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Joel Oyeyinka Popoola: The Technological Democrat
By Eric Elezuo
“Across the world, democracy is changing forever, and Nigeria is no different. Voters expect to have more influence on politics than our traditional representative democracy can necessarily accommodate. As a result, voters are either defecting to anti- establishment parties or becoming more and more attracted by direct action.
“People’s political priorities and motivations are becoming more and more disparate and unpredictable, and politicians are clearly failing to ascertain what voters really want.”- Oyeyinka Popoola
The world of men of ideas is ruled by dedication, commitment, unwavering focus and total achievement. This is the world of Mr. Joel Oyeyinka Popoola, the founder of Rate Your Leader Ltd and Co- Founder of Aacle Ltd, who was motivated by the above to give to the world a first class app to bridge the gap between politicians and electorate.
Popoola, fondly called Joel or Yinka by well wishers, grew up in Gbongan, where he had his primary and post primary education, beginning with St Paul’s Anglican Primary School before proceeding to Gbongan Community High School.
A British Citizen of Nigerian decent, Popoola studied Accounting with background in Banking, Finance and Insurance. He is also a Masters degree holder in Managerial Psychology obtained from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s Premier University. Here is a man whose penchant for knowledge in an ever competitive world propelled him into the IT world where he has practiced professional software testing consultancy spanning a period of four uninterrupted and highly productive and eventful years.
Popoola, Luke Graham MP, and Alan at All Party Parliamentary China Group, House of Commons Dinner
His earliest career path saw him traversing through two superior finanacial institutions based in his home country, Nigeria; they are United Bank for Africa (UBA) and the former Intercontinental Bank, which is today a part of the ever growing Access Bank. These institutions sharpened, shaped and honed his professional skills and grounded him in distinguishing Leadership roles with excellent service delivery in Banking Operations, Customer Care Management, Branch Start-up and Management, Relationship Management, Business Development, Risk Management and Information Technology.
Passionate about delivering exceptional services and standards within the un-compromised confines of policies and procedures in the achievement of high-demanding objectives and corporate targets, Popoola who lives permanently in England, has not forgotten that charity begins at home. He brings this phenomenon to life with his constant thoughts directed at events on the home front, especially the forthcoming general elections which is just a few weeks away. His desire to see the execution of the best of elections led to the creation of the Nigeria Democracy App, Rate Your Leader. This is a technology dedicated to correcting the inability and unwillingness of social media giants to crack down on bots and trolls, which inadvertently has had an adverse effect on their users, politicians and even global democracy.
Popoola’s consistency has over the years engendered his capabilities to not only execute his deliverables, but to also exceed expectations in doing so. He is such a force to reckon with.
Probably proper to refer to him as a man who saw tomorrow, Popoola is using his technology to connect politicians with verified local electors using abuse-proof technology aims to ‘Take back democracy with technology.
Mr Popoola and wife
Hear him: “Around the world, from Trump supporters in America to Gillets Jaunes in France to Brexit supporters in the UK, people are feeling more and more out of touch with politics, and it’s only a matter of time before a similar apathy descends on Nigeria. One in three Nigerians uses Facebook; and technology offers the opportunity to connect politicians and people like never before. That dichotomy is driven by social media giants being unwilling, unable or both to effectively crack down on trolls and bots.”
Helen Goodman, MP Bishop Auckland and Mr Popoola at House of Commons All Party Parliamentary China Group Dinner
He stated further, “Democracy is now digital, which means social media companies have a responsibility to provide a safe space for both politicians and our democracy and they are evidently failing on both fronts. As a result, a troubling amount of our political debate in other parts of the world is dominated by Russian trolls and computerised bots while actual politicians are forced off social media by 21 st century pitchfork-wielding mobs. That cannot be right.”
Popoola’s ingenuity sets standard in celebrating knowledge based on proven integrity towards rekindling an abuse-proof digital platform which connects voters and politicians. He has personally urged electorate to embrace new technology to ‘take back democracy’ or risk the downside.
Mr. Popoola, wife and children
The Rate Your Leader app is a global online platform which helps politicians engage only with voters in their constituencies in an abuse-proof way and allows elected leaders to truly understand what matters most to the people who elect them while allowing local people to identify and contact their representatives at the touch of a button, direct from their phones or tablets. That is ingenuity at the highest level.
He noted: “Since Twitter, Facebook and others are not stepping up to the plate on this, we clearly need new democratic tech which allows genuine residents to interact with their elected officials in an abuse-proof way. Our Rate Your Leader technology can do it, so why can’t the tech giants? The technology allows elected leaders to truly understand what matters most to the people who elect them while allowing local people to identify and contact their representatives at the touch of a button, direct from their phones or tablets. The app, which also allows people to check if they are registered to vote and identify their elected representatives at the touch of a button, is free to download from the App store and other app marketplaces.”
Rt. Honourable John Bercow, The Speaker of House of Commons and Mr Popoola, at the Northumberland Police and Crime Commissioner’s Annual Lecture
Consequently, as many that has lost faith in their representatives has just got their faith rekindled. The tech-preneur quoted a research from YouGov, an international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations across the world, which declared that only 18% of voters trust politicians to ‘do what is right’, with 66% believing their elected officials put personal interest before communal interest.
