Indications emerged yesterday that Unity Bank Plc has strengthened its Board and management team with the appointment of Alhaji Lamis Shehu Dikko as substantive Chairman, while two new management members – Bakwunye Sunny Obijieze and Oladimeji Ogunlana have also joined the bank. All appointments are pending the confirmation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
THE CITIZEN gathered that at the Bank’s Board meeting, which held in Lagos on Wednesday, it was unanimously agreed that Dikko’s name be forwarded to the Central Bank of Nigeria for approval as substantive chairman of the institution. Dikko would be replacing the former chairman, Alhaji Numan Dambatta, a career civil servant, who recently resigned from the board.
It was also gathered that the arrowhead behind the restructuring of the bank is the new Managing Director/CEO, Henry James Semenitari, who was appointed last year. Two Executive Directors, Arese Alonge and Abubakar Abba Bello had earlier joined the bank.
Besides, the bank had also acquired the services of Anyalenkeya Benedict Uzoma, who is now Head, E-Business after relinquishng his former appointment as Head, Channels of FCMB. Then Ogunlana, who was former Head, Remedial Assets of Access Bank comes on board as Head, Loan Recovery while Obijieze joined the Bank as Head, Treasury. He was until taking up this new appointment, the Treasurer at United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) from 2010 to 2014.
Dikko, a professional and seasoned banker who has vast and extensive banking experience and financial background and who was also an intricate part in the consolidation process that led to the establishment of the Bank, is expected to bring to bear his many years of experience and wide contacts to the current re-organisation and rejuvenation of Unity Bank. Until his confirmation by the apex bank, Mr. Thomas A.Etuh a Non-Executive Director of the Bank we learnt, will hold fort as the Interim Chairman.
Alhaji Dikko holds a B.Sc. Degree in 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, a Director at Enterprise Bank and Legacy Pensions among others.
He has several years of banking experience. He worked in Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd for more than 14 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 eight 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.
