As one of the 3 most viable sectors of the Nigerian economy, the telecommunications sector in Nigeria has weathered a lot of storms in the last few years. MTN Nigeria has had its own not too palatable experience in the last few years too. However, the company which prides its self as an organisation with a “can do” spirit continues to soldier own. In the first part of this series, City People’s KELECHI OKORIE brings you the Big Boys who run the company.
TOBECHUKWU OKIGBO
Currently, Corporate Relations Executive, shortly before he joined MTN Nigeria, he was the erstwhile Chief Corporate Services Officer of Smile Communications Ltd. An Almnus of the University of Maiduguri and University of Liverpool, he was the political editor of a newspaper and has consulted for the Federal Government. He started his career as a legal counsel at Eddie Ntephe & Co. He has garnered more than 14 years experience in the telecommunications sector after joining Airtel (then Vmobile) in 2005. He was a member of the legislative affairs team of the company where he later rose to head the government and environmental affairs. He obtained his first Laws degree from the University of Maiduguri and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Liverpool.
ADEKUNLE ADEBIYI
He is the Sales and Distribution Executive of MTN Nigeria. He is one of the most experienced people in the sale and distribution of mobile technology in this part of the world. His career in the sector is as old as the GSM market in the country, having joined Econet (now Airtel) at inception in 2001 as Retail Executive. He rose to become Head of Commercial in the company before he joined Visafone in 2007 as the Director of Sales when Visafone started operations. He joined MTN in 2012 as General Manager, Consumer Sales. He obtained his first degree at the Obafemi Awolowo University and his master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Benin.
ADEKUNLE AWOBODU
He is the Chief Financial Officer of MTN Nigeria, indeed the first Nigerian to occupy that position. He has worked for some of the most reputable international corporations in the world, including Procter & Gamble where he started as a Financial/Senior Financial Analyst in the mid nineties and rose to become Group Manager, Financial Analysis & Treasury. He has been in MTN for 17 years after joining as Manager- Fixed Assets. He was later moved to MTN-Irancell in Iran where he headed the finance department. He obtained his first degree in banking & finance from University of Lagos and master’s degree from University of Leicester. He is a Certified General Accountant in Ontario, Canada and Certified Internal Auditor in the United States. He holds the licences and certifications of several international accounting bodies.
BAYO ADEKAMBI
He has been the Chief transformation Officer of MTN Nigeria for the past two years. A PhD Degree holder from City University Cass Business School, London and TIAS Business School, he worked as Biomolecular Research Analyst/Brand Manager at UB from 2000-2001. He moved over to One-to-One Database Marketing/Tequila121 where he was the Head, Customer Insight, Intelligence& Data Planning. He was Strategy/Intelligence Director (MTN Business Group) until 2010 after joining as Strategy and Business Director. He joined MTN Group South Africa as Lead Strategist (Insight/analytics and Strategy development). He was the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer of MTN for almost two years. He holds numerous professional certifications from numerous bodies and international institutions.
IKENNA IKEME
He is the Head Regulatory Affairs at MTN Nigeria. Iheme has been in the telecommunications sector for more than 14 years after joining Celtel Nigeria (now Airtel) in 2005 as Manager, Universal Service and Consumer Affairs. He held several positions in the company as it changed ownership over the years and he became Head of Division, Interconnect and Carrier Relations. He joined Etisalat (now 9mobile) Nigeria as Head, Regulatory Strategy & Compliance, before becoming Director, Regulatory & Corporate Social Responsibility. Ikenna joined MTN Nigeria over a year ago. He obtained LLB, Law from University of Nigeria and MBA in Banking and Finance from Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
RICHARD IWAONOGE
He is the General Manager, Brands and Communications of MTN Nigeria. A graduate of the University of Benin, Iwaonoge has worked for MTN Nigeria for more than 17 years. He joined as Senior Manager, Sales Channels, rising through the ranks to become General Manager, Consumer Sales in 2010. He was General Manager, Business Development, Sales and Distribution from 2012 to 2014 and later General Manager, Consumer Marketing until his current position.
OLUWOLERAWA
He is the General Manager, Consumer Marketing. An Alumnus of Harvard Business School, he has under his belt 15 years of experience in the telecommunications sector. He joined Celtel (now Airtel) in 2004 as Manager, Payphone Segment, Marketing Directorate Commercial Group. He moved to Etisalat Nigeria and held several positions until he rose to become Director, Marketing Segments and Strategy. His journey in MTN began as Head Group Consumer Operations in 2015. He obtained his first degree in Civil Engineering from the University of llorin, Kwara State. He did the Strategic Leadership Programme in Cranfield School of Management from 2012 to 2013.
