Waheed Olagunju’s Emergence As BOI Director Excites Industry Watchers

The elevation of Waheed Olagunju, the erstwhile Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises of Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI) to the position of Acting Managing Direction/Chief Executive Officer in the aftermath of the sacking of several Heads of parastatals and government agencies that saw the exit of Rasheed Adejare Olaoluwa from the Bank as its CEO has been hailed by many who described it as an informed choice on the part of the President.

In a banking career that spans over two decades, Olagunju has consistently demonstrated an uncommon capacity and capability in successfully taking on higher responsibilities assigned to him.

Olagunju’s versatility is exhibited in the various positions he has occupied since he joined Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), the precursor institution to BOI in 1990 as a Senior Manager and rose to the position of Executive Director (Business Development) in 2012.

He acted as MD/CEO of Bank of Industry between 11th April and 16th May 2014 before he was reassigned the Executive Director (Small and Medium Enterprises).

Prior to Olagunju’s appointment as member of the Board of Directors of BOI in 2012, he served as the Company Secretary of the Bank for 15 years (1997-2012) and concurrently as General Manager, Strategic Planning and Corporate Communications between 2007 and 2012.

He was one of the architect and drivers of BOI’s outstanding turnaround and transformation into one of Africa’s best Development Finance Institution (DFI).

Waheed Olagunju was actively involved with the reconstruction of NIDB into BOI (2000-2001) and the consolidation of the mandates of NIDB, the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI) and the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) into that of BOI and worked closely with the Federal Ministry of Industry and Messrs. KPMG, the consultancy firm that was engaged to handle the exercise.

This is not inclusive of the fact that in the early years of BOI, Olagunju coordinated the diagnostic study of the Bank that was undertaken between 2004 and 2005 by the Swedish Consultants (Messrs. Swedish Development Advisers), who were appointed by the African Development Bank.

He equally played a pivotal role in the implementation of their recommendations that formed a vital input into BOI’s paradigm shift that triggered the bank’s rapid transformation in 2006. He has all along been a strong member of BOI’s Senior Management Team and later it’s Board of Directors that has been driving the bank’s highly impressive performance.

Before embarking on his banking career, Waheed Olahunju had a distinguished broadcast career at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) between July 1981 and July 1990 (inclusive of NYSC); a highly resourceful professional, he rose to the position of Controller of News and Head of the Economic Desk before he joined the NIDB in August 1990.

The positive impact witnessed previous stint as Acting MD/CEO of BOI has remained a point of reference in the bank despite the brief time he had.

Happily married with children, Olagunju bagged his Bachelors and Master’s Degree from the University of Lagos in 1991 and 1994 respectfully as well as a Professional Certificate in Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis from the Queen’s University, Canada in 2013.