Ibukun Awosika

Ibukun Awosika (born 24 December 1962), is a Nigerian entrepreneur and writer. She currently serves as Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria

She studied Chemistry at the University of Ife, Nigeria, and holds post-graduate degrees from the Chief Executive Programme of Lagos Business School; the Global Executive MBA of IESE Business School, Barcelona-Spain; and Global CEO Programme of Wharton, IESE and C.E.I.B.S Business Schools.

She works tirelessly to further her home country by raising entrepreneurs to create jobs for young people, as a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative, Aspen Global Leadership Network, Institute of Directors, and Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria. She is a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), served on National Job Creation Committee (NCJC), and sits on the International Advisory Board of IESE Business School, Barcelona-Spain. She also sits on the board of Digital Jewel Limited, Convention on Business Integrity, and Cadbury Nig Plc.

Quotes

• I come from a place where there are opportunities staring you in the eye, but it's looking for the people who have the heart and the courage to do it and do it right.
  • As quoted in Season Life Journal (16 August 2015) by Abraham Ologundudu
• Sometimes you have to take a hard decision and when you take such a decision, you have to stand by it. It’s not everybody who sees what you are seeing.
  • Cited in "8 business quotes from First Bank Chairperson Ibukun Awosika", 26 February 2013
• As a people, we have the power of choice. We get to choose who we are, what we become, and what we do.
  • [1] In her talk at Global Leadership Summit, 2021.
• When you are pursuing your dreams and trying to leave a legacy, you will find help.
  • [2]During a Punch Newspaper Interview in 2016
• There are Challenges everywhere you must have Tenacity; you must have the strength of character not to cheat.
  • [3] Ibukun Awosika Speaking on:Strength.
• We will not stop until every Nigerian girl-child has found their voice and found their pocket.
  • [4] Speaking in an interview about herself (April 18 2018)
• Financial services are the lifeblood of an economy, enabling households and businesses alike to save, invest, and protect themselves against risk.
  • [5] Speaking in an interview about herself (April 18 2018)
• Success in financial inclusion entails reaching these users with products that can significantly improve financial lives.
  • [6] Speaking in an interview about herself (April 18 2018)

• We should criticise ourselves, but we should criticize to build. We should see a problem and be angry about it and innovate and seek to find the solution to the problem because we know why we want to do it. Because we know that this country must work.
  • [7] Speaking at The Platform (1 May 2019)

• I want my nation to work, I want to be able to tell my children this is why I say you must live in Nigeria and nowhere else.
  • [8]The task of Nation Building (2019)

At the UN – WIMBIZ women’s round table

• The Nigerian woman is smart, beautiful, fashionable, driven, purposeful and has the capacity to take on the world without fear, that is not a tool you leave at home when you are building leadership
  • [9]

• For a country that needs help, women are key to the success of Nigeria.
  • [10]

• Wherever you sit, look behind you, how has it benefited other women constructively because sometimes, you can’t do what your friends want, but you must do what is strategically effective and positive for building the power of getting women to the table.
  • [11]