The Founder of The Chair Centre Group, former Chairperson of First Bank of Nigeria, co-founder and past chairperson of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), Awosika, is a trailblazer and an outstanding motivation to the African girl child that no barrier exists where there is a will. With a net worth of over $18.6 million, according to estimates from Forbes Africa as of 2012, the 61-year-old is worth more than her monetary value, especially when measured by the impact she’s made as an author and motivational speaker.

Awosika, a recipient of many awards from reputable global brands, was a guest on Channels Television’s  Amazing Africans programme, during which she shared her journey from ordinary to extraordinary.

Enjoy some excerpts from this interesting interview!

In The Beginning…

I’m very proud of my entire experience at Methodist Girls High School. First, it was a school that had a lot of culture and a lot of values and sought in many ways to influence our minds in an all-round way. I was very active in sports. I was in the school’s relay team from my second year in school. I was pretty fast, as my friends used to call me ‘The Rabbit’. I was very involved in school plays and I used to debate to represent my school in debates and all of that. So, you had a full life; all the other things to do were fun and we were mixed backgrounds so it wasn’t just an elitist school. It was girls from every kind of home but we all got into the class because we were smart and so you learned from each other so it was a good community.

I have a quote here: ‘Seeing my drive as a young entrepreneur, my father used to say I have given birth to this one and if anything happened, he was always present to assist me even if it meant selling his house to pay up any debts’. He never discouraged you and I’m sure that had a great influence on what you felt you were capable of doing when you don’t have to go against your parents you have their full support.

I am a daddy’s girl, no doubts and no apologies. In many ways I think I had a special relationship with my dad, my siblings always say that he was a hardworking man, he believed in the value of working hard but he was also a very simple man in many ways. My father was in many ways the epitome of contentment. A man who worked hard, and pursued his goals but was happy with his estate in life and was comfortable sitting with the President and can sit the next day with the mechanic and have a gist and talk about it.

When we were young if my father’s driver was driving us to school or somewhere, you didn’t have the right to say, ‘My driver’, because you would get told: ‘You don’t have a driver. My driver doesn’t belong to you’. My dad will tell you: ‘He is my driver and you just have the privilege of being driven’.

I didn’t understand when people asked me later in my 20s: ‘Oh you did something, weren’t you afraid it wasn’t a thing that a girl could do? I didn’t understand it because I grew up in a home where we were mainly girls. My dad had mainly girls. Well, they had three boys in their lifetime and one passed and so I have two brothers and there were five girls. So, we were mainly girls and my dad never told us there was something we couldn’t do. Rather, it was about that we could do anything we wanted to do and we got all the support and encouragement to do that.

My mother was the same in many ways. She had left her Cameroonian home at a very young age, she was about 18 when she left to marry the guy she had met. I think my dad had gone on some Man O’ War thing to Cameroon and they met. She had been betrothed to another king or something; her father was the king of their community. She came to Nigeria and they got married. My dad went to England to further his education and my mom was pregnant with me. She had my brother, she was pregnant with me and was waiting to have me when my dad left for school in England and so she waited, had me, and after I think barely a year, she left my brother and myself with my grandmother and she went to join her husband in England.

You’ve described your father as ‘non-traditional’ in more ways than one. He’s also non-traditional when it comes to maybe even viewing women would you say?

In many ways. I had the liberty of expression, that’s the word I would use and I think that went for myself and all my siblings. My dad was strict in terms of values. He was strict especially because we were mainly girls but as he was strict in terms of making sure he kept us on the straight and narrow path, he was a very supportive, liberated parent in terms of expressing ourselves.

It’s not only your parents who passed on some important life lessons, your grandmother also has played a significant role in your life. Could you let us know how she also lent herself to your trajectory and success?

Well, I think my grandmother had the most influence in nurturing my early years because my grandmother was responsible for me until my parents came back from England by the end of ‘68, early ’69, when I was about 6 or 7 years old or thereabouts. So, the early years of my life were my grandmother’s to nurture. They used to call her by my name ‘cos she had only boys and I was the girl she raised. She had a little shop in our family compound area in Ibadan. My family is from the capital of Oyo State in Ibadan and my grandmother used to sell salt. She had this little shop where she used to sell salt and little things. I think maybe my first exposure to business was sitting in my grandmother’s little store and joyfully handing over products to customers.

