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Dangote announces new appointments for strategic growth sustenance
In order to strengthen the group’s Executive management team and sustain its strategic business growth trajectory, Africa’s foremost indigenous conglomerate, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has announced new appointments.
In the new organizational rejig, Olakunle Alake the erstwhile Chief Operating Officer (COO) is now the Group Managing Director and Dr. Adenike Fajemirokun, the Group Chief Risk Officer has been elevated to the office of Group Executive Director, President’s Office, where she will take on new roles in addition to her schedule as the Risk Officer. She is the first ever female executive director in Dangote Group.
Adenike Fajemirokun, the Group Chief Risk Officer has been elevated to the office of Group Executive Director, President’s Office
The management also announced the appointment of Austine Ometoruwa as Group Executive Director, Corporate Finance and Treasury.
Earlier the Board of Dangote Cement Plc, global, announced the appointment of Cherie Blair and Mick Davies as Independent Non-Executive Directors.
President/Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, speaking on the new appointments said “it is exciting seeing a female occupy such a high position. We are gender sensitive and create equal opportunities for both male and female to get to the top.”
“The new appointments are to strengthen the Group’s executive management team and to consolidate on its strategic business growth trajectory”, he added.
Olakunle Alake, the erstwhile Chief Operating Officer (COO) is now the Group Managing Director
Alake has been the Chief Operating Officer of Dangote Industries Limited since 2007. He serves on the board of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, NASCON Allied Industries PLC, Dangote Cement PLC and Dangote Flour Mills PLC. Mr. Alake’s experience spans 34 years which covers banking, management consultancy and manufacturing industries.
He joined Dangote Group in July 1997 and served as its Financial Controller and Head of Strategic Services till 2001 when he was appointed to the board of Dangote Industries Limited as Executive Director/ Group Strategist.
Austine Ometoruwa, Group Executive Director, Corporate Finance and Treasury
He started his working career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, a firm of Chartered Accountants in September 1984 and left in 1990 to join Liberty Merchant Bank Limited as the Financial Controller for three years.
Between August 1993 and July 1997, Mr. Alake served as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Merchant Securities Limited and was part of the team that provided consultancy services for the smooth take-over of the International Trust Bank Plc, by Dangote Group in August 1996. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. Mr. Alake holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 1983.
Dr. Fajemirokun, a consummate Risk Management & Insurance specialist has over 18 years diverse experience in developing and implementing risk management strategies in Financial, Engineering, Manufacturing and other industries.
She started her career with Ove Arup and Partners as a Fire Engineer where she was responsible for carrying out qualitative and quantitative risk assessment of various assets and developing risk assessment frameworks for quantifying identified risks.
She later joined Deutsche Bank AG, UK, and served in senior leadership roles such as Director and Global Head Operational Risk, Head of Transaction Management Group for leverage finance at the Corporate and Investment Bank. Prior to specializing in the Risk Management field, she held positions in finance as a front office quantitative analyst at Goldman Sachs London and New York.
Dr. Fajemirokun worked with First Bank of Nigeria where she developed the operational risk management framework for the bank as well as its Business Continuity Certification by the British Standard Institute. She also managed and tracked the firm’s risks across all directorates, transaction services and alternative investments.
Cherie Blair, Independent Non-Executive Director
In 2010, She founded and headed AFRisk Management Consultants Limited which developed the enterprise risk management frameworks for some of the country’s major institutions including Central Bank of Nigeria, First Bank Nigeria and First Bank Capital Plc.
She was appointed Chief Risk Officer of Dangote Group in 2013 and leads the Risk Management Functions for the Group and its various Businesses where she oversees the company’s governance model and enterprise risk program. She develops and manages processes to identify, assess, monitor and reduce risks that could interfere with the achievement of the company’s goals and objectives. She is also responsible for managing the Group’s Insurance, Procurement Portfolio and Logistics.
A holder of B.Eng. in Civil, Structural and Fire Engineering and a Ph.D. in Risk Informed Engineering both from the University of Manchester, UK, Dr. Fajemirokun is a Fellow of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Specialist member (SIRM) of the Global Institute of Risk Management. She is also a visiting professor at the University of Manchester, UK. She has been recognized globally for her work with the Operational Riskdata Exchange Association (ORX), Institute of Risk Management, UK. She is a member of the Lagos State Research and Innovation Council.
Ometoruwa is an accomplished international investment banker. Prior to joining the Dangote Group as the Group Executive Director, Corporate Finance and Treasury, Austine Ometoruwa provided advisory services to the Dangote Group over the past 25 years in his capacity as the Executive Chairman of his firm, Boston Trico Capital LLC.
He started his professional career as a credit analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank. He thereafter progressed to Bank of Boston as the General Manager in Nigeria before moving on to Standard Bank of South Africa (Stanbic) as Strategy Consultant.
