Management Committee

Dalu Ajene is the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria. Prior to this position, he worked at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) for over ten years in various roles, cumulating to become the MD/CEO of RMB Nigeria. He has over twenty-two years of financial services experience working for both international banks and Africa banks. He has executed over US$20-billion worth of financing, structuring, capital markets and advisory transactions on several continents including Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America.

Dalu started his career in year 2000 at Bear Stearns as an Investment Banking Analyst in New York and spent the next nine years honing his skills in corporate finance at Bank of America and Prudential Capital Group. He moved to Africa in 2009 to join Rand Merchant Bank as a Business Development Director and was an integral member of the team that set up RMB Nigeria, where he led the corporate finance business until his departure in 2014. He spent the next four years in the Middle East, where he served as Managing Director and Investment Banking Head of Anglophone Africa for BNP Paribas out of their MENA office in Bahrain and Managing Director of UHNW Africa for Credit Suisse out of their MENA office in Dubai. In 2018, he returned to Rand Merchant Bank, taking up various roles including Global Head of Coverage in South Africa, Head of Investment Banking in Nigeria and MD/CEO of RMB Nigeria.

Dalu served on the Board of RMB Nigeria and was a senior member of FirstRand Group executive committees in South Africa including FSR Africa Exco, RMB FRM ExCo, Client Board and other Group risk and credit committees.

Dalu holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Dartmouth College. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization, the Metropolitan Club and other non-profit endeavors that he is committed to. Dalu is married and has two sons and enjoys running and playing squash.

Dayo Omolokun is the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, responsible for leading the Finance function in Nigeria. As an organisational leader and key member of senior management, he balances the responsibilities of stewardship with business partnership; constantly improving shareholder value through strategy execution and business risks mitigation. He also manages investor and key regulatory relationships.

Dayo is a seasoned finance and banking professional with over two decades of multi-functional and international experience in Africa, Middle East and UK markets. In his immediate past role as Director of Financial Integration and Change Management at Atlas Mara, Dayo managed aspects of the organisation’s strategy to achieve growth through mergers and acquisitions. Prior to this, he worked for Standard Chartered in various roles in Nigeria, UK, Botswana and Ghana, during which he made specific contributions to the growth of the business as Country Chief Financial Officer and executed a global acquisition and integration project at the Group Head Office. He has also been an Independent Consultant to African Development Bank on Non-Sovereign Operations (private sector investments). He trained with Arthur Andersen Nigeria (now KPMG Professional Services) rising to the position of Audit and Business Advisory Manager.

Dayo earned an Executive MBA from Cass Business School, City, University of London (UK), and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (Nigeria). He possesses chartered accounting and tax qualifications. He is married with children.

Siji Adeyinka is the Head of Compliance for Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria. He joined the bank in 2011 as Head of Conduct Financial Crime and Compliance . He is also an Executive Director and sits on the Board of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria.

In this role, Siji provides leadership, strategic support and direction to the Compliance and Financial Crimes Compliance team and also guidance to the local board in Nigeria on Regulatory and Financial Crimes Compliance issues.

Siji has over 30 years extensive banking experience spanning various areas such as Finance, Trade Operations, Domestic Operations ,Technology and Internal Control. His working life began in 1988 in Coopers and Lybrand (PricewaterhouseCoopers) where he trained as a Chartered Accountant before migrating into the banking industry 5 years later. He worked in Citibank Nigeria in the Finance department before joining First City Monument Bank and rising to become the Group Head of Operations and Technology and later the Chief Compliance Officer.

He holds a first degree in Economics from the University of Wolverhampton, UK (1987) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA). He is also a Fellow of the Compliance Institute of Nigeria (FCIN), an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (ACIN) and an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered institute of Bankers (HCIB).

Siji is married to Olayinka a consultant Orthodontist and they have two grown up children.

He is responsible for implementing the wealth and retail banking strategy in the country and providing overall leadership to the various units within the business. His key areas of focus are around people development, client satisfaction, and financial performance.

Lanre joined Standard Chartered in 2008 and has held various senior roles in Branch Management, Client Relationships, Products, and Wealth Management.

He started his banking career 24 years ago at Magnum Trust Bank (now Sterling Bank) and worked in MBC International Bank and First Bank Plc before joining Standard Chartered Bank. His experience cuts across Commercial and Retail Banking, Credit, Sales, Branch Banking, Products Management, Investment Advisory, and Wealth Management.

Prior to his current role, he was Head of Wealth Solutions, Deposits, and Mortgages where, under his leadership, the Wealth Solutions business in Nigeria witnessed strong and consistent growth and was recognized as a core contributor within the network. And prior to that, he was the Head of Investment Strategy & Advisory where he led the business to strong and consistent revenue growth, as well as growing the Assets under Management (AUM) to over USD1bn – gaining recognition as one of the biggest and best performing in the Africa, Middle East and Europe region.