I had things figured out so when you follow the trail, you will see just how much the hand of God played in my life you know. When I was in secondary school, I thought I wanted to become a doctor and then I found out that Medical School involved working with real dead bodies and I quickly changed my mind. It was that simple for me, I couldn’t imagine myself playing around with dead bodies so I gave up on being a doctor. Then I thought I wanted to be an architect. Anyway, I ended up in the university to study Chemistry but by the end of my first year in Chemistry, I realised I didn’t love it. I could pass Sciences but it wasn’t a love for me and I wasn’t enjoying it. So, I then thought okay I’d like to be a lawyer because everybody thought I’d make a great lawyer. After all, I used to debate so well and I thought they might just be right. I remember going to sit outside the office of the Dean of Law every day for many days until his secretary said to the man: ‘Look you have seen this young lady, she’s been coming here every day’. And then, this elderly professor, he is dead now. He asked me to come in and asked me: ‘What can I do for you young lady?’ And I said: ‘Sir, I’d like to transfer to law next session.’ The man looked at me and had a good laugh and thought: ‘I like your guts. You know if I only take one person next session it will be you but you must pass very well’. I said, ‘Yes sir’. However, that would be my problem because once you pass very well my department will never release me to him and if I didn’t pass well enough, he wouldn’t take me. I had a Catch 99 Situation. Anyway, I resolved the situation myself because by the end of the session, I changed my mind about wanting to be a lawyer. I now decided I would like to be a Chartered Accountant so I could go and work in a bank.

During my youth service, I was a very rich corper because I was very busy; I was presenting a programme on CTV in Kano. They had some commercial programmes that I used to present. I was doing voiceover and commercials. I was running aerobics classes for private clients because I was an athlete even up to my university level. So I was doing everything to open up myself and I was making money doing that.

From Auditing To Furniture-Making

When I decided I didn’t want to do the audit anymore, I came back home and when I came back I didn’t want to sit down. I had been making my own money and now I didn’t want to go back to my parents to start asking for allowances or anything so I wanted any job I could find first. So, the first job I could get was in a Furniture Company, one week after I came back from Youth Service. Now, I just wanted something to kill time I still had my eyes on going to work in the bank and I only lasted three and a half months in that company. First, I realised whilst there why I had thought about studying Architecture ‘cos all the creative part of me came alive and I realized I was in my element in terms of what I was doing there but I didn’t like the value system of the company and the way they did their business.

I realised working there that when they hired the carpenters, they came with their tools, and that the expensive machinery, there were smaller versions of them, and you could rent the use of those machines without even buying them and there are places where you go and do pay-as-you-go for them to process things for you. There were different factors of production available in this space and all I had to do was think of how to bring them together with three carpenters, two sprayers and two upholsters that was the team.

Building A Transgenerational Business

When I was 31 years old and going on 32, I had my second child. I decided then that I would like to build the business to the highest possible level but I wanted to have a life and in wanting to have a life, I made up my mind that the business must be able to survive without me and I wanted to do it in my lifetime and not when I’m dead so I decided that by 50 I was going to be out of running my business every day. By 48, I had a firm come in and consolidate all my businesses as they were into the Group and then picked people to manage the business in different levels. I have the title of CEO (but) right now I just tell them to refer to me as the founder because I don’t run the business. I have a COO who has the CEO responsibilities, running the entire business and she’ll get his title soon enough. For the past so many years now, I have kept my eye on the business. I’m responsible, I’m focused on helping them in terms of trying to identify the right strategy and if we want to get into new businesses but I’ve allowed the Group to try and find its way without me and I’ve always shunned any temptation to go back.

Why?

Because if you really want a business to outlive you it has to be able to live without you.

The post Ibukun Awosika’s Inspirational Voyage from Ordinary to Extraordinary first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Ibukun Awosika’s Inspirational Voyage from Ordinary to Extraordinary appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The suspects, who are staff of Osun State Environmental Protection Commission, and president, secretary and treasurer of the Commission’s staff cooperative society, respectively, allegedly diverted the sum, obtained as loan for the cooperative members.

The EFCC preferred a 10-count charge, bordering on conspiracy, abuse of office, stealing, forgery, altering, and obtaining money under false pretence against them.

