The previously prevalent patriarchal society in Nigeria has slowly but surely paved the way for strong, smart women to excel in their respective fields. It is becoming a thing of the past to find women solely confined to the home, ‘cooking and cleaning.’ Women are now making notable contributions to the society and to the economy. This growing trend has therefore inspired Newsintels to start a series, studying some of the most powerful women in Nigeria who now own the space in which they operate through innovative thinking and brave decision-making.

On this episode, we are exploring a list of women who hold leadership roles and have been recognized both nationally and internationally for their commendable business, social and personal achievements. Although these women have different backgrounds, triumphs and struggles, they all have these in common – first, they have applied themselves diligently; second, they have proven their mettle.





Ibukun Awosika
Founder and CEO, Chair Centre Group

Born in 1962, Ibukun is a graduate of Chemistry from University of Ife, Nigeria; an alumnae of the Chief Executive Programme of Lagos Business School; the Global Executive MBA of IESE Business School, Barcelona-Spain; and Global CEO Programme of Wharton, IESE and C.E.I.B.S Business Schools. With high interest in social issues including women, Ibukun is a co-founder and past chairperson of Women in Business and Management, and Public Service (WIMBIZ). An ordained Pastor and founder of the Christian Missionary Fund; Ibukun, through this faith-based organization works with hundreds of missionaries spread across Nigeria to change lives through provision of medical, educational, and other supplies. Ibukun serves on a number of corporate and not-for-profit boards amongst which are: First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Cadbury Nigeria Plc., Convention on Business Integrity (CBI), and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. She chairs the boards of FBN Capital Limited; Kakawa Discount House Limited, and Afterschool Graduate Development Centre (AGDC) – a facility which she promoted to help address youth employability and enterprise issues in Nigeria; and was past Chairman, FBN Life Assurance Limited. A multiple award-winning entrepreneur, and the First Nigerian recipient of the prestigious International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge Award (IWEC) as a nominee of the US Department of State in 2008, she is the founder and CEO of the Chair Centre Group. The companies in the group include The Chair Centre Limited, Sokoa Chair Centre Limited, Furniture Manufacturers Mart, TCC Security Systems, and Cubes and Boxes Limited. These groups of companies are involved in furniture manufacturing, retail, and bank-way security systems services.

2.

Omobola Johnson

Former minister of Communication Technology

Born in 1963, the former minister of Communication Technology was educated at the International School Ibadan and the University of Manchester (BEng, Electrical and Electronic Engineering) and King’s College London (MSc, Digital Electronics). She also has a PhD from Cranfield University. Prior to her Ministerial appointment she was country managing director for Accenture, Nigeria. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Africa. She is a member of UNDP’s closed high-level Broadband Commission Working Group on Gender whose main objective is to promote the empowerment and digital inclusion of women. She is also appointed member of the International Telecommunication Union’s m-Powering Development Advisory Board charged with extending the benefits of mobile technology to all strata of society, in order to build a truly inclusive information society, with special focus on remote rural and underserved areas. She is the elected Chairperson of the United Nations’ 18th Session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), a subsidiary body of the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and plays an advisory role to the UN General Assembly and ECOSOC on a range of relevant issues.

3.

Osaretin Afusat Demuren

Chairman, Guaranty Trust Bank

Born in 1951, Mrs. Demuren holds a Master of Science Degree in Economics and Statistics from the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics, Moscow, and a Diploma in Russian Language and Preliminary Studies from the Kiev State University, Kiev. She is a member of many professional associations including the Society for Human Resource Management of America, Nigerian Statistical Association, chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. Mrs. Demuren had a successful career with the Central Bank of Nigeria which spanned over 33 years, during which she served as Director, Trade and Exchange Department and was deployed to serve as the Director, Human Resource Department, and a position which she held until her retirement from the Central Bank of Nigeria in December, 2009. She was the first female Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria. She was at various times a Member and Secretary to the Public Enlightenment Committee on Second-tier Foreign Exchange Market, Representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Special Investigation Panel on Trade Malpractices of the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Tourism. She has served on the boards of several public institutions including the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), and Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA). the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics in the Soviet Union, up to the Master‘s degree level. She was also the nominee of the CBN on the Governing Council of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, nominee of the CBN on the Board of Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority, Chairman International Technical Committee on the Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme, Chairman Inter ministerial Technical Committee on the Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme, Member Presidential committee on the Review of the Pre-Shipment Inspection Scheme, Member residential Committee on the investigation of illegal siphoning of foreign exchange outside Nigeria, Member Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices and the Co-coordinator on the implementation of Travelers Cheques accessibility to the Nigerian Public.