Mr Ometoruwa was the first Nigerian appointed as Executive Director to the Board of Citibank Nigeria leading its West Africa investment banking and subsequently as CEO and Regional Director of Corporate & Investment Bank, Citibank Middle East North Africa (MENA) operating in Cairo, London & New York.
Mr Ometoruwa setup and launched the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as the founding President and CEO.
He was awarded the Dean’s Prize and First Class Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
Cherie Blair CBE, QC is a leading barrister with over 35 years’ experience in arbitration, mediation, public international law, human rights, employment law and European Community law. She studied law at the London School of Economics (LSE) and graduated with a First Class Degree in 1975. While studying for her Bar examinations she also taught Law at the University of Westminster. Cherie came top of her year in her Bar examinations and was called to the Bar in 1976. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 1995.
In 2000, shortly before the implementation of the Human Rights Act, Cherie and 21 other prominent Barristers set up a ground breaking legal practice, Matrix Chambers. She has also argued cases in the House of Lords, one of the most well-known being the Begum case. She is an accredited Advanced Mediator under the ADR Chambers/Harvard Law Project and an Elite Mediator with Clerksroom.
Cherie Blair, has appeared in the European Court of Justice and in multiple Commonwealth jurisdictions and also lectures internationally. She is the Chancellor Emeritus and Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University; Governor Emeritus and Honorary Fellow of the LSE and the Open University (D.Univ.Open 1999); LLD (Hons), University of Liverpool (2003); Hon.D.Lit UMIST (2003); Doctor of Laws (Westminster University).
Cherie Blair is the Founder and Chair of Omnia Strategy where she focuses on strategic international legal and advisory work and practices as a barrister, representing over 30 governments as well as numerous multinational corporations in international disputes.
In 2012, she was designated to serve on the ICSID panel of arbitrators and is a panellist at the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration. She continues to work independently, primarily as an arbitrator and mediator
Cherie is closely involved with various charities and is a strong advocate for women’s rights. She is the founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, which runs programmes to support women entrepreneurs across the developing world, including Africa. She is also Vice Chair of the International Council on Women’s Business Leadership founded by Secretary Hillary Clinton.
Cherie sits as an Honorary Chair of the World Justice Project. In 2007, she received the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill medal in recognition of her high ideals and courageous actions.
In 2013, she was awarded the CBE in the New Year Honours for her services to women’s issues and to charity in the UK and overseas.
Cherie is also an active campaigner for prison reform and was ‘President of The Commission on English Prisons Today’ between 2007 and 2009, under the auspices of the Howard League for Penal Reform.
She is an adviser to “B Team,” a not-for-profit initiative formed by a global group of leaders, to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit. She is wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Sir Mick Davies is currently Chairman of Macsteel, a global trading shipping company, and Chief Executive of the Conservative party of the United Kingdom.
Davies has occupied several directorship positions. From 2001 to 2003, he was Chief Executive of Xstrata Plc, one of the world’s largest global diversified mining and metal companies; executive director and chief financial officer of Billiton Plc; Chairman of Billiton Coal and Executive Director of South African State-owned Eskom.
With extensive capital markets and corporate transaction experience, he has raised over US$40 billion from global capital markets and successfully completed over US$120 billion of corporate transactions. He participated in the creation of the lngwe Coal Corporation in South Africa; listing of Billiton on the London Stock Exchange; merger of BHP and Billiton into the largest diversified mining company in the world and the successful merger of Xstrata and Glencore amongst others.
Sir Davies is the immediate past President of the Council of Members and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Leadership Council in the United Kingdom, member of the Brookings International Advisory Council and a Trustee of the Institute of National Security Studies, Israel.
He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and an alumnus of Theodor Herzl School in Port Elizabeth. He holds an honours degree in Commerce from Rhodes University. South Africa, and an Honorary Doctorate from Bar llan University. In the 2015 Queen’s birthday Honour’s list, he was made a Knight’s Bachelor
Operatives of the Iru Ekun Security Network have arrested two suspected kidnappers and rescued two abducted residents during a forest operation in Ora-Igbomina, Osun State.
The victims, who were reportedly abducted by gunmen on Tuesday and taken into a nearby forest, regained freedom after members of the local security outfit launched a coordinated search operation following distress reports from residents.
A third victim, however, remained in captivity as of Thursday, with efforts ongoing to secure the person’s release.
According to a statement issued by the outfit, the rescue operation followed intelligence received on June 9 that three residents had been forcibly taken away by armed men in the community, triggering fears among locals already worried about rising insecurity in rural areas.
Residents were said to have spent anxious hours hoping for the victims’ safe return before the intervention by the security operatives.
During the operation carried out on Wednesday, the outfit said its operatives tracked the suspects into a forest around Ora-Igbomina, where two suspected kidnappers were overpowered and arrested.
