The Central Bank of Nigeria has confirmed the appointment of Alhaji Lamis Dikko as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unity Bank Plc.
The approval was contained in a letter from the apex bank dated April 22, 2014, signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins.
The letter also conveyed the approval of Mr. Thomas Etuh as the pioneer vice chairman of the Bank. Collectively, Dikko and Etuh will be bringing in over 40 years of collective experience to the Board of Unity Bank plc.
The Board of Directors of the Bank had on March 27, 2014 forwarded the names of Alhaji Dikko and Mr. Etuh to the CBN, following the resignation of the former chairman, Alhaji Numan Barau Danbatta, OON. While awaiting the approval, Mr. Etuh had been serving as interim chairman.
Alhaji Dikko is a seasoned banker who has extensive banking experience and a strong background in the financial services sector. He was also an intricate part in the consolidation process that led to the establishment of the Bank in 2006 and will bring to bear his many years of experience and wide contacts to the current re-organization and rejuvenation of Unity Bank.
Lamis Dikko holds a B.Sc. Economics from Queen Mary’s College, University of London. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School for Management Development. He is currently Chairman of Infrastructure Bank and a Director of Legacy Pensions among others. To take up his new appointment, he had to relinquish hisw position as a Director at Enterprise Bank.
He worked in Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd for more than fourteen years where he rose to the position of General Manager. He then moved to Intercity Bank Plc (one of the legacy banks of Unity Bank Plc) where he rose to become the Managing Director in 2001 until it merged with 8 other banks to form Unity Bank in 2005. At Unity Bank, he was first, Executive Director, Credit Risk Management and then Group Executive Director, (Central) before he left the Bank in 2010.
Mr. Etuh was in 2011 appointed a Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He is widely exposed to corporate business leadership. He studied Management, Banking and Public Administration at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi and the University of Jos respectively. He is also an alumnus of the University of Navarra, Spain; the London Business School and the Lagos Business School.
Thomas Etuh is a serving Director on the Board of Federal Superphosphate Fertilizer Company, Kaduna; Tak Agro & Chemical Limited, Lagos; Cape Cross Salt (PTY), Namibia; and a principal partner of Thomasses & Associates Limited, Kaduna.
He is currently the Chairman, Tak Continental Limited.