4. Lara-Banjoko-at-SITEI-2014-e1433880432157

Lara Banjoko

CEO, Zone 4 Energy

The CEO of Zone 4 Energy Ltd; one of the foremost indigenous Oil and Gas Companies in Nigeria, Lara Banjoko is a wealth of Knowledge and experience. She has received trainings in several managerial, technical and interpersonal skills and is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Nigeria Institute of Management and other professional bodies. She has also received awards from several professional organizations. Lara has over 22 years post work experience. She is a thorough bred professional with extensive experience and skills in the Oil and Gas industry, particular specialist in the downstream sector. She equally possesses vast consulting skills, and auditing as well as general management and business management skills. She has shown her passion for sustainability, youth and women development in several activities such as mentorship programmes, sponsorship of the Sustainability in the Extractive Industries (SITEI) conference, a foremost waste management programme at Zone 4 Energy, and several others.

5.

Ngozi Edozien

Director, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

Ms. Edozien holds a Bachelor of Art in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Harvard University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, Harvard University. She began her career in investment banking at Solomon Brothers and then at JP Morgan. Post MBA, Ngozi worked for McKinsey & Co. in London and Paris. From 1999 to 2005, Ms. Edozien was the Vice President; Strategic Planning and Business Development for Pfizer Inc. and later rose to become Regional Director for Pfizer Inc. in Anglophone East, West and Central Africa between 2005 and 2008. She was the founding CEO of EVHA; a private equity fund focused on investing in small to medium sized enterprises in the healthcare space in Africa. The fund is an innovation in the sector/region sponsored by IFC, Gates Foundation and African Development Bank. She was until recently, the Chief Executive Officer of Actis West Africa with broad responsibilities for all aspects of Actis Private Equity Business in West Africa. She was also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Diamond Bank Plc until her resignation in August 2014. She is also a Non-Executive Director on the board of Pagatech Limited which focuses on delivering innovative and universal access to financial services across Africa. She serves on the Boards of Vlisco Group and PZ Cussons Plc.

6.

Adeola Azeez

Deputy Country Head, Deutsche bank, Nigeria

Adeola has a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Lagos and an LLB. In Law from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. She is a board member of the Pauline’s Cancer Awareness Foundation. AdeolaAzeez is a seasoned banker with over 20 years of professional experience, more than half of which has been as Deputy Country Representative/Deputy Managing Director of Deutsche Bank Nigeria, the leading client-centric global universal bank with approximately 30 million customer accounts and activities in more than 70 countries and jurisdictions. In her role as Deputy Managing Director of Deutsche Bank Nigeria, Adeola oversees the banks business operations in the region, including managing liaisons between Deutsche Bank offshore and its client base of Nigerian banks. She has successfully guided the local financial institutional clients across the spectrum of international financial services and the myriad of challenges of correspondent banking. Adeola is the pioneer of the current system of Correspondent Banking in Nigeria, which she has been developing since she joined Deutsche and its predecessor companies, Bankers Trust Company, New York, in 1989. Through her efforts, boldness, and sheer determination to see Nigerian businesses capitalize on the burgeoning economic potential to attract foreign investments, thereby increasing opportunities for economic growth, she has forged ahead to build one of the largest correspondent bank networks in Nigeria and a powerful industry presence. In addition, her generosity of spirit has made her a fundamental asset in the Nigerian Banking Industry, as she freely shares her knowledge with fellow bankers conducting both formal and informal capacity building and mentoring almost all the young people she meets.

7.

Bola Adesola

CEO, Standard Chartered Bank

Bola Adesola is the Managing Director, CEO, of Standard Chartered Bank, prior to taking up this role, she was Executive Director, Corporate Banking at First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Before that, she was, for six years, the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Kakawa Discount House Limited, a financial services institution. An Alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Bola was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985, and has over 20 years of banking experience with exposure both in local and international financial markets, 9 of which she spent in Citibank Nigeria. Bola is an honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Nigeria and has served in various capacities in the development of the Nigerian Money Market, the Interbank Settlement Systems and the Discount house sub-sector. She is a former Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ). She is a member of the Advisory Board of Genevieve Magazine, and a member of the Editorial Board, Rubies Magazine.

8.

