. On completion of the course, Dafinone was advised by the then Governor-General of Nigeria, Sir Arthur Richards, who had much knowledge of his performance in Kaduna to read for a university degree if he must come home to cope with the emergent challenges of development in Sub-Saharan Africa. He thus enrolled for a degree in Economics (with specialization in accounting) in 1953 at the University of Hull. He transferred to the University of London as an external student in 1956 where he graduated in 1958. He immediately enrolled for his professional examinations with the institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
In the same year, he joined J.A. Miles and company, a firm of chartered accountants as an articled clerk. He served his term for three years with the firm and having passed his professional examinations, was admitted as a member of the Institute of chartered Accountants in England and Wales in November 1963.
Dafinone who qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Nigeria in 1970, returned to Nigeria in 1963 and joined Delloites, Haskins and Sells, a firm of Chartered Accountants as an audit manager. With the heavy load of work he carried out at Delloites, he maintained a warm relationship with many of his old contacts and cultivated new ones in the public sector. He made acquaintance with several Federal Ministers of the First Republic. Thus after office hours most day of the week, he normally stopped over in the house of Chief Okotie Eboh. Sometimes, he went to Sir Balewa’s house. In the house of both Balewa and Okotie Eboh, Dafinone often retreated to some quiet room to study some of the memoranda of The Federal Executive Council. He offered his views in note forms and oral discourses on technical financial issues before such were eventually typed and formally coded. He also on several occasions assisted the Prime Minister in drafting some of his short questions and answers in the national assembly.
The first Military Coup d’etat led to the assassination of Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Okotie-Eboh and others. This singular act has affected the economic growth of the nation.
On 18 August, 1966, he founded a firm of chartered accountants registered in the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the registration of Business Names Act of 1961. He named the firm after himself; D. O. Dafinone & CO. (now Horwath Dafinone). The firm is now one of the largest firms of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria and forms part of a Group with over 500 employees and estimated revenue base of over $500 million. His excellent private sector career cuts across auditing, taxation, accounting and management consultancy.
1n 1967, the then Head of State General Yakubu Gowon appointed him into a three man commission to investigate the assets of public officers in the then Mid-West State of Nigeria. He worked for several months on the commission, but at the end of the day had to make independent, minority recommendations because he found some aspects of the initial report not agreeable with his personal convictions.
In 1969, the Gowon Administration again appointed Dafinone a Commissioner under the Ports Amendment Decree of 1969 to serve as the Federal Government Arbitrator with Justice Fatiyi Williams as Chairman to take over the Port of Warri and Calabar from the United African Company Limited. From 1964 to 1970, he sat on various Commissions as Administrator and member for the Apapa Road Project tribunal together with Justice Adefarasin as Chairman. In 1971, he was appointed Sole Commissioner by the Ministry of internal Affairs to investigate the affairs of the Nigeria Pools Company Limited.
Impressed with much of Dafinone’s service to the country especially during the war years, General Gowon in 1971 appointed him a non-executive Director of the nation’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria. He served in several capacities at the CBN and was at different times, the Chairman of the Monetary and Banking Policy Committee and the Recruitment Committee.
A call to serve for his people came up in 1979 and, as ever, he accepted and was elected as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing former Bendel South (now Delta Central in Delta State) senatorial zone. While in the senate, he served as Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce, Industries, National Planning and Steel Development between 1979 and 1983. He was re-elected for a second term in 1983.
As a senator, he consistently supported the creation of new state as a means of ensuring good governance. As the NPN caucus leader in the senate, he had a working arrangement with the other parties. Thus on several issues of national interest, he was able to muster his colleagues for the Shagari Administration. He showed an unflinching commitment to the promotion of high standards in the practice of the accountancy profession in Nigeria.
