The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has appointed four new executive directors for Oceanic Bank International Plc to boost ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing the bank’s growth and profitability.

They are Mrs. Oyinkan Adewale, Mr. Henry Oritseweyinmi Ajagbawa, Mr. Mohammed Lawal Balarabe, and Mrs. Benedicta Mofoluke Dosumu.

According to the bank’s managing director, Mr. John Aboh, the new directors are tested professionals of high standing in the financial services sector. “With the new executive directors that have just joined us, and assemblage of topflight staff, Oceanic Bank is certainly on the path of fast-paced recovery and growth,” he said.

He explained that the Executive Directors, who are exceptional professionals, will further enhance the bank’s profile and operations through their diverse experiences in banking, management and finance. “They will certainly contribute immensely to ongoing new initiatives, superior value propositions, and strategic direction for the actualization of the bank’s expansion and industry leadership quest,” he added.

Before her appointment, Mrs. Oyinkan Adewale was Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer (Africa), Renaissance Group where she set up and developed the Renaissance Franchise in Nigeria with responsibility for the following business support functions for Africa: Finance, Human Resources, Corporate Services, Risk, Compliance and IT.

In 2006, she was Business combination manager in the merger of First Bank and ETI where she was responsible for coordinating roles and functions of the members of the combination Implementation committee, managing and ensuring the smooth running of the project secretariat and overseeing all advisers appointed by FBN and ETI in the performance of their tasks.

A 1980 graduate of the University of Ibadan, she became a chartered accountant in 1984 and attained a fellowship status in 1994. She started her career with Coopers and Lybrand and later joined Citibank Nigeria in 1989 and held several senior positions including Deputy General Manager, Citigroup (1995), Executive Finance Director (Nigeria), 1998, and General Manager, Citigroup (2001).

Mr. Henry Oritseweyinmi Ajagbawa, before his appointment, was Quasi-CEO for UBA in the South Bank (Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River) and managed a balance sheet of about 100 billion. He worked in Equatorial Trust Bank in 2006 as Executive Director. He also worked with Continental Trust Bank in 2005 and co-ordinated the consolidation of the bank with UBA. Ajagbawa joined Standard Trust Bank in 1998 where he rose to become General Manager in 2005. He started his career with UAC of Nigeria, Plc in 1987 where he served as Audit manager. An associate and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Ajagbawa holds a first degree and masters in Economics from the University of Lagos. He has attended the Strategic Negotiation and Deals Making at the Harvard Business School and Advanced Management Programme at the INSEAD Fontainebleau, France amongst other Professional Courses.

Prior to joining Oceanic Bank, Mohammed Lawal Balarabe was General Manager (North-West bank, Kaduna) of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) where he was responsible for co-coordinating the bank’s Retail, Commercial, Local Corporates and Public Sector business across 50 branches in over 13 Northern states.

He grew the bank’s Balance sheet from N33 billion to approximately N52 billion when he took over. Before joining the bank in 1995, he had worked with Newdevco Financial Services Co (Stockbrokers) as General Manager where he was responsible for managing the company’s Stock broking and Financial Advisory services, with active representation on the Kaduna and Lagos Stock exchanges. He also worked with New Africa Merchant Bank Ltd where he rose to become Manager/Head Corporate Finance. He started his career with Continental Merchant Bank Plc (Kano/Lagos) in 1987. A graduate of the Nottingham Trent University (1986), England with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Finance and obtained a Masters of Science in Finance from the University of Lagos in 1995.

Mrs. Benedicta Mofoluke Dosumu, a professional banker with over 23 years experience (treasury & financial services, foreign operations, total quality management, and branch operations) was the Treasurer at First Bank of Nigeria Plc before joining Oceanic Bank.

Mrs. Dosumu is skilled in asset management and relationship management and has provided direction on the combination and quality of assets & liability to ensure optimal return on investment, overall supervision of treasury, customer service management, cash and process quality management.

She started her banking career with United Bank for Africa (UBA) in 1985. She joined FSB International Bank (now part of Fidelity Bank) in 1986 as a management trainee and rose through the ranks before leaving for Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB) in 1990. Dosumu joined First Bank in 2001 as a Principal Manager and rose to become a deputy general manager (DGM) in 2004. In 2008, she was appointed as the Treasurer of the bank.

A chartered accountant and graduate of Accounting, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ife 1985, Dosumu has attended numerous courses in Wharton, University of Pennsylvania; Harvard Business School, and Stanford Business School, among others.