By Uche Mbah
The Board of Directors of Fidelity Bank have recently announced the appointment of three Executive Directors who, it is expected, will steer the ship of finance to the next corporate level. In a recent meeting in Lagos, the Board approved the appointment of Gbolahan Joshua, a mergers and Acquisition Banker; Obaro Odeghe, a Consumer Service Banker, and Hassan Imam, a Risk Management Banker into Directorial positions. Joshua will act as Executive Director/Chief of Operations and Information Officer while Odeghe will oversee corporate Banking. Imam will take charge of the Northern Directorate.
All will be subject to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, approval.
Gbolahan’s responsibilities include Operations, Technology, Digital Banking, Investor relations, Strategy and Business Transformations while Odeghe will oversee All the Bank’s corporate Banking covering Energy, Power, Manufacturing, Telecoms, Fast moving Consumer Goods, Construction and Real Estate. Hassan will, however, supervise all Commercial SMEs, consumer and Public sector Businesses in the eighteen northern states and Abuja.
All three were general managers before their elevation.
According to the Bank CEO, Nnamdi Okonkwo, the appointments underlies the Bank’s strategy of building capacity from within.
“Over the years, we have worked assiduously at proactively preparing our people and growing the talent and leadership pool in the Bank so that when opportunities arise, we do not always have to look outside. I am most delighted that our three new EDs were all appointed from within”, he said.
The Fidelity Bank Board of Directors, led by Ernest Ebi, former Deputy CBN governor, as Chairman, leads in gender sensitivity. It has three female Executive Directors.
“We welcome Gholahan, Obaro and Hassan to the Board. Collectively they have with them varied and deep industry knowledge and relevant experiences that will not only deepen but engender even more robust discussions and engagements at board level. Please join me in congratulating them”, Ebi said.
A Chattered accountant, Gbolahan boasts of 20 years cognate experience in Operations, Digital Banking and Technology, Strategy, Business Transformation, Finance and Treasury, including Mergers and acquisitions.
Obaro is a Havard trained Professional with an MBA. He has 24 Banking experience in Corporate, Trade, Finance and Institutional Banking and Operations.
Hassan, on his part, has two Masters Degree and an MBA. He brings on board 25years of comprehensive experience in Consumer, Commercial and Institutional Banking. His turf is Risk Management.