The security outfit disclosed that two victims were rescued unhurt and immediately evacuated to safety.
The team leader of the network claimed that the suspects confessed during preliminary interrogation to being nationals of the Republic of Niger.
The suspects were later handed over to officers of the Nigeria Police Division, Oke-Ila, Osun State, for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Founder of the outfit, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, commended the operatives for what he described as discipline and professionalism during the mission.
He said the security network was created to complement the efforts of conventional security agencies, especially in rural communities where delayed emergency response often leaves residents vulnerable to attacks.
“Our duty is prevention and protection, not confrontation. Iru Ekun exists to bridge the security gap at the grassroots and ensure our people can farm, travel, and sleep without fear,” he said.
The incident comes amid growing concerns over kidnapping in parts of the South-West, particularly in rural communities across Osun, Oyo, Ondo, and Kwara states, where criminal gangs are increasingly exploiting forest routes to target residents and farmers.
Meanwhile, the security outfit said efforts to rescue the remaining victim were continuing, assuring residents that the search operation was being handled cautiously to guarantee the victim’s safety.
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the bill seeking to establish state police, with 288 lawmakers voting in support of the proposal and four opposing it.
The resolution followed voting during plenary presided over by the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, a day after members of the Green Chamber devoted legislative time to debating the contentious bill.
Announcing the outcome of the exercise, Abbas said lawmakers adopted a manual voting process through a show of hands following the failure of the electronic voting system.
The proposed legislation seeks to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture by creating an additional layer of policing at the state level while providing constitutional safeguards, operational frameworks, oversight mechanisms, and clearly defining the powers of federal and state policing authorities.
The passage of the bill marks a significant legislative step in the long-running national conversation on decentralising policing amid worsening insecurity in several parts of the country.
Before the voting, the House released the final print of the Constitution Alteration Bills seeking to provide a constitutional framework for the establishment of state police and other reforms.
In a statement issued earlier, the House spokesman, Akintunde Rotimi, said the proposed constitutional amendments reflected months of legislative work by the House Committee on Constitution Review.
Rotimi said the review process followed the receipt and consideration of constitutional amendment proposals from lawmakers, government institutions, professional bodies, civil society organisations, traditional institutions, and citizens.
According to him, the process also involved extensive stakeholder engagements, including zonal and national public hearings, expert sessions, consultative meetings, and town hall meetings held across the six geopolitical zones to ensure broad public participation.
“The bills represent the culmination of several months of rigorous legislative work undertaken by the House Committee on Constitution Review,” the statement read.
The House decision comes amid renewed concerns over insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, and violent attacks in parts of the country, with proponents arguing that state police would improve grassroots security and response time.
Meanwhile, the Senate has passed the state police bill for second reading and referred it to the Senate Committee on Constitution Review.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, during plenary, said lawmakers would vote on the bill at a subsequent sitting.
Member of the House of Representatives representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency, Engr. Aderemi Oseni, has fulfilled his earlier pledge towards the execution of a solar power project at the Anfaani Muslim Community Central Mosque in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The lawmaker, who chairs the House Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), released the pledged ₦5 million to facilitate the execution of the project, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Idowu Ayodele and made available to journalists in Ibadan.
The statement explained that the release of funds was in fulfilment of Oseni’s commitment to support the mosque’s solar power initiative, noting that the project would be executed at the discretion of the mosque’s central committee.
The media aide said the intervention underscored the lawmaker’s sustained commitment to faith-based institutions, community development and humanitarian service.
“The ₦5 million earlier pledged by Hon. Remi Oseni for the Anfaani Muslim Community Central Mosque solar project has now been fully released for the execution of the project,” the statement said.
“It is important to state that the implementation and handling of the project remain entirely at the discretion of the Central Mosque Committee in line with the leadership structure and priorities of the religious body.”
Oseni, who is also the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Oyo South Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general elections, described support for religious institutions as both a privilege and responsibility.
According to him, contributing to initiatives that strengthen worship centres and foster communal development remains an act of service to humanity.
“I had the honour and privilege of supporting the Anfaani Muslim Community Central Mosque with the sum of ₦5 million towards the execution of its solar power project. Supporting institutions devoted to worship and community development is always a blessing and profound responsibility,”
The APC chieftain was quoted as saying.
He added that opportunities to impact society positively should never be taken for granted.
“Whenever we are presented with opportunities to uplift faith-based institutions and contribute to the wellbeing of our communities, we must embrace them with sincerity and gratitude,” he said.
The lawmaker further prayed for continued peace, progress and prosperity across communities, expressing optimism that religious institutions would continue to serve as pillars of moral guidance and social development.
“May Almighty God continue to strengthen our religious institutions, bless our communities with peace, and prosper every effort geared towards the advancement of faith, unity and humanity,” he added.
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