In the next few days, Tajudeen Afolabi Adeola, the celebrated boardroom guru and corporate icon will 60. Adeola, the pioneer Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank is very excited about the coming celebration. However, he is not too disposed to hosting an elaborate party to mark the event. Sources disclosed to The Elites that while Adeola plans to make the celebration devoid of fanfare, his close friends and associates are mapping out other plans in celebrating him as well.
Adeola is widely recognized as a maverick in the Nigerian private sector. In 1990, he established Guaranty Trust Bank, and served as Managing Director/CEO from its inception in 1990 to July 2002, during which he firmly established the institution as a strong and credible bank. Guaranty Trust Bank has grown to become one of Nigeria’s largest and most profitable companies. The bank has also expanded beyond Nigeria to other neighbouring African countries (The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Liberia) and in United Kingdom. The bank became listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1996. In 2002, Adeola voluntarily retired from Guaranty Trust Bank, after twelve years, successfully handing over to his deputy. Since his retirement, he has served as the chairman of a range of institutions including UTC, ARM, Lotus Capital, Eterna Oil, Tafsan Breweries (board member), and Credit Registry Services. Adeola is also the chairman of Main One Cable Company Limited.
At national leadership level, Adeola served as Chairman of the National Pension Commission and he was also the Vice Presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) serving as running mate to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC during the 2011 presidential elections. Adeola, who is a mentor to many people, was also a member of the National Honours and Awards Committee and was appointed a member of the Governing Council of Lagos State University in November 2004. He served as a member of the Solid Minerals Committee, and was the Chairman of Ogun State Development Trust Fund Committee. He was a council member of Lagos State University and until January 17, 2011 served as a council member Olabisi Onabanjo University. Also, Adeola served as Chairman of the National Pension Commission and he was also the Vice Presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) serving as running mate to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC during the 2011 presidential elections.
Given Adeola's commitment to empowering Nigerian youth to create jobs for themselves and others, he established the FATE Foundation in 2000. FATE is a non-governmental organization which is dedicated to encouraging the creation of wealth through entrepreneurship, using an innovative mix of training, mentoring, loan support and consulting to support young Nigerians. To date it has served over 30,000 young Nigerian entrepreneurs, of which over 65% are fully employed by their businesses and are employing on average about four staff. Through the vision of Adeola, FATE is expanding its offerings to start an innovation centre in Abeokuta. The Institute for Venture Design in close collaboration with the Centre for Design Research at Stanford University is starting a new kind of entrepreneurship program focused on engineering, technology, and innovation with a goal to boost development of industry in Nigeria.
Adeola has also engaged in many forms of philanthropy and has donated generously to many none-profits causes and religious organizations. Internationally, he served as a member of the Global Advisory Committee on Philanthropy of the World Economic Forum for four years. In 2001, Adeola was invited to join twenty-four other business leaders for the Aspen Institute ISIB Annual Business Leaders Dialogue in Aspen, Colorado. In May 2004, he was appointed Commissioner on the Commission for Africa by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Adeola is the fifth of his parents' seventeen children. His father worked as a bank clerk to cater for their large family. His mother used to send him and his brothers to the streets to hawk wares to supplement the family income. Despite their very humble backgrounds, they made the time to instil the values of hardwork and integrity into the lives of their children. Adeola attended St Paul’s School, Breadfruit and Methodist Boys High School, Lagos. He obtained a Diploma in Accounting from Yaba College of Technology in 1975 and became a Chartered Accountant in 1980 following his training with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells and D.O. Dafinone & Company (both Chartered Accountants). Over the years he has received professional development training at notable institutions worldwide including Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland. Adeola was a Council member, and is Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria; Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria. He was decorated as Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) in December 2002 by President Olusegun Obasanjo. He has an honorary doctorate from Nkumba University, Ntebbe, Uganda, Banker of the Decade in 2009 by the Vanguard Newspaper group, Distinguished Famous Alumni Award by Yaba College of Technology, Zik Leadership in 2003, This Day Awards 2011 – Change Makers in Social Entrepreneurship.
He is married to Hajara (née Atta), the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Lotus Capital Limited, a pioneer asset management company in Nigeria, and he has six children.
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