As the liberalization of the telecommunications sector of Nigeria turns 20 years and City People Magazine celebrates its 25th anniversary, we continue to look at the human resources who make corporate Nigeria thick, City People’s Kelechi Okorie brings you the men who run MTN Nigeria.
KARL TORIOLA
He is the Chief Executive Officer Designate of MTN Nigeria.. Karl is one of the most experienced professionals in the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, having put in more than two decades of experience. He was in Ericsson as the ELS Manager when then Econet Wireless plucked him and appointed him as the Deputy Chief Technical Officer in 2003.
He later rose to become the Chief Operating Officer of that company. He joined MTN 10 years ago as Non-Executive Director. He was posted by the MTN group to Congo Brazzaville as the Interim Chief Executive Officer. That was after he served as the first indigenous Chief Technical Officer of MTN Nigeria.
He was also a Non-Executive Director at MTN Cameroon and MTN Benin. For two years, he was the MTN Rep: Non-Executive Director/Board Member at American Towers, Ghana. He rose to become the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Cameroon, thus becoming the first Nigerian to head any of the MTN operations in the world. He also held a position as the Group Operations Executive.
A non-Executive Director at Jumai for three years, Karl is the Vice President, West and Central Africa for the MTN Group. An Alumnus of the Harvard Business School, London Business School, IMD Business School and Wharton Business School, Karl obtained his B.Sc in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University) and his Master’s Degree in Communication Systems from the University of Swansea.
TOBECHUKWU OKIGBO
He is currently the Chief Corporate Services Officer at MTN Nigeria. A graduate of law from the University of Maiduguri, Tobe as he is fondly called, obtained his Masters in Public Administration from the University of Liverpool.
His foray into the telecommunications sector began more than 10 years ago when he joined Airtel Nigeria and became the General Manager, Government and Environmental Affairs. He joined Smile Communications Nigeria Ltd. in 2015 as the Chief Corporate Services Officer.
He has been in MTN since 2017, when he joined as Executive, Corporate Relations. He is an accredited certified resolution professional of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution.
KUNLE ADEBIYI
He is the Chief Sales & Distribution Officer of MTN Nigeria. This is one of the men who have paid their dues in the telecommunications sector of Nigeria. He joined Airtel Nigeria (then Econet Wireless) as a pioneer staff almost 20 years ago in 2001 as a Retail Executive.
He later rose to become the Head of Commercial (North Central) when that company metamorphosed into Zain Nigeria, then Celtel Nigeria. He left to become a pioneer staff of Visafone Nigeria where he became Director of Sales in 2017.
He joined MTN in 2012 as General Manager, Consumer Sales. He has since held different positions at MTN, including Chief Enterprise Sales as well as Sales and Distribution Executive.
MODUPE KADRI
He is the Chief Finance Officer of MTN Nigeria. A graduate of the University of Lagos where he obtained his first degree in Economics, he is also a Master’s Degree holder in Management from the University of Lagos. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, he began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked for 10 years.
He had also worked as Finance Controller at Lafarge Nigeria. He first joined MTN Nigeria in 2007 as General Manager, Finance Operations. He later became the General Manager, Financial Planning before he was transferred to MTN Ghana to serve as Chief Finance Officer after acting in the same position in MTN Nigeria. He was brought back to MTN Nigeria in 2019.
ANTHONY OBI
He is currently the Ag. Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria. He came into the telecommunications sector from another viable sector of the economy, banking, where he was Business Analyst, Strategic Planning Unit of Intercontinental Bank Plc. He boasts more than 15 years of experience in that sector.
He joined MTN Nigeria in 2005 as Pricing and Business Analytic Manager. He later became Manager, Manager, Customer Lifecycle and Loyalty Program. He has since held various positions at MTN Nigeria, including Senior Manager, Business Intelligence and Customer retention, as well as General Manager Business Intelligence and Strategy. He obtained his Master’s degree from Durham University Business School United Kingdom in Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services.
IKENNA IKEME
He is currently General Manager, Regulatory Affairs. He has headed Regulatory Affairs at MTN Nigeria for several years. Iheme has been in the telecommunications sector for almost 16 years after joining Celtel Nigeria (now Airtel) in 2005 as Manager, Universal Service and Consumer Affairs. He held several positions in the company as it changed ownership over the years and he became Head of Division, Interconnect and Carrier Relations.
He joined Etisalat (now 9mobile) Nigeria as Head, Regulatory Strategy & Compliance, before becoming Director, Regulatory & Corporate Social Responsibility. Ikenna joined MTN Nigeria over a year ago. He obtained LLB, Law from University of Nigeria and MBA in Banking and Finance from Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
BAYO ADEKANMBI
He has been the Chief transformation Officer of MTN Nigeria for past four years. A PhD Degree holder from City University, Cass Business School, London and TIAS Business School, he worked as Biomolecular Research Analyst/Brand Manager at UB from 2000-2001.