FUNSO AINA
One of the brightest minds and most personable public relations professionals in the country today, Aina who is Senior Manager, External Relations at MTN Nigeria knows PR like the palm of his hands. He garnered under his belt, over 22 years work experience in journalism, cultural diplomacy and telecommunications. He is a result-oriented professional with varied competencies and hands-on experience in public relations, corporate communications, media relations, public affairs, perception/stakeholder/reputation/issues and crisis management. He obtained his first degree in history from University of Ilorin and his master’s degree in international relations from Obafemi Awolowo Univeristy, Ife. He has been in telecommunications sector for 10 years, having joined MTN in 2009. He cut his teeth in Journalism when he worked for ICNL, Publishers of ICNL (Publishers of PM News, The News and Tempo magazines),. He later joined Punch Newspapers and was a member of the editorial board, later rising to become the Chief Correspondent for the Presidential Villa (Aso Rock). He joined The Nation Newspapers and covered the National Assembly for the media house before he was snapped by The British Council to be its Communications Manager in 2005. He joined MTN Nigeria as a Public Relations Manager in 2009. He is an Associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
GBENGA OLALANDU
His is the Senior Manager, Channel Development of MTN Nigeria. He has garnered almost 25 years of experience in the corporate world, having cut his teeth as a Key Account Manager in Procter & Gamble from 1997 to 2000. He later rose and became the Multifunctional Team IT System Manager at that organisation. He joined MTN Nigeria in 2004 as a Channel Manager. Having been in that company for more than 15 years, he held several positions including Senior Manager (Sales) and Senior Manager (Sales Channels). He was then seconded to MTN Cameroon on expatriate assignment, where he functioned as General Manager, (Sales & Distribution). He obtained his first degree in Computer Science & Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University and ran programs at Cranfield School of Management, Lagos Business School and The Wharton School.
OBINNA NWEJE
He is the General Manager, Customer Acquisition. He studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Federal University of Technology Owerri, where he obtained his first degree and obtained an MBA at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University in Business Administration and Management. He also has a certificate from Columbia Business School as well as IMD Business School. After a short stint as Lead Project Engineer for Resourcery Limited, he became a pioneer staff of MTN in 2001, functioning as Senior Manager Transmission. He has held several positions in this last 18 years in MTN, including, General Manager, Access Networks, GM Network Region and GM; Eastern Region.
ANTHONY OBI
Obi is the General Manager, Business Intelligence & Strategy of MTN Nigeria. He moved over to the telecommunications sector from the banking sector where he was Senior Business Analyst Strategic Planning Unit at Intercontinental Bank PLC. He joined MTN as Pricing and Business Analytic Manager in 2005. He has held several positions in the company for almost 15 years, including Manager, Customer Lifestyle & Loyalty Program and Senior Manager, Business Intelligence and Customer Retention. He obtained his MBA from Durham University Business School in the United Kingdom.
ISHMAEL NWKOKOCHA
He is the General Manager, Corporate Treasury at MTN Nigeria. He has moved around some of the lucrative sectors of the Nigeria economy as he joined MTN Nigeria from ExxonMobil in 2002 as Cash Management Supervisor. At various times in MTN, he was Treasury Analyst, Corporate Finance Manager, Senior Manager Treasury, and Ag General Manager SCM. He obtained his degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University and MBA at Alliance Manchester Business School. He has been a chartered accountant in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
STEPHEN AKINOLA
He is the General Manager, Finance Business of MTN Nigeria. He is a very experienced Chattered Accountant. He started his career with Guinness Nigeria Plc Financial Accountant. In 1998. He later moved to Diageo Africa where he functioned as Account Payable Accountant and later Business Process Manager/Project Manager until 2010. He again rose to become Finance Director Partner Markets & Ocean at Diageo Africa after serving as Financial Controller. He joined MTN as a General Manager in 2017. He obtained his first degree at the University of Lagos and MBA in Business Administration at Robert Gordon University.
LADIPO NYLANDER
His is the General Manager, Customer Enablement at the company. He was a Senior Consultant with Accenture for 6 years between 1996 and 2002. He joined MTN Nigeria in 2011 as General Manager, Enterprise Marketing. He became the General Manager Enterprise Sales in 2015. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Imperia College London and another MBA from Imperial College Business School.
CYRIL ILOK
He is currently Executive, Risk and Compliance at MTN Nigeria. He was Internal Control Officer at All States Trust Bank from 1997 to 1998 before joining MTN as Senior Internal Auditor in 2002. He has held several positions in the company in these 17 years, including as Manager, Process Audit; Senior Manager, Enterprise Risk Management and General Manager, Business Risk Management. He was GM Risk and Compliance before his current position in 2018. He is an Alumnus of Lagos Business School and IMD, Switzerland.
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