Lanre holds a degree in Banking & Finance from the Enugu State University of Science & Technology. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute for Investment & Securities (ACSI), and a Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB). He is also an alumnus of various Leadership Programmes within the bank and has attended multiple leadership trainings in the UAE and Singapore.

He is married with 2 children and enjoys watching football, reading, and playing board games.

Sola Bakare is the Acting Head of Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking, Nigeria

He joined Standard Chartered Bank in 2004 and has held various senior roles in the Local Corporates, International Corporates & Global Subsidiaries segments of the Bank.

He started his banking career 25 years ago with Société Générale Bank Nigeria. He also worked in Standard Trust Bank (now United Bank for Africa) and First Atlantic Bank (now FCMB) before joining Standard Chartered Bank.

His banking experience spans across Banking Operations, Retail Banking, Commercial ,Corporate & Institutional Banking.

Sola is responsible for leading and executing the strategy of our Corporate & Institutional Banking Business in Nigeria, one of the biggest markets in our Africa & Middle East Region.

In addition, he also heads the Global Subsidiaries segment and is responsible for driving this strategic network business of the Bank. Global Subsidiaries holds the Multi-National Corporates business of the bank and is a core business segment in Nigeria and the biggest and best performing in the Africa Region.

Sola holds a degree in Botany from the Obafemi Awolowo University. He is also a Chartered Accountant and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA).

He has the SCB Core Credit Curriculum certification amongst others and has attended various management and leadership trainings local & offshore including UAE & Singapore.

He is married with a lovely daughter & his hobbies are watching football, playing golf and reading. He is also passionate about developing talents and mentoring young people

Rachael Asonibare was appointed Chief Information Officer on 1st of July 2016. As Chief Information Officer, Rachael is responsible for formulating and executing the technology and service delivery strategy as well as maintaining the operational & infrastructure capability for the franchise.

Rachael joined Standard Chartered in 1999 and has been instrumental in the establishment and development of the bank’s technology infrastructure. Until her most recent role of Head, Country Technology Management, she had undertaken various senior management roles within the Information & Technology at country and regional levels contributing significantly to successful delivery of major business transformation and regulatory projects.

Rachael holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and MBA from the University of Lagos. She also bagged a Master of Science Degree in Cybersecurity from Georgia Institute of Technology USA and a Diploma in Communication Networks from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA. She is an alumna of Said Business School, University of Oxford, a member of the Information Technology Standards Council of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and a certified Project Management Professional amongst others.

She has over 25 years of work experience and has worked with Nigeria Shippers’ Council as a Senior System Analyst prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank in 1999. She is happily married with children.

Ayodeji Adelagun is Head, Markets, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria (SCBN) Ltd.

Prior to his appointment, he was Executive Principal/Head, Fixed Income Trading at Standard Chartered Bank, West-Africa. His banking experience of over 20 years cuts across Financial markets, Banking Operations, Securities Trading, Foreign Exchange Trading, Asset & Liability Management, Commercial Banking, Product Development, Portfolio Management, Risk management and Credit.

He is a graduate of Economics from University of Ilorin, Nigeria; holds an MBA from the prestigious Lagos Business School (LBS) and an Alumnus of IESE business School, Executive Management Programme. He has also attended executive management training at INSEAD. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and ACI Financial Markets Association.

He joined Standard Chartered Bank in August 2007 as Head, Rates & Credit Trading and was tasked with the responsibility of setting up the Rates & Credit desk. He has ensured the optimal performance of the team, enhanced trading liquidity and good risk management practices. He has also been actively involved in the development of both local and regional markets in the introduction of Primary Market Dealerships as well as products development across our Africa franchise in Zambia and Ghana.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank, Deji worked with the Banking Operations, Commercial Banking and Treasury units of Access Bank Plc. He joined First Securities Discount House Limited (FSDH) now FSDH Merchant bank in 2003 where he was the pioneer bond dealer and was responsible for setting up and running the bond trading desk. Whilst in FSDH Merchant Bank, he successfully led his desk to be the largest contributor to the bank’s performance.

Ayodeji is a fellow of the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA). He also led bond dealers’ workgroup on the introduction of benchmark bonds in Nigeria.

He is a passionate financial literacy advocate and a guest lecturer at the Lagos Business School (LBS) where he teaches full-time MBA students on bonds.