One of the charge read: That you, Adegoke Johnson Adebayo (President), Ayodele Elijah Olubunmi Sunday(Secretary) and Adelowo Waheed Adewole (Treasurer) and Gbenga Joseph Zacheus (at large) sometime in the year 2014, at Yemetu, Ibadan, within the Ibadan Judicial Division of this honourable court, obtained the sum of N83,500,000.00 (Eighty Three Million and Five Hundred Thousand Naira) only from First Bank of Nigeria Limited by falsely pretending that it is a loan, strictly for members and staff of the Osun State Environmental Protection Commission (Osogbo) Staff Co-operative Investment and Credit Society Limited which representations you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence.”

The suspects  pleaded not guilty to the charges, upon which prosecution counsel, Dr. Ben Ubi, applied for a trial date and an order for the defendants to be remanded in a correctional facility, while defence counsel, A. T. Adeleye, informed the court of a joint bail application of her clients which she said, has been served on the prosecution.

The judge adjourned the case till October 14, 2020 for the hearing of the bail application and ordered that the defendants be remanded in the custody of Nigerian Correctional Service.

Trouble started for the defendants following a First Bank of Nigeria PLC petition to the EFCC, alleging that the threesome, sometime in 2014 approached the bank for a loan facility to the tune of N83,500, 000 (Eighty Three Million, Five Hundred Thousand) on behalf of members of the society, but discovered a foul play as the loan beneficiaries began making the repayment in amounts that fell far below the agreed monthly installment.

In the course of investigations, the EFCC discovered that the defendants cooked up the list of the loan beneficiaries and other documents they presented to the bank for the processing of the loan.

The post Osun Civil Servants Docked for Alleged N83.5m Fraud first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Osun Civil Servants Docked for Alleged N83.5m Fraud appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The robbers, as learnt stormed the town Monday afternoon, shooting sporadically and broke the bank’s security doors with an explosive device.

The bank is said to be the only commercial bank in Idoani, serving the other neighboring towns as well.

The robbers shot and killed seven people, including bank officials, a Police Inspector as well as two customers using the Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

Five other persons who sustained serious injuries are presently on admission at the intensive care unit at the General Hospital in the town.

The armed robbers escaped through the bush in the area with an unspecified amount of money stolen from the bank. Shortly after their escape, men of the Nigerian Army arrived at the scene, an eyewitness account narrated.

Confirming the development, the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, SP Femi Joseph also disclosed that one suspect has been apprehended in connection with the robbery attack and investigations are ongoing to fish out the fleeing members.

The police mouthpiece, however appealed to residents to be law-abiding, remain calm not to entertain fears, saying he police are on top of the situation.

The post Ondo Bank Robbery: Seven shot dead, five injured! first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Ondo Bank Robbery: Seven shot dead, five injured! appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Adelabu’s convoy visit to the APC State Secretariat, Oke Ado

The Adelabu’s long convoy of over 150 vehicles caused traffic gridlock along Dugbe, Iyaganku, Ring toad, Challenge, Iletitun and Molete Oke Ado areas as his supporters shut down the city for several hours on Wednesday. His first port of call was his family house in Kudeti Oke Oluokun area of Ibadan South East Local Government; APC State Secretariat and local party office, all within the city.

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Adelabu along with supporters clad in different colourful Ankara fabrics and T-Shirts embossed with his portrait and APC logo, headed straight to his late grandfather, Adegoke Adelabu’s tomb where clerics led by Chief Imam of the Penkelemesi’s house, Alhaji Amidu Oluokun offered special prayers which lasted about an hour for the new political entrant.

Bayo Adelabu visited his late grandfather, Adegoke Adelabu’s tomb where clerics led by Chief Imam of the Penkelemesi’s house, Alhaji Amidu Oluokun offered special prayers

Late Adelabu Penkelemesi was a prominent personality in the politics of Ibadan city and subsequently that of the Western region before the country’s independence in 1960. He was Nigeria’s Minister of Natural Resources and Social Services from January 1955 to January 1956 and later became an opposition leader to Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the Western Regional Assembly until his death in 1958.

Bayo Adelabu who voluntarily retired few weeks ago from the apex bank, told journalists at a media parley codenamed “Adelabu 2019: The Penkelemes Legacy” that he left the services of the Federal Government to contribute his quota to the development of his home state of Oyo.

