Thelma Osatohanmwen
Adaora Umeoji has been appointed as the Group Managing Director (GMD) and chief executive officer beginning from June 2024, making her the first female GMD.
NEWSTODAYNG gathered that, since joining the bank in 1998, she served the marketing group Maitama branch and went on to be the deputy zonal head of the Abuja Zone, going further to become the deputy managing director from 2016- 2023 and she became executive director in charge of Abuja and Middle Belt Zones of the Bank.
Her appointment as the GMD was revealed in a statement signed by the company secretary, Michael Otu, which was filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
An academic giant, Adaora Umeoji is a fellow of professional bodies including the Chartered Bankers Institute of London, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, the Institute of Credit Administration, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria, the Institute of Chartered Meditators & Conciliators, and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria, among others.
Also, she is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Jos, a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, and a first-class honors in Law from Baze University Abuja. She is also a Master of Laws graduate from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Calabar.
Umeoji also attended the strategic thinking and management program at Wharton Business School, USA, and holds a certificate in Economics for Business from the prestigious MIT Management Sloan School and a Certificate in Leading Global Businesses from Harvard Business School, USA.
It was also gathered that Umeoji established the Catholic Bankers Association of Nigeria (CBAN), which she utilises as a forum to advocate for moral banking practices and humanitarianism.
In addition to being a Lady of the Order of Knights of St. John International (KSJI) and a United Nations peace advocate (UN-POLAC), she was most recently named a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester by His Holiness Pope Francis.
As a reward for her services to nation-building in 2022, the Federal Government of Nigeria named her an Officer of the Order of Nigeria.