He moved over to One-to-One Database Marketing/Tequila121 where he was the Head, Customer Insight, Intelligence& Data Planning. He was Strategy/Intelligence Director (MTN Business Group) until 2010 after joining as Strategy and Business Director. He joined MTN Group South Africa as Lead Strategist (Insight/analytics and Strategy development). He was the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer of MTN for almost two years. He holds numerous professional certifications from numerous bodies and international institutions.
OBINNA NWEJE
He is the General Manager, Customer Acquisition. He studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Federal University of Technology Owerri, where he obtained his first degree and obtained an MBA at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University in Business Administration and Management. He also has a certificate from Columbia Business School as well as IMD Business School. After a short stint as Lead Project Engineer for Resourcery Limited, he became a pioneer staff of MTN in 2001, functioning as Senior Manager Transmission. He has held several positions in this last 20 years at MTN, including, General Manager, Access Networks, GM Network Region and GM; Eastern Region.
CYRIL ILOK
He is the Chief Risk Officer at MTN Nigeria. He has served as Executive, Risk and Compliance at MTN Nigeria. He was Internal Control Officer at All States Trust Bank from 1997 to 1998 before joining MTN as Senior Internal Auditor in 2002.
He has held several positions in the company in these 17 years, including as Manager, Process Audit; Senior Manager, Enterprise Risk Management and General Manager, Business Risk Management. He was GM Risk and Compliance before his current position in 2018. He is an Alumnus of Lagos Business School and IMD, Switzerland.
FUNSO AINA
A master strategist in reaching and engaging diverse audiences, who possesses sound analytical and writing skills, Funso is one of the brightest minds and most personable public relations professionals in the country today. Currently Senior Manager, External Relations at MTN Nigeria, he is very versatile in the field of public relations. He garnered under his belt, over 24 years work experience in journalism, cultural diplomacy and telecommunications. He is a result-oriented professional with varied competencies and hands-on experience in public relations, corporate communications, media relations, public affairs, perception/stakeholder/reputation/issues and crisis management. He obtained his first degree in history from University of Ilorin and his master’s degree in international relations from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. He has been in telecommunications sector for 12 years, having joined MTN in 2009. He cut his teeth in Journalism when he worked for ICNL, Publishers of ICNL (Publishers of PM News, The News and Tempo magazines). He later joined Punch Newspapers and was a member of the editorial board, later rising to become the Chief Correspondent for the Presidential Villa (Aso Rock). He joined The Nation Newspapers and covered the National Assembly for the media house before he was snapped by The British Council to be its Communications Manager in 2005. He joined MTN Nigeria as a Public Relations Manager in 2009. He is an Associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
STEPHEN AKINOLA
He is the General Manager, Finance Business of MTN Nigeria. He is a very experienced Chattered Accountant. He started his career with Guinness Nigeria Plc as Financial Accountant. In 1998. He later moved to Diageo Africa where he functioned as Account Payable Accountant and later Business Process Manager/Project Manager until 2010. He rose to become Finance Director Partner Markets & Ocean at Diageo Africa after serving as Financial Controller. He joined MTN as a General Manager in 2017. He obtained his first degree at the University of Lagos and MBA in Business Administration at Robert Gordon University.
KOLA OYEYEMI
His is the General Manager, Customer Experience at MTN Nigeria. Perhaps one of the most experienced Nigerians in consumer marketing and general consumer experience, Kola Oyeyemi who is also a pastor has held various senior positions in MTN Nigeria for almost 15 years. By 2007, he was already the General Manager, Consumer Marketing. An alumnus of Canfield School of Management, he became the General Manager, Consumer experience in 2017. A prolific writer, he pastors Chapel of Uncommon Grace in Lagos, a Christian place of worship he founded. Also an alumnus of Columbia Business School; Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University and Obafemi Awolowo University.
He is a Fellow of the Marketing Institute in Nigeria and a two term past President of ADVAN; the body made up of Marketing Directors. He is the author of the first Marketing book of its kind by any African catalogued by the US Library of Congress and adopted as a text book for marketing and marketing communications by the Marketing and the Advertising Institutes in Nigeria and some Nigerian Universities; ‘Kill Or Get Killed; The Marketing Killer Instinct’. He grew some of the biggest brands in Nigeria before he joined MTN.
MOHAMMED RUFAI
He is the current Chief Technical Officer of MTN Nigeria. He has risen through the ranks in the company over the years, having joined as the Regional Project Manager in 2004. He later served as Radio High Level Support Manager in 2007. He was Senior Manager, Network Services for two years.
He was General Manager, Network Access in 2012 after holding a position as General Manager, Network Operations. He was General Manager, Network Planning and Optimization before his current position. He also served briefly as General Manager Technology, South East Africa and Ghana.
He obtained his first degree in Technology from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. He is an alumnus of Lagos Business School, Cranfield Universty UK, Duke Corporate Education India and Telecoms Academy.
VALENTINE IZUCHUKWU
He is the General Manager, GM, Business Development. He