According to him, “no sacrifice is too much. I am back home to serve my good people of Oyo state. My vision is termed the next level to build on the successes of the current administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi and to take the state to the next level by giving special attention to technology, Internally Generated Revenue and People’s prosperity to restore the glory of the state as a truly Pace Setting state.

The governorship aspirant, Adelabu addressing journalists at the press conference

“The next level pyramid enunciated earlier will have the following as focus point; Security, Agriculture/food security, housing, social infrastructure (health), education, transportation and environment,” Adelabu stressed as he appealed to the party stakeholders and by extension the people of the state to grant him the grace of administering the state from 2019.

Adelabu was a first class graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo university and had career experience spanning over two decades in PricewaterhouseCoopers rising to the position of Senior Manager; General Manager and West African Regional Head of Finance at Standard Chartered Bank; Executive Director, Chief Finance Officer and Board Member, First Bank of Nigeria Plc; and Deputy Governor, CBN where he voluntarily retired recently.

The post 2019: CBN’s Adelabu Finally Declares Intention for Oyo Guber Race, Rolls Out Agenda first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post 2019: CBN’s Adelabu Finally Declares Intention for Oyo Guber Race, Rolls Out Agenda appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

This is coming on the heels of his recent resignation from the apex bank few weeks ago. Bayo, who is the grandson of the late Ibadan political Icon, Adegoke Adelabu popularly known as Penkelemesi is one of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

Also, our reporter reliably gathered that Adelabu’s political structure has continued to mobilize support for his ambition all over the state.

2019: Ex-Oyo Head of Service Declares Governorship Ambition

Before his recently resigned appointment, he was an Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer at First Bank. Prior to that, he held the positions of General Manager as the West African Regional Head of Finance and Strategy (Consumer Banking Business) for Standard Chartered Bank from where he was head-hunted in 2009.

Bayo holds a First Class degree in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and he is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) a fellow of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB) and an Associate member of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria and the UK (AIOD).

Mega Icon Magazine top sources hinted that Bayo would be declaring his intention to vie for the position of the governor at the Oke Ado APC State Secretariat Ibadan. Highly impeccable sources further added that his campaign materials including outdoor advertisements such as billboards are expected to occupy strategic locations in the state.

Also, the governorship aspirant is billed to feature on a live radio programme tomorrow to unveil his political plans.

The post Oyo 2019: Ex-CBN Deputy Governor, Adelabu to Declare Guber Ambition Wednesday first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Oyo 2019: Ex-CBN Deputy Governor, Adelabu to Declare Guber Ambition Wednesday appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Before his recently resigned appointment, he was an Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer at First Bank. Prior to that, he held the positions of General Manager as the West African Regional Head of Finance and Strategy (Consumer Banking Business) for Standard Chartered Bank from where he was head-hunted in 2009. Bayo holds a First Class degree in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and he is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) a fellow of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB) and an Associate member of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria and the UK (AIOD).

https://iso.keq.mybluehost.me/cbn-injects-another-210-million-into-forex-market/

Through his Bayo Adelabu Foundation (BAF), quite a number of people have benefitted from scholarships, grants and various empowerment programs for the past 12years. He also has businesses across the State which provide employment for well over 500 people.

For some months now, different groups in Oyo state have been clamouring for Bayo to run for the seat of Governor of the State. His commitment to the State in terms of development has been second to none but his qualification is what stands him out at such a very young age of 47.

Bayo is the grandson of the late Ibadan political Icon, Adegoke Adelabu popularly known as Penkelemesi.

With this bold move, political watchers expect that Bayo Adelabu will officially make his political intentions known publicly and formally very soon.

The post 2019: Adelabu celebrates wife’s birthday, confirms resignation from CBN first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post 2019: Adelabu celebrates wife’s birthday, confirms resignation from CBN appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Contained in a press release signed by the Chairman, Organising Committee of the summit, Mr. Bola Olalere, the interactive segment of the summit will afford successful elders from the region to share their success stories with the Youths; this he averred will go a long way in motivating and inspiring the youths to success.

He stressed that the summit which is put together by OkeOgun Youth Association, a group of young professionals from the region will have experts speaking on Agric-Business, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, ICT and special career guidance season for some selected secondary school students.

The post Ojerinde, Ogunesan, Ajekigbe others for OkeOgun youth summit. first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Ojerinde, Ogunesan, Ajekigbe others for OkeOgun youth summit. appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.