By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Bisi Onasanya, the group managing director (GMD)/CEO of First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is set to retire at the end of the year having completed his tenure in an inspiring and enviable career spanning over three decades of diverse management and operational experience.
Onasanya has been scheduled to deliver the third Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) valedictory lecture organised in his honour by the Institute; after the likes of Jacobs Ajekigbe, also a former MD of the Bank on January 13, 2009 and Professor Adedoyin Soyibo , a pioneer director of the M.Sc (banking and finance) programme in the department of Economics, University of Ibadan on March 19, 2013 whom gave the first two CIBN valedictory lectures.
A statement from the Bank says the CIBN instituted a valedictory lecture series in 2008 to acknowledge, honour and celebrate the contributions of individuals who have distinguished themselves and reached the pinnacle of their career in banking.
“This lecture is the third in the series and Mr. Onasanya would be speaking on the topic ‘Banks, Bankers and the Imperatives for Sustainable Banking’.”
FirstBank says the event will be chaired by Joseph Sanusi, a former MD of the Bank and is scheduled for Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at the Shell Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
The statement affirmed that in Onasanya, the CIBN celebrates a respectable personality who has established a reputation for solid performance and sound judgment in FirstBank and the industry at large.
He is widely reputed as the architect of the modern FirstBank, associated with various innovative and creative achievements.
Onasanya was the project coordinator of Century 2 the new frontier, FirstBank’s far-reaching enterprise transformation project at the turn of the century, as well as the coordinator of the FirstBank Corporate Transformation project which has seen the bank accentuating its foothold on modernisation. “Mr. Onasanya also superintended the latest composite Corporate Identity/Brand Refresh of the FirstBank Group, a bold step heralding the international expansion of the FirstBank brand which under his leadership now boasts of subsidiaries with operations across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia,” FirstBank added.
According to the Bank, Onasanya is an articulate and insightful thought leader in the financial services industry and has made meaningful contributions as a member of the Bankers Committee and is the chairman of the Sub Committee on Ethics and Professionalism.
Speaking on the topic ‘Banks, Bankers and the Imperatives for Sustainable Banking’, Onasanya would expound on the changing financial services industry landscape, the responsibility of bankers and a strong ethical eco system among other subjects.
FirstBank further affirmed that Onasanya has also delivered several papers and served on various conferences C-Suite panels across the globe. He is the editor of a new book, “Perspectives on Banking in Nigeria”, featuring a collection of learned articles by banking and finance professionals including operators, regulators and academics.
Out of the over three (3) decades of diverse management and operational experience, Onasanya spent 21 years with FirstBank serving meritoriously in the last six (6) years as GMD/CEO.
Shares at FirstBank at the close of the day’s trading on the Nigerian bourse declined 3.67 percent to N4.72 from N4.90 traded the previous session.
