Oba Otudeko CFR is a Nigerian

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...

who serves as the founder and chairman of the

Honeywell Group Honeywell Group is a conglomerate based in Nigeria. It operates in diversified businesses such as foods and agriculture, telecommunication and infrastructure, real estate and financial services. The company was founded by Dr. Oba Otudeko, who i ...

. He was a former chairman of FBN Holdings and founder of the Oba Otudeko Foundation. As of June 2017, his estimated net worth was US$550 million.

Early life and education

Ayoola Oba Otudeko was born in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the east by Osun ...

, South-West Nigeria on 18 August 1943 to a royal family, thus making him an

Omoba Oba means ″ruler″ in the Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba bearers include Oba ...

of the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

. His mother was a business woman. He studied at St. John's School,Oke Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo in Ogun State, and Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo. Later, he studied Accountancy at the Leeds College of Commerce Leeds,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(which is now part of the

Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

). Professionally, Oba Otudeko is a Chartered Banker, Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Corporate Secretary. Oba Otudeko has also attended executive management training programmes at

International Institute for Management Development International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is a private business school in Lausanne, Switzerland specializes in executive education offering open enrollment programs for senior executives, as well as longer-term educational engage ...

(IMD),

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

and

Hult International Business School Hult International Business School (also known as Hult Business School or Hult) is a private business school with campuses in Cambridge, London, San Francisco, Dubai, New York City, and Shanghai. Hult is named for the school's benefactor Bertil ...

(then known as Arthur D. Little School of Management).

Career

Banking career

Oba Otudeko was in bank employment for 23 years, rising to become the General Manager and acting Chief Executive Officer of then Cooperative Bank, Ibadan. He retired from the bank in 1983. The Federal government of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

appointed him a Director to the Board of 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 ...

Honeywell Group

In the 1970s, Oba Otudeko founded Honeywell Enterprises. The trading enterprise company later grew into

, a diversified industrial, trading and investment conglomerate.

Achievements and awards

Oba Otudeko was elected the 16th President of the

Nigerian Stock Exchange The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) now Nigerian Exchange Group is a Nigerian stock exchange founded in 1961 in Lagos. As of November 2019, it has a total of 161 listed companies, with 8 domestic companies on the premium board, 144 companies on the ...

in September 2006, and tried to transform the Nigerian capital market. In addition to the Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko was also Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc and has, at various points, been Chairman of

Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Current ...

Nigeria Limited and Fan Milk of Nigeria Plc. He was on the Board of First Bank of Nigeria Plc for 12 years, retiring as the Chairman in 2010. He has also held directorship positions in private companies operating in real estate, international trade and finance, and brewing, including

Guinness Nigeria Guinness Nigeria, a subsidiary of Diageo Plc of the United Kingdom, was incorporated in 1962 with the building of a brewery in Ikeja, the heart of Lagos. The brewery was the first Guinness operation outside Ireland and Great Britain. Other brew ...

and Ecobank Transnational Inc. Oba Otudeko was Chairman of the Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce (NSACC) and aimed to facilitate investment flows into Nigeria. During his tenure as the NSACC Chairman, the volume of Nigeria-South Africa bilateral trade grew significantly from $16.5 million in 1999 to $2.9 billion in 2010. He was also on the Board of the NEPAD Business Group – Nigeria. He was Chairman of the Business Support Group (BSG) for delivery of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP). In 2013, he was also appointed the chairman of the Digital Africa Conference Exhibition in Abuja, Nigeria From 2001 to 2010, he was Chancellor of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State Oba Otudeko's awards include: Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) from

Olabisi Onabanjo University Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye is a state owned and operated university located in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria. The university was founded on 7 July 1982 as Ogun State University (OSU) and was renamed Olabisi Onabanjo University on 2 ...

, Ago-Iwoye. Honorary Doctor of Science in Banking and Finance from Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Honorary Doctor of Science Degree (D.Sc.) from

Ajayi Crowther University Ajayi Crowther University also known as ACU is a private university located in Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria. Historical background The Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo was established by the Supra Diocesan Board (West) of the Church of Nigeria (Anglic ...

, Oyo Town, Oyo State;. Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the ThisDay Awards in 2009. Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement Award; Leadership Newspaper Business Person of the Year 2015; Silverbird Extraordinary Lifetime Achievement Award and recently, the 2016 Africa CEO Forum's Africa CEO of the Year Award.

Personal life

He is married to Mrs Adebisi Aderonke Otudeko and he is the founder of the Oba Otudeko Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otudeko, Ayoola Living people 1943 births Yoruba bankers Yoruba businesspeople Commanders of the Order of the Federal Republic Harvard Business School alumni Hult International Business School alumni Alumni of London Business School 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Nigerian investors Businesspeople from Ibadan Yoruba royalty Alumni of Leeds Beckett University Olabisi Onabanjo University people Nigerian company founders Nigerian chairpersons of corporations