Jibrin Abubakar
17 March 2008
Abuja — A veteran banker, and an alumnus of Harvard Business School and Institute of Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland, Alhaji Ado Yakubu Wanka, has resumed at Unity Bank Plc as Executive Director, Retail and e-Banking.
According to a statement from Abba Dandago, Head, Corporate Affairs, Unity Bank Plc, the appointment, already approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), took effect from Monday March 10, 2008.
Born on January 6, 1955 in Bauchi, Bauchi State, Ado Wanka was, from August 2006 till date, the Chairman & Executive Director (Finance & Administration) of the Nigeria-Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Authority (JDA), the bi-lateral agency responsible for exploiting the petroleum resources found in an overlapping maritime zone between Nigeria and Sao Tome Principe.
He had also been an Executive Director at ENCCOM Investments Limited, since October 2005. While there, he managed portfolio investments in the major sectors of the nation's economy such as oil & gas, banking, real estate and haulage/logistics.
Prior to ENCCOM, Wanka, who obtained both his B.Sc in Chemical Engineering in 1977 and MBA in 1984 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, had been at First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) from June 1998 to September 2005. He served there as Executive Director in charge of Corporate & Investment Banking and later on as Executive Director in charge of Lagos/West Division.
Between April 1997 and June 1998, Wanka joined the former Gamji Bank of Nigeria Limited as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, spearheading the turnaround and restructuring of the bank. He led the process to change the bank's name to International Trust Bank Limited, as well as successfully steered the new-look financial services institution on the part of re-capitalization.
From April 1991 to March 1997, Ado Wanka was part of the team that successfully transformed the old Federal Savings Bank from a moribund government agency into the FSB International Bank Limited, a modern bank that quickly became a force to be reckoned with in the nation's banking & finance sector.
He rose quickly at FSB International Bank, becoming an Executive Director, in October 1993, overseeing Business Development, Operations & Commercial Banking and Corporate Strategic Marketing at various times.
Before his banking career, Ado Wanka had served meritoriously at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporate (NNPC) from September 1988 to March 1991. He started at the Business Development Department of NNPC, and rose to become a Deputy Manager in the Corporate Planning & Development Division before he left.
Other noteworthy organizations where Wanka had worked include Nigeria International Bank (Citi Group), New Nigerian Development Company Limited, Chancery Nigeria Limited and Ashaka Cement Plc.
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