Cecilia Ibru (born 22 March 1946) is the former managing director and chief executive officer of

Oceanic Bank Oceanic Bank International, commonly referred to as Oceanic Bank, was a bank in Nigeria that provided individual, commercial and corporate banking services. History Oceanic Bank was incorporated on March 26, 1990, as a private limited liability ...

.Online Nigeria
"Cecilia Ibru"
, ''Online Nigeria'', Accessed December 9, 2012. She is Nigeria's first female bank CEO and was dubbed the first lady of banking. In 2010, she was convicted of corporate fraud and sentenced to prison as part of a multibillion-dollar banking scandal.

Early life and education

Born to Edward and Victoria Sido Yes, Ibru attended Saint Margaret’s Grammar School in

Ilesa Ilesa () is a historic city located in Osun State, southwest Nigeria; it is also the name of the capital of a historic state-kingdom(also known as Ijesha) centred around that town as the capital . The state is ruled by a monarch bearing the ti ...

from 1960 to 1965 along with her twin Lucy and studied at University Tutorial College in London from 1967 to 1968.Aitec Africa
"Dr. Cecilia Ibru, Oceanic Bank, Nigeria"
''Aitec Africa'', Accessed December 9, 2012. She graduated from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1971 with a BS in sociology. Ibru pursued her graduate studies at the university and received a Masters of Philosophy from the

SOAS University of London The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

in 1977.McKinsey Quarterly
"Leading a developing-market bank: An interview with the CEO of Nigeria’s Oceanic Bank"
''

McKinsey Quarterly The ''McKinsey Quarterly'' is a business magazine focused on management and organizational theory. Background The magazine is written primarily by McKinsey consultants and alumni, with contributions from guest authors. Founded in 1964, it ...

'', Accessed December 9, 2012.

Career

In 1978, Ibru joined the Ibru Organization as project director. After two years in this role, Ibru went on to serve as international finance coordinator, a position she held until 1990. Ibru began working with Oceanic Bank in 1990 as general manager. After seven years with Oceanic, she was promoted to managing director and CEO. Oceanic began as a small family-owned bank, but grew into one of the Nigeria’s largest publicly quoted institutions during Ibru’s stewardship. On 13 August 2009 Ibru was amongst five bank CEOs who were dismissed. Five replacements were named by the

Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are t ...

. The deputy governor,

Sarah Alade Sarah Omotunde Alade is a Nigerian economist. She was acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria during the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. She was appointed to the post by president Goodluck Jonathan on 20th of February 2014. She hel ...

, announced that John Aloh would replace Ibru at Oceanic. Others replaced on the same day included the CEO of the

Union Bank of Nigeria Union Bank of Nigeria Plc is a commercial bank in Nigeria headquartered in Marina, Lagos Island, Lagos. It has been operating in Nigeria since 1917. Overview Union Bank is a large commercial bank, serving individuals, small and medium-sized comp ...

, Dr. Bath Ebong, who was replaced by

Olufunke Iyabo Osibodu Olufunke Iyabo Osibodu or Funke Osibodu is a Nigerian banker who led Ecobank Nigeria and the Union Bank of Nigeria. Life Funke Osibodu was born in January 1959. She attended the University of Ife and the Harvard Business School.< ...

.CBN sacks 5 Banks Directors
, Gabriel Omoh and Babajide Komolafe, 14 August 2009, VanguardNGR, Retrieved 23 February 2016 Ibru appeared in court alongside three other senior banking executives in Nigeria. They all denied charges that they were involved in a multibillion-dollar banking scandal. Anti-corruption police brought criminal charges against executives from five banks rescued in a 400bn naira ($2.6bn; £1.6bn) government bail-out. All the banks were found to have low cash reserves because of bad loans. It was alleged that Ibru extended credit facilities of 16 billion NAIRA to a company who had no collateral. On 8 October 2010, Ibru was convicted on 25 counts of corporate fraud. She was ordered to reimburse $1.2B (£786m) in cash and assets, and sentenced to six months of prison. The court confiscated over 100 properties from her in Nigeria, Dubai and the United States.

Michael and Cecilia Ibru University

Ibru co-founded the

Michael and Cecilia Ibru University Michael and Cecilia Ibru University is a private university located in Agbara-Otor in Delta State. The university was established and co-founded in 2015 by Michael Ibru and Cecilia Ibru with the aim of reducing poverty. Academic division Mi ...

in 2015 in Agbara-Otor, Delta State.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibru, Cecilia Nigerian chief executives Living people 1946 births Alumni of SOAS University of London Ibru family