Our Board

Mrs. Yemisi Ayeni
Managing Director, Shell Nig. Closed Pension Fund Administrator Ltd.
LEAP Africa Board Chair

Mrs. ‘Yemisi Ayeni is a graduate of Economics from the prestigious University of Manchester, UK. She is also a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Starting out her career as an Audit Assistant with Price Waterhouse, London, she rose to become a Manager in the Corporate Reconstruction/Insolvency Department the same firm.

She spent the first few years after her return to Nigeria in 1991, working in Corporate Finance in Price Waterhouse Lagos and Genesiscorp Ltd. Mrs. Ayeni joined Shell Nigeria in 1994 and has held a variety of roles in various Shell companies over the years, starting as Finance Controller - Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo); and followed by senior roles in Audit; Corporate Planning; Business Services and Pension Fund Investments. In November 2004, Mrs. Ayeni was appointed Finance Director, SNEPCo, earning her the distinction of being the first Nigerian woman ever to be appointed to the Board of a Shell Company in Nigeria. She is presently the Managing Director, Shell Nig. Closed Pension Fund Administrator Ltd.
 
Adeyemi

Mr. Adeyemi Candide-Johnson SAN
Senior Partner, Strachan Partners

Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson SAN is the senior partner at Strachan Partners. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1984 and conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2003. After he received his LLM degree from the University of London in 1984, he worked as counsel in the leading chambers of John B Majiyagbe SAN, in Kano between 1984 and 1990. Mr. Candide-Johnson SAN is the author of several scholarly papers and is engaged as leading counsel in ongoing major and high profile commercial and public policy litigation across the courts of Nigeria. He has acted as counsel or arbitrator in several domestic and international commercial arbitrations in the maritime, petroleum and construction industries. In 1988 he was appointed a notary public for Nigeria and in 1996 a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of England (FCIArb). He is now an approved tutor and examiner for the UK Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is an honorary fellow at the Centre for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, and a supporting member of the London Maritime Arbitration Association.

He also served as member on many panels and has received several awards in recognition of his achievements.
 
Mr. Babatunde Dabiri
Chairman, Lagos Pensions Commission

Astute and seasoned Banker, Tunde Dabiri holds a B.Sc (Econs) degree from the University of Ibadan (1974) and an MBA from Columbia University, New York, USA (1978). He started his career at Chase Merchant Bank Ltd. (CMB), which later changed its name to Continental Merchant Bank Ltd. While at CMB, he was seconded to Chase Manhattan Bank, London, for fourteen months where he obtained the Global Credit Certification (1979) of the bank. He subsequently joined Prime Merchant Bank Ltd. as the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Executive. Tunde moved from Prime Merchant Bank in 1990 to establish Fountain Trust Bank Ltd. He was the Managing Director /CEO for 8yrs.

Mr. Dabiri later joined Magnum Trust Bank Plc in December 1998 as the MD/CEO successfully transforming it into a full-fledged commercial bank after the divestment of Guaranty Trust Bank. Until his retirement in 2008, he was the Group Managing Director/CEO of Sterling Bank Plc (The consolidated consortium of 5 banks consummated in 2005). He played a major role in change management initiatives to ensure its strategic business focus on trade finance, capital markets and consumer banking services.

Mr. Tunde Dabiri is involved with several organizations which include in the education sector(Lagos Business School, Lagos State University, University of Ibadan, Corona Schools) and the manufacturing sector(Capetex Industries Ltd, Academy Press Ltd, LT& C Colleagues Ltd e.t.c) just to mention a few.

Currently, he is the Chairman of the Lagos State Pensions Commission (LASPEC), an agency of government whose establishment he supervised.
 

Mosun Layode
Founder Social Runway

Mosun Layode is a development sector professional with extensive experience in Nigeria, specializing in initiatives that support entrepreneurs, youth and social innovators. She is the Founder/Director of Social Runway, a nonprofit organization that provides a platform for social innovators to promote their ideas and raise the funds required to transform lives and improve the human condition.

Prior to this, she served in various roles at LEAP Africa, rising through the ranks to serve as the organization’s Executive Director for five years. Prior to joining LEAP, Mosun served as a Programme Officer for Rhythm Production, an organization committed to promoting social change through the arts.