Funmi Roberts

Supreme and advocate of the Nigerian supreme court

Born in 1960, Mrs.Funmi Roberts was called to the Nigerian Bar to practice as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in June 1982 after obtaining her Bachelor of Laws Degree in the Second Class Upper Division from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, and Osun State of Nigeria. After a 3-month stint as State Counsel in the Ministry of Justice of Oyo State of Nigeria, Funmi Roberts taught at the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State until she left to obtain her Masters of Laws Degree from the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, Osun State of Nigeria. Thereafter, in 1989, she proceeded to establish a Law Firm, Funmi Roberts & Co. Firm of Solicitors & Advocates engaged primarily in Commercial Law practice with special bias for ADR as a tool for dispute resolution.Funmi Roberts & Co. today has grown to be one of the foremost female-owned law firm in Nigeria with offices in Ibadan and Lagos and has catered to many corporate organizations and individuals in many areas of law.Funmi Roberts has acquired over the years Mediation Training Workshops from the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), London and another in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR with Daniel Yamshon, Judge of the California Supreme Court, Prof. Ernest Uwazie, Director, Centre for African Peace and Conflict Resolution, California University, Sacramento, Prof. Cecil Carlton and Patricia Malberg, M.A. as trainers. She also undertook training as a member of the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group (NCMG)’s Panel of Neutrals in July, 1999 with Eric Van Loon of JAMS-Endispute, Boston and JideOlagunju of Corporate Mediators, Nigeria as trainers. Funmi Roberts attended many training programs before and after being admitted as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the latest of which were held at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris in 2010 and titled ‘PIDA Course on International Commercial Arbitration: Study of a mock case at the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris as well as ‘PIDA Course on Negotiating, Drafting Dispute Resolution Clauses –Different Cultural and Legal Approaches’. She is a member of several professional organizations including, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in which she is a Member of the National Executive Committee, Member, NBA Women’s Forum Council; Maritime Arbitrators of Nigeria; Arbitral Women (an international organization made up of women involved in arbitration all over the world) and Member, Africa Development Bank, List of Mediators ;Member, NBA Arbitration Committee; Executive member, Arbitration and ADR Committee of Business Section of NBA till 2010.

9.

Yewande Zaccheaus

CEO, Eventful Limited

Born in 1962, Yewande graduated in Law from University of Lagos 1982 and thereafter obtained an LL.M from Cambridge University, England in 1984. She began her career as a legal officer in the Nigerian-American Merchant Bank and after a brief stint in private practice joined Ecobank Nigeria plc in 1989 as the pioneer Company Secretary and Legal Adviser. She resigned in 2002 at Deputy General Manager Level, to establish her own business, Eventful Limited, an events management company. Eventful has established itself as the pacesetter and market leader in corporate and retail events as well as venue management. An alumnus of the Lagos Business School, Yewande sits on the Board of Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ) and was recently appointed to the Board of Fortress Microfinance Bank and Corporate Leisure Limited and Zacchi & Chrome Limited. Yewande is the author of three inspirational books which were written as a result of her personal testimony, to encourage women experiencing delay in childbearing. Yewande recently received an award from the foremost lifestyle magazine TW for her contribution to the events industry in Nigeria. She is also the 2011 recipient of the prestigious International Women’s Entrepreneurship Challenge Award, an initiative of the Chambers of Commerce of Manhattan, Barcelona and the foundation of Indian Chambers of Commerce.

10.

Obiageli Ezekwesili

Former Vice President, World Bank

Born in 1963, Ezekwesili holds a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, as well as a Master of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She trained with the firm of Deloitte and Touche and qualified as a chartered accountant. Prior to working for the Government of Nigeria, Ezekwesili was working with Professor Jeffrey Sachs at the Center for International Development at Harvard. She joined the World Bank Group from her most recent position as Minister of Education in the Government of Nigeria since June 2006, where she led a comprehensive reform program within the education sector including: Restructuring and refocusing the ministry for the attainment of Education for All (EfA) targets and Millennium Development Goals. She also introduced the Public-Private Partnership models for education service delivery; revamped the Federal Inspectorate Service as an improved quality assurance mechanism and introduced transparency and accountability mechanisms for better governance of the budget. Ms. Ezekwesili led the establishment of the Innovation & Vocational Enterprise Institutions initiatives which focuses on the development of skills for economic competitiveness and–in conjunction with the Nigerian Stock Exchange– launched the “Adopt-A-School” program, an initiative that fosters philanthropy by corporations; community groups and individuals. Ms. Ezekwesili began her career with Deloitte &Touche where she worked as an Auditor, management and financial services consultant. She then served as a founding Director of Transparency International (TI) and as TI’s Director for Africa from 1994 to 1999. From 2000 to 2002, she worked with Professor Jeffrey Sachs as Director of the Harvard-Nigeria Economic Strategy program, during which time she was also appointed as an aide to President Obasanjo. In 2003, she was designated Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence. As Minister of Solid Minerals from 2005 to 2006, Ms. Ezekwesili oversaw the passage of the Minerals and Mining Act, the establishment of the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office and the opening of the sector to private participation. Ms. Ezekwesili also served as the Chairperson of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative from 2004 and led the voluntary sign-on of Nigeria to the EITI Principles as well as the first ever process, financial and physical audit of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. She has been a Non-Executive Director of Bharti Airtel Limited since September 26, 2012. She is also a Convener of the #Bring back our girls movement.