Ibukunoluwa Abiodun Awosika (born Bilkisu Abiodun Motunrayo Omobolanle Adekola on December 24, 1962) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

businesswoman and author. She is the first female Chairperson of

First Bank of Nigeria First Bank of Nigeria is a multinational bank and financial services company with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. First Bank was founded in 1894 by Sir Alfred Jones and is currently owned by First HoldCo PLC, which in itself has diversified own ...

. She was appointed as a member of

Binance Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading ...

Global Advisory Board in September 2022.

Early life and education

Born as the third child of seven children in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

, the capital of

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

, Ibukun completed her primary and secondary school education at St. Paul's African Church Primary School, Lagos and Methodist Girls' High School, Yaba respectively before she proceeded to the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where she graduated with a BSc in

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

although she had initially wanted to study

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

at the

University of Navarra The University of Navarra is a private Catholic research university located on the southeast border of Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. It was founded in 1952 by Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, the founder of '' Opus Dei'', as a corporat ...

Career

While on her compulsory one-year

National Youth Service Corps The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a mandatory, post-tertiary scheme set up by the Nigerian government during the military regime of Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, to "reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian ...

service (NYSC) in

Kano State Kano (Hausa language, Hausa: ) is one of the 36 States of Nigeria, states of Nigeria, located in the Northern Region, Nigeria, northern region of the country. According to the national census done in 2006, Kano State is the List of Nigerian st ...

, Ibukun Awosika worked as an

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

trainee at Akintola Williams & Co. which later became

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, but she returned home after the service and joined Alibert Nigeria Ltd., a furniture company, as showroom manager.

Media personality

Television

In 2008, Ibukun Awosika was among five Nigerian entrepreneurs who appeared in the first African version of the ''

Dragon's Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it i ...

''. She also hosts a T.V programme called ''Business His Way''. She then starred in the 2020

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alongside Temi Otedola produced by

Kunle Afolayan Kunle Afolayan (born 30 September 1975) is a Nigerians, Nigerian actor, producer, and director. He is credited for elevating the quality of Nollywood movies through larger budgets, shooting on 35mm, releasing in Movie theater, cinemas, and impro ...

Books

*''The "Girl" Entrepreneurs'' *''Business His Way'' *The 'Girl' Entrepreneurs: Our Stories So Far Kindle Edition

Awards and recognition

Personal life

Ibukun Awosika is married to Abiodun Awosika with whom she has three children.

References

External links

* *https://twitter.com/IbukunAwosika?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor {{DEFAULTSORT:Awosika, Ibukun 1962 births Living people Nigerian bankers Businesspeople from Ibadan Nigerian women writers Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Nigerian television personalities Nigerian motivational speakers 20th-century Nigerian businesswomen 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople Lagos Business School alumni 21st-century Nigerian businesswomen 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Methodist Girls' High School alumni Nigerian self-help writers Nigerian manufacturing businesspeople Nigerian business writers Women business writers Nigerian chairpersons of corporations Women corporate directors University of Navarra alumni Nigerian chief executives