With the CEO of NHS at 2018 Director of the Year Award
This decline in faith in traditional politics, he said, has coincided with the election of explicitly anti-establishment leaders in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines and India, the result of the Brexit referendum the UK and in the case of the Gillets Jaunes, Paris, direct action on the streets. The Rate Your Leader has practically eased the distrust, thanks to the foresightedness of Mr. Popoola.
Popoola has set a personal and professional value-chain of goals, and has a proven track-record of adding value and raising the bar through unfettered contribution of significant milestones to business performance.
R-L Tope, Jeff and Mr. Popoola
The achiever is a member of Tech London Advocates, and an Advance Member of The Institutes of Directors, and is totally, passionately and irrevocably committed to working with positive-minded people in creating a better world.
Stephen Hepburn MP, Jarrow Constituency and Joel Popoola at the House of Commons
Mr Popoola is married to Dr. Olusola Popoola nee Awomolo, and they are blessed with two lovely children Praise and Ife.
Sir, for your dexterity and can do attitude, you are our Boss of the Week. Congratulations!
Burkina Faso has released Nigerian soldiers who were detained after their aircraft made a forced landing in the Sahelian country earlier this month, Nigerian officials said.
In a statement, Alkasim Abdulkadir, Tuggar’s spokesperson, said both sides resolved the matter amicably and secured the release of the Nigerian Air Force pilots and crew.
The soldiers had been held for nearly two weeks after the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) described the aircraft’s landing as an “unfriendly act” carried out in defiance of international law.
The Nigerian Air Force, however, said the crew encountered a technical issue that required a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, the nearest available airfield. It said the landing complied with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, has resigned following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu amid corruption allegations.
Tinubu, on Wednesday, summoned Ahmed to the Presidential Villa in Abuja, following allegations of economic sabotage and corruption.
Also caught in the web of resignation was the CEO of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, according to a statement on Wednesday by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy.
Tinubu was said to have nominated successors to the senate for approval.
“Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC),” the statement reads.
“The requests followed the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC.
“Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Buhari to lead the two regulatory agencies created by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
“To fill these positions, President Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.”
Onanuga said the two nominees are seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, has responded to recent claims regarding the financing of his children’s education and his integrity in office, insisting that the allegations are misleading and ill-timed.
Ahmed said the allegations “necessitated this response, not because I fear scrutiny of my finances, which I welcome, but because the timing and nature of these claims demand context that only three decades of public service can provide.”
Ahmed highlighted his career in Nigeria’s petroleum sector, which began in 1991, noting that he rose through merit rather than political patronage.
He recalled his experience across technical divisions, crude oil marketing, gas supply monitoring, and downstream operations, stressing that his decisions have always been guided by Nigeria’s national interest.
“I spent my formative years in the technical divisions, where decisions are measured not by political expediency but by engineering precision and market realities,” he said.
He further outlined his rise to General Manager of the Crude Oil Marketing Division in 2012 and later Deputy Director in 2015, before being appointed NMDPRA Chief Executive in 2021.
On assuming the role, Ahmed said, he understood the challenges of implementing reforms under the Petroleum Industry Act, acknowledging that enforcing transparency in a sector long characterised by opacity would inevitably meet resistance.
Addressing the allegations about his children’s education, Ahmed said the claim that he spent $5 million on their Swiss schooling was misleading. “Three of my four children received substantial merit-based scholarships ranging from 40% to 65% of tuition costs, verifiable information are available to any authorised investigation,” he said, adding that contributions from his late father, a Northern Nigerian businessman, further supported the education costs.
He added: “When scholarships, family contributions, and my own savings accumulated over three decades are properly accounted for, my personal financial obligation was entirely consistent with someone of my professional standing and length of service.”
Ahmed confirmed that his annual compensation of approximately N48 million, including allowances, is publicly documented, and that he has submitted detailed asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Bureau throughout his career.
The CEO also linked the timing of the allegations to recent regulatory actions taken by NMDPRA.
“These allegations resurface precisely when NMDPRA has enforced quality standards revealing substandard petroleum products in the market, implemented stricter licensing requirements, and insisted on transparent pricing mechanisms that eliminate opacity benefiting certain market players. This timing is not coincidental,” Ahmed said.
He defended the authority’s import licensing decisions, emphasizing that they comply with Section 7 of the Petroleum Industry Act, which mandates supply security and prevention of scarcity.
“Granting import licenses when domestic supply proves insufficient is not sabotage, it is our legal duty,” he said.
Ahmed invited formal investigations into his finances and tenure, stating: “I formally and publicly request the Code of Conduct Bureau to conduct comprehensive review of all my asset declarations since 1991, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to examine all my financial transactions and sources of income, and the National Assembly to exercise its oversight function regarding any allegations of regulatory compromise during my tenure. I will cooperate fully, provide all documentation, and answer all questions under oath if required.”
Concluding, Ahmed reaffirmed his commitment to regulatory independence and transparency.
“Three decades of service to Nigeria’s petroleum sector have taught me that integrity is tested not in comfortable moments but when powerful interests demand compromise. My response is simple: investigate thoroughly, examine every claim, scrutinize every transaction. My record both financial and professional will withstand any legitimate inquiry.”
