Why CEO Tomi Somefun Has Taken The Fight For Unity Bank To Succeed Very Personal

Those in the know explain that making sure that Unity Bank attains topmost height has become a very personal fight for Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Oluwatomi Somefun.

Tomi Somefun as she is mostly addressed took the reigns as the Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank in August 2015.

The development made the alumnus of the University of Columbia Business School, New York with professional certification from the Harvard Business School one of the first set of women to occupy such a position.

Societynow.ng gathered that though Somefun who got her first degree in 1981 – Bachelor of Education – from the University of Ife (renamed Obafemi Awolowo University) and became a chartered accountant in 1982 (she is now an ICAN Fellow) is among the very the first set of her gender to become a Bank CEO in Nigeria, she came prepared – if not more prepared than some of her male counterpart.

She was the Executive Director overseeing the Lagos and South-West Business Directorates, the Financial Institution Division, and the Treasury Department of Unity bank with a wealth of experience in Treasury, Institutional and investment banking, Retail and Investment Banking as well as Corporate Banking before she became the Chief Executive Officer.

Further digs revealed the experience of the bank CEO who is also an alumnus of INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France is enriched with the fact that before joining Unity Bank, she served on the boards of several subsidiaries of United Bank of Africa (UBA Plc), including UBA Trustee, UBA Plc, UBA Capital, and Trustee Ltd in a spell described as very successful.

She was the pioneer Managing Director (MD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UBA Pension Custodian Ltd, a position she held for eight years while also overseeing the South-West region of the bank.

Societynow.ng gathered that it is the expertise and staying power of the Bank chief who was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration (D.BA) by the Redeemer’s University (RUN) that has changed the story of Unity Bank which posted profit growth of 34% (N23Billion) in half-year 2021 to be “as good as it is.”

“Right from the word go, she took it as a personal fight to make a success story out of her position as the Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank to write her name on the positive side of history and encourage the management of more banks to give women the opportunity of taking charge of the number position” societynow.ng learned.

The hope of the member of professional organizations such as the Institute of Directors (IOD), Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN), and Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) that more women become the Chief Executive Officers of banks has materialized.

Between January 2021 and July 2021, three women have been appointed Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors of different banks.

Nneka Onyeali Ikpe is in charge of Fidelity Bank, Yemise Edun oversees First City Monument Bank (FCMB) while Mariam Chidiebele Olusanya runs Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank).

Societynow.ng, however, gathered that this development makes Somefun’s fight to take Unity Bank to a higher plateau of success more personal.

“Now she needs to fight to record achievements, milestone achievements that that will not allow her position as one of the forerunners to be drowned in the records of others” societynow.ng learned.

Further checks revealed that Somefun has limited time to achieve this feat.

She has four years left out of the 10years permitted by the rules guiding her professional for a single person to occupy her position.

“She has four years to set a benchmark that would stand her out while the new CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) have 10years to do better, it is obvious she needs to achieve something that would stand the test of time within the remaining period she has” societynow.ng gathered.

This is in the face of the recognitions so far garnered by Somefun – who is married to the top player in the real estate market Anthony and has a birthday coming up on October, 2 – which include Top 25 Distinguished CEOS in 2016, Top 25 CEOS Next Bulls Award 2019, Central Bank’s Sustainable Transaction of The Year in Agriculture (Unity Bank) 2018 and Best Participating Bank in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Development Finance activities award 2018.