After the dismissal of the Second Republic by the Military, Dafinone returned to the private sector, and his performance in previous assignments further facilitated his appointment in 1987 as consultant to carry out a detailed organizational, financial, technical and management review of the country’s steel mills with a view to providing information for their partial privatization and commercialization. As a man with a strategy for settlement of disputes, he was also appointed to Arbitrate the dispute between the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company Limited and Thomas de la Rue limited of the United Kingdom in 1990.
Between 1990 and 1991, Senator Dafinone was appointed as a consultant to the Federal Government to source funds for the completion of the Lagos Third Mainland Bridge Project, while serving as a committee member to review the administration of indirect Taxation in Nigeria.
Following the fall of Abacha regime in June 1998 and the announcement by General Abdulsalami Abubakar of a transition to civil rule, Dafinone set his mind to play a prominent role in the dispensation that was to emerge at the end of the transition. He became one of the founding fathers of what soon came to be known as the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). For the senator, it was time to serve the nation at the highest level and having consulted widely among several of his associates across the country and with a couple of international political leaders, he was said to launch his presidential campaign machinery when he took ill and had to be hospitalized. Soon, he was flown to the UK for treatment.
Senator Dafinone stands out as a personification of the need for justice and equity in the Niger Delta. He is President, Union of Niger Delta, a non-governmental organization whose objectives are the sustainable development of the Niger Delta. He also went into Joint Venture Industries with multinationals in the establishment of two industries in roofing materials and rubber processing plant in Sapele Local Government of Delta State.
His humanitarian service manifest in various forms, particularly his pivotal role in the construction of the Orodje of Okpe’s palace, a project since completed in 1997. He has also been functioning as Chairman and Patron of sundry bodies in Okpe Kingdom.
Moved by the plight of the less privileged in the society, Senator Dafinone became the Chairman of Beth Torrey memorial Trust, to provide succour to mentally handicapped children. A few years ago, he, alongside American Woman Club in Nigeria laid the foundation stone of the permanent complex of the Home which is in the process of completion, thus providing an enduring legacy for handicapped children. He personally sponsored the education of several indigenes of Urhobo land. He also sponsored other scholarships through the Dafinone Foundation. His actions towards his people transcended mere political tokenism. He was largely concerned with issues and strategies of sustainable human and material development.
Dafinone established business in Abuja by constructing a multi purpose building named Ceddi Towers in the Central District Area of the Federal Capital City and he offers employment to hundreds of Nigerians through various businesses that he presides over. Ten years ago when he was honoured as a distinguished alumnus of Abeokuta Grammar School, he was presented to the audience as “. . . an internationally accomplished Chartered Accountant, a resourceful facilitator, a passionate motivator, a most distinguished entrepreneur, a role model and a most worthy ambassador of his alma mate, Okpe Kingdom and Africa.
As a versatile player, Senator Dafinone is a member of various international organizations. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute of America, an organization with an asset value of $93 trillion, since 1992 and was elected to the Public Private Partnership Council of the same body in November 1994. He was elected a fellow of the National Geographical Society of Great Britain in 1990.
In recognition of his immense and selfless contributions to the socio-economic and political development of Okpe Kingdom, he was honoured in 1997 with the traditional title of Owhere 1 of Okpe Kingdom by the Orodje of Okpe. An award of Certificate of Excellence for professional practice by the Delta State Government was also given to Senator Dafinone in September 1997. In 2001, he was awarded the ICAN Certificate of Merit for Outstanding contributions to the Accounting profession by the institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria. And in 2003, the Federal Government conferred on him the National Honour of the Officer of the Federal Republic, OFR.
On August 1, 2000, Guinness World Records recognized Senator Dafinone as the patriarch of the Family with the highest number of Chartered Accountants (who are members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England Wales) in one nuclear family – a recognition that has received resounding ovations from far and wide. In 2006, he received a ‘definite entry’ in the Cambridge Blue Book for an outstanding contribution in the field of Accountancy.
Senator Dafinone is married to Chief Cynthia Dafinone and they have five Children.
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