Sola Mabadeje is Head, Legal and Company Secretary for Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited.
In her role as Head, Legal, she is responsible for the strategic identification, mitigation and management of legal risks for the Bank. As Company Secretary, she is responsible for ensuring that proper corporate governance structures are in place and that the Bank complies with statutory and regulatory requirements in Nigeria.
She is a seasoned legal professional with over 20 years’ experience and has advised financial institutions and large corporations on complex legal matters, commercial and capital market transactions and corporate governance issues. Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited in 2018, Sola was the Corporate Governance Executive at Old Mutual Nigeria, where she led the Legal, Compliance and Company Secretarial teams from 2014 to 2017. Her career within the financial services industry started in 2002 when she joined Ecobank Nigeria Limited. She later moved to Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited in 2009, where she rose to deputise for and acted as Head, Legal and Company Secretariat before her departure in 2014.
Sola graduated with a Law degree from the University of Buckingham and received her Master’s degree from the University of London. She is called to the Nigerian Bar.

Ibiyemi Okuneye is Head of Trade and Transaction Banking for Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria (SCBN).

A banker with over 20 years of experience, Ibiyemi is responsible for driving the Transaction Banking Strategy including Digitisation and Open Banking, Supply Chain Finance and Ecosystem Initiatives.

Prior to this appointment, she served as Head of Trade for Nigeria and as the Head of Sales for various clients’ segments including Franchise, International, Commodities & Agri and Local Corporates

She was Head, Correspondent Banking and Trade Products while at First City Monument Bank Limited. Her wealth of banking experience cuts across Corporate and Commercial Banking, Domestic, International and Treasury Operations, Risk Management, Projects and Change Management.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and an MBA from Warwick University, United Kingdom. Ibiyemi is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, a Certified Project Manager and a Certified Agile Leader.

She is also an alumna of SCB Emerging Leaders Program and the Sibos Talent Accelerator Route (STAR) Program

Kwabena joined Standard Chartered, Nigeria in 2022 as Chief Risk Officer and Head of Operational Risk, West Africa. He has over 22 years’ experience in the financial sector having held other roles at Standard Chartered Ghana and Barclays Group across several countries in Africa and Indian Ocean. His previous roles held includes Chief Risk Officer Ghana, Chief Risk Officer Seychelles, Regional Credit Officer Johannesburg, Head of Wholesale Credit, Ghana amongst others.

Kwabena provides oversight of the enterprise-wide risks and leadership on risk issues, developing and maintaining risk management framework and fostering a strong risk culture across the organisation. He is responsible for enabling the efficient and effective governance of significant risks, and related opportunities for the Nigeria franchise and a strategic enabler in integrating risk management in the bank’s strategic initiatives.

He is Chartered Management Account and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Leicester U.K, Master of Law (Corporate & Commercial Law) from University of Ghana and a first degree in BSC Business Administration (Banking and Finance) from the University of Ghana.

Kwabena is passionate about developing talent and empowering young people. As a sponsor of Talent Market place, Kwabena was actively involved in promoting a talent sharing mindset among his peers, drives opportunity creation and encourages usage of the platform.

Efe Nwagu was appointed Acting Head of Human Resources in September 2023. In this role, Efe is responsible for the development and implementation of the strategic people agenda required to deliver the Bank’s business priorities.

Prior to this appointment, Efe was the Senior HR Business Partner for Consumer Private and Business Banking and Functions. In this role, she worked with the management teams to help build people capabilities as well as shape and implement effective people strategies and activities to drive business performance. An HR professional with over 14 years of experience in Banking, Efe is passionate about developing people strategies to address core business needs. She joined the Bank in May 2010 in Learning and Talent Development and has held several roles within the HR function since then.

Efe holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and is a certified Human Resources Business Professional from the Society of Human Resources Management in the USA. She is currently pursuing an Advanced Diploma in People Management from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management in the United Kingdom

She is married with 3 daughters and enjoys reading and spending time with family and friends.

Joke Adu was appointed Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing (CABM) in June 2024.

She has over 18 years’ experience in the banking industry spanning General Management, Client Service Experience, Project Management, Communications, Sustainability Community Impact, Brand Management and Strategic Marketing.

In her role as Country Head she is responsible for the implementation of the Bank’s Corporate Affairs strategy, whilst amplifying through strategic marketing and protecting the brand in Nigeria. Her responsibilities cover Corporate Communications, Media Relations, Reputational Risk Management, Community Impact Sustainability, Public Affairs, Business Portfolio Marketing and Brand Management.

Joke joined the Bank as a Country Graduate in 2007 and has worked in various capacities across the Group covering responsibilities in Cote D’Ivoire, Mauritius and The Gambia respectively. Prior to this appointment, she was the Assistant General Manager responsible for Corporate Affairs for Nigeria.

She holds a first degree in English Literature, a Masters’ Degree in Media and Communications and has various certification qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), the Digital Marketing Institute (Ireland), the Nigeria Institute of Marketing (NIM) and the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). She is an alumnus of the Standard Chartered Africa and Middle East (AME) Emerging Leaders Program and is a Certified Neuroleadership Coach supporting Standard Chartered’s IGNITE program for employees’ professional wellbeing globally.

She is married and enjoys reading, tourism and creative art.