The elevation of Mr.
Waheed Olagunju, the erstwhile Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises
of Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI) to the position of Acting Managing
Direction/Chief Executive Officer in the aftermath of the sacking of several
Heads of parastatals and government agencies that saw the exit of Mr. Rasheed
Adejare Olaoluwa from the Bank as its CEO has been hailed by many who described
it as an informed choice on the part of the President.
In a banking career that
spans over two decades, Mr. Olagunju has consistently demonstrated an uncommon
capacity and capability in successfully taking on higher responsibilities
assigned to him.
Mr. Olagunju’s
versatility is exhibited in the various positions he has occupied since he
joined Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), the precursor institution
to BOI in 1990 as a Senior Manager and rose to the position of Executive
Director (Business Development) in 2012.
He acted as MD/CEO of
Bank of Industry between 11th April and 16th May 2014
before he was reassigned the Executive Director (Small and Medium Enterprises).
Prior to Mr. Olagunju’s appointment as member of the Board of Directors of BOI
in 2012, he served as the Company Secretary of the Bank for 15 years
(1997-2012) and concurrently as General Manager, Strategic Planning and
Corporate Communications between 2007 and 2012.
He was one of the
architect and drivers of BOI’s outstanding turnaround and transformation into
one of Africa’s best Development Finance Institution (DFI). Mr. Waheed Olagunju
was actively involved with the reconstruction of NIDB into BOI (2000-2001) and
the consolidation of the mandates of NIDB, the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and
Industry (NBCI) and the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) into
that of BOI and worked closely with the Federal Ministry of Industry and
Messrs. KPMG, the consultancy firm that was engaged to handle the exercise.
This is not inclusive of the fact that in the early years of BOI, Mr. Olagunju
coordinated the diagnostic study of the Bank that was undertaken between 2004
and 2005 by the Swedish Consultants (Messrs. Swedish Development Advisers), who
were appointed by the African Development Bank. He equally played a pivotal
role in the implementation of their recommendations that formed a vital input
into BOI’s paradigm shift that triggered the bank’s rapid transformation in
2006. He has all along been a strong member of BOI’s Senior Management Team and
later it’s Board of Directors that has been driving the bank’s highly
impressive performance.
Before embarking on his
banking career, Mr. Waheed Olahunju had a distinguished broadcast career at the
Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) between July 1981 and July 1990 (inclusive
of NYSC); a highly resourceful professional, he rose to the position of
Controller of News and Head of the Economic Desk before he joined the NIDB in
August 1990. The positive impact witnessed previous stint as Acting MD/CEO of
BOI has remained a point of reference in the bank despite the brief time he
had.
Happily married with
children, Mr. Olagunju bagged his Bachelors and Master’s Degree from the
University of Lagos in 1991 and 1994 respectfully as well as a Professional
Certificate in Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis from the Queen’s
University, Canada in 2013.
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