Mosun studied Urban and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Technology, Akure and obtained an MSc. in Environmental Resources Management from Lagos State University. She has a certificate in Leadership and Innovation from IESE Business School, Barcelona and an MBA from Lagos Business School. She serves on non profits Boards and as an advisor to youth groups. She also serves on selection panels for local and international youth innovation competitions. In addition, she speaks on development issues at local and international conferences.  Mosun is an alumnus of the United States International Visitors Leadership Program.
 

Mr. Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud (SAN)
Managing Partner- Dikko and Mahmoud.

Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1979. He holds a master degree from the same university specialising in Company and Labour Relations Law. He worked for 15 years with Kano State Ministry of Justice rising from pupil state counsel to the position of the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. He was one of the founding partners of the DIKKO & MAHMOUD in 1993 where he remains as the Managing Partner.

Mr. Mahmoud trained at various times at the International Development Law Institute in Rome, where he obtained a certificate in Law and Development in 1987, and in Legal Aspects of Privatisation in 1990. He also holds a Diploma in Sociology of Law from Onati Institute from the Sociology of Law in Spain (1990) and another certificate in Techniques of Privatization from the Institute of International Development at Harvard University 2000. He was at North Western University Chicago where he obtained a Certificate in Corporate Law and Business (2002). H e also obtained a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration of the Chartered Institute Arbitrators UK and was admitted as a Fellow of the Institute in 2008.

Mr Mahmoud has appeared in many cases before the Court of Appeal and the Nigerian Supreme Court. He has acted as counsel in many important arbitrations and also acted as arbitrator in several proceedings. He was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2001. He is a member of the Body of Bencher's, Nigeria's highest for regulating the legal profession. He was a member of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee. Mr. Mahmoud has served on several national assignments. He was member of the National Committee on Crime Victims Rights (Justice E.B Craig Committee, 1989-1990). He served as a member of the National Presidential Committee on Incentives, Waivers and Concessions (for Investments and Businesses) in Nigeria and currently chairs the National Committee on the review of the Nigeria's Code of Corporate Governance for Public Companies. He is also a member of the Vision 2020, Business Support Group.

Mr. Mahmoud is currently a member of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), He is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Lawbreed Foundation and the Rights Enforcement and Public Law Centre (REPLACE), He sits on the Editorial Board of the 'Justice', a journal on contemporary legal issues of the Federal Ministry of Justice. He is also a member of the NATIONAL Executive Council of the Centre for Research and Documentation CRD, the Governing Council of the Centre for Democratic Research and Training Bayero University, Kano. H e is a member of the National Executives Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association. He chairs the NBA Ethics Committee as well as its Capacity Building Committee and sits on it Arbitration Working Group. He is the Secretary of the Kano Peace and Development Initiative and Kano Economic Summit Steering Committee. In 2006, he was awarded the national honour of the Officer of the Order of Nigeria, OON. He was a recipient of the 'We are Future of Our Nation' role model award for 2008.
 

Dr. Abudu Mukhtar 
Mason Fellow of Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Dr. Abdu Mukhtar has over 20 years of extensive professional experience in both private and public sectors, having served in the following capacities: Research Associate, Boston University Medical Centre, Boston Massachusetts, USA; Consultant, Harvard Centre for International Development, Boston, Mass; Associate Consultant, Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM) Consulting, Boston Mass; Transaction Adviser/Special Assistant to The Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Abuja- FCT, Nigeria, and Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the FCTA on Economic Matters, FCT Abuja.

He holds membership in many professional and exclusive organizations. He also serves as Chairman of the following organizations: Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company, Abuja Markets Management Ltd, Abuja Film Village Ltd, Abuja Connect Ltd, Abuja Technology Village FZ and Abuja Automotive Village Company Ltd.

Dr. Mukhtar holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. He also has Doctorate degree in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the Boston School of Medicine. He is also a Mason Fellow of Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
 

Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli (MFR)
Founder, LEAP Africa
Co-founder, AACE Foods

Mrs. Nwuneli has seventeen years of experience in international development. She is the Founder of LEAP Africa and the co-founder of AACE Foods, an indigenous agro-processing. She is also a director of Sahel Capital & Advisory Partners, a leading advisory firm focused on the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors. Through her work with Sahel and AACE, she has shaped agriculture strategy and policy and supported a range of clients in Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia, including ECOWAS, Oxfam International, AGRA, USAID, UNECA, Technoserve, and the Conference of African Ministers of Agriculture for West and Central Africa.

She started her career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, working in their Chicago, New York and Johannesburg Offices, with a focus on fast moving consumer goods. She returned to Nigeria in 2000, to fulfill her passion of promoting entrepreneurship and leadership development in Africa. She served as the pioneer executive director of the FATE Foundation from 2000, and then established LEAP Africa, and NIA in 2002 and 2003 respectively. NIA empowers female university students to achieve their highest potential in life, while LEAP Africa provides leadership, ethics and management training and coaching for youth, business owners, social entrepreneurs and the public sector.

Ndidi holds a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. Ndidi received her undergraduate degree with honors in Multinational and Strategic Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ndidi has received numerous honors and awards. She was recognized as a Global Leader of Tomorrow and Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She received a National Honor, Member of the Federal Republic, from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2004, was recognized as the Young Manager of the Year 2005 by THISDAY Newspapers and received an Excellence Award from the Africa Business Club at Harvard Business School in 2007. Ndidi also received an award from the Government of Anambra State in August 2011.

Ndidi serves on numerous international boards including USAID's Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA) and the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership.
 

Ms. Isioma Ogodazi
Director, Human Resources Stanbic IBTC, Nigeria

Her career in Human Resources Management spans 15 years. She spent 8 years as the General Manager/Head Human Resources Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria from 1999 – 2007 before taking up responsibility at the UK office of the Group as Head, Talent Management, Global Support Functions.
Isioma has also served on the management team of Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) where she was from 1992 – 1998 first as Manager Head Quality/Customer Service Manager and then as the Senior Manager/Head Human Resources.

Isioma holds a B.Sc Honours Degree in Humanities and a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from the London School of Economics.
 

Dr. Mohammed Pate
Minister of State for Health

Dr. Muhammed Ali Pate was appointed as the Minister of State for Health in 2011. Prior to his ministerial appointment, he was the Executive Director/ CEO of the Nigerian National Primary Health Care Development Agency. The NPHCDA is the parastatal of the Federal Government responsible for the development of the primary health care system in collaboration with States and Local Governments. Since his appointment in 2008, Dr Pate has led transformation of the Agency and repositioned the primary health care agenda, achieving results through major initiatives in polio eradication, routine immunization and implementation of the largest frontline health human resources intervention in Africa, the national Midwives Service Scheme.

Previous to joining the NPHCDA, Dr. Pate held various positions at the World Bank initially with a focus on the African continent and was later the Human Development Sector Coordinator and Senior Health Specialist for the East Asia and Pacific Region. Before starting at the Bank, Dr. Pate served as a medical instructor and Fellow in Medicine at the University of Rochester and as chief resident at Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C.

Dr. Pate earned his medical doctorate from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria. He holds a MSc. in Health Systems from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as well as a Master of Business Administration from Duke University in the US. In 2009 Duke University's Global Health Institute appointed him an Adjunct Professor for global health. He is American Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

He is a member of the World Economic Forum's Network Agenda Councils and has served on several international panels such as with the World Health Organization, Results for Development Institute and the Brookings Institute, Ernst Strungman Forum in Frankfurt am Main, Confederation of India Industry Summit, China-Africa health collaboration and several others. He has served as peer reviewer for the US Journal of the National Medical Association and has published a number of papers in various medical and public health journals.

Dr. Pate has been recognized with various awards, including a merit award from the American College of Physicians, a merit award from Ahmadu Bello University and several World Bank Staff awards. He is happily married with children.
 

Mr. Udeme Ufot
Co-Founder and Group Managing Director, SO&U Saatchi and Saatchi

Mr. Udeme Ufot is the Co-founder and Group Managing Director, SO&U Saatchi and Saatchi. He holds BA in Industrial Design from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Certificate in Management from Swedish Institute of Management and Chief Executive Programme from Lagos Business School (LBS).

He was Deputy Creative Director at Insight Communications Ltd in 1984 and Creative Director with CASERS in 1989 before he co-founded SO & U Group in 1990. At SO&U, Udeme contributes to policy formulation and management the Saatchi & Saatchi Africa Network.

He has attended many courses and conferences organized by Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Executive Programmes. Since 1993 to date, Mr. Ufot has held several executive positions in the Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN) including Vice President and President in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

Mr. Udeme Ufot serves as Board Member on Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) Board, Vice Chairman, Media Subcommittee of Nigeria Economic Summit 8 (NES8) and Advisory Board Member, School of Media & Communication, Pan African University amongst others.