Kemi Ajumobi 
MORUF OSENI
MD/CEO WEMA Bank
It was WEMA Bank’s 80th year celebration, and they had a beautiful lineup of events, all well executed. Then came the gala night, everything was in check. The colour purple, signifying royalty had its presence in every corner of the hall including outfits. The hall was simply breathtaking!
So, the event kicked off with our ‘We’ve Got Men’ personality for this week, the MD/CEO of WEMA Bank, Moruf Oseni, giving his welcome address. Certainly dressed for the day as the lead celebrant, word after word, he shared of his joy and what it meant for the bank as they turned 80.
“…yet here today, we are celebrating 80 years in a class all by ourselves. I have the privilege of stewarding this legacy at this moment in time. God bless WEMA Bank, God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” He said as he ended the “official” responsibility of the day. It was a gala night, so you already knew music was going to fill the atmosphere.
Much later during the event, it was dancing time and at some point during the celebration, I observed where a large number of people focused on, and wondered what was going on. Guess who was effortlessly moving with precision, embodying the latest dance trends, transitioning between intricate footwork and expressive gestures? Yeah, you guessed right. It was Moruf Oseni. Guess what made it even more spectacular? He was dancing with his beautiful wife and yes, she represented the women powerfully. They both looked like high school sweethearts and it was surely a beautiful sight to behold.
So, yes, you can be all the way up there, doing great things, defying age, leading a forward thinking bank like WEMA, and you can also have fun when time permits like it did for Moruf during WEMA’s 80th celebration.
By the way, talking about defying age, I believe there is something about MD/CEOs of banks in Nigeria aging gracefully. Okay, let’s pause. Think about 5 of them that come to mind, let me not be biased by including the women, let’s say men alone…just 5… Done? Good. You have your answer. They surely need to start giving master classes themed “Ageless Leadership: Mastering the art of dynamic vitality.”
Back to our IWA man for this week. When you think of a leader who wants results and works to achieve it, then it is Moruf Oseni. With over 25 years of cognate experience and more than 16 years at senior to executive management levels, he has been part of the bank’s executive management team since the transformation programme began in 2012, and he led strategically in the makeover that birthed the launch of ALAT – Nigeria’s first digital bank, a move that has placed the bank at a level only the brave can dare.
Moruf holds an MBA degree from the Institut Europeen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in France, a master’s in finance (MiF) from the London Business School, and a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He is also an alumnus of both the Advanced Management Program (AMP) of the Harvard Business School and King’s College, Lagos. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIBN), a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), and a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).
When you lead an organisation that was established on May 2, 1945, under the name Agbonmagbe Bank Limited, rooted in the visionary Late Chief Mathew Adekoya Okupe, that then metamorphosed in 1969 and was rebranded as WEMA Bank Limited, to becoming the leader in digital banking and other accolades, then you have to be Moruf Oseni. Today the lights at IWA shine on you. We wish you well!