By Milton Tella – Ade Adetosoye CBE, the Chief Executive of the London Borough of Bromley Council is one of the outstanding Nigerians in the United Kingdom who made this year’s Queen’s Honours List.
Adetosoye has been Bromley Council’s Chief Executive since December 2018, having joined the authority as Deputy Chief Executive in December 2016, also taking charge of children’s services.
His Excellency, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK wrote a letter to congratulate Ade Adetosoye, who bagged the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) at the 2022 Queen’s Honours.
In the letter made available to African Voice, Ambassador Isola wrote to congratulate Adetosoye on behalf of the President, Federal Government and the entire people of Nigeria.
The congratulatory message read as follow: “I write to convey my delight and warm felicitation at the news of your conferment of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by her Majesty the Queen of England, Elizabeth 11, which was announced at the 2022 Queen’s Honours List. I join the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and other Members of the Parliament (MP) as well as numerous Nigerians to congratulate you on this significant milestone.
This award is a testimony to your sterling qualities and outstanding contributions, which you have earned through a distinguished career as a transformational leader of the London Borough of Bromley Council. You are a source of pride to Nigeria and an inspiration to Nigerians in the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Africa and the world. Given your pedigree, I have no doubt in mind that you will continue to perform exceptionally and attract more national and international recognition and accolades.
May l use this opportunity to reassure you of the readiness of the High Commission of Nigeria in the United Kingdom to collaborate with you in the discharge of your duties and in the furtherance of your good work.
Ade Adetosoye CBE, Bromley Council’s Chief Executive in his response to Ambassador Sarafa Isola said, “Please let me start by acknowledging and recognising your recent ambassadorial appointment to the highest Nigerian public service post in the UK. As you know your appointment went viral on social media for the right reasons and partly because of the “Nigerian” traditional way you travelled to Buckingham Palace to meet Her Majesty the Queen – in full Yoruba regalia with traditional song and drumbeats en-route!
I was touched to receive the congratulatory letter, on behalf of yourself, the President of Nigeria and the entire people of Nigeria. It is refreshingly different to experience this kind of personal touch and social awareness from our High Commissioner. I cannot thank you enough for your courtesy for reaching out to me in a formal and yet personal way.
As you rightly said, my family and l are enormously proud of the overwhelming support and words of encouragement from a diversity of people, particularly fellow Nigerians, both here in the UK and across the globe. It is nice to know that my motherland and fellow Nigerians share the pride and honour with me.
I am very proud of my public service record and achievements, and l have worked with and alongside a great number of incredible Nigerian professionals/achievers in various settings and organisations.
I would welcome the opportunity to invite you to visit the London Borough of Bromley (or London’s best borough as we fondly and proudly call it) to share some of our success stories, vision, and values with you. We do invite guests to address and inspire our staff on interesting developments.
Finally, thank you once again for your congratulatory message and l look forward to meeting you in person soon.”
Councillor Colin Smith, Leader of Bromley Council, who is Adetosoye’s colleague said, “I am absolutely delighted for Mr Adetosoye both personally and professionally. His exemplary reputation across the wider local government family as an outstanding Leader of the paid service has been earned for a very good reason and never has an honour for public service been more richly deserved in my opinion.
“His Leadership, even prior to the pandemic in preparing the council’s way forward for the transformational challenges facing local government over coming years, had been extremely impressive. His performance since the pandemic broke and the manner in which he has re-organised and carried his staff with him throughout what has clearly been the most challenging period in most people’s lives, has been nothing short inspirational at times.
“Like many other councils across the country, Bromley faces an uncertain future in terms of more integrated working with NHS and CCG partners over adult care in particular, in addition to the perennial concerns over ‘fairer funding’ from central government in terms of council tax support and I can think of no-one better placed to have on board and work with.
Well done Ade and thank you. Please accept my fulsome congratulations on behalf of all councillors and staff and enjoy your special day.”
In his response, Ade Adetosoye CBE, said, “It is a huge honour to be recognised in this way. The most recent period of our lives has been immensely challenging for all of us. It has been an immense privilege to support residents and staff at this time, including seeking to ensure that we protect and develop services for our children, which was the focus of my early career and remains highly important, both professionally and personally.”
Services for children and families in Bromley were recognised as being ‘good’ overall in a report published by Ofsted in January 2019, with leadership that has an ‘outstanding’ impact on social work practice. When appointed as Chief Executive, Mr Adetosoye set about preparing a new strategic vision for the council entitled ‘Transforming Bromley’, a four-year programme, ending in 2023, designed to completely overhaul the borough’s six main business areas: housing; adult social care, children’s services and education, environment and community services; professional services and workplace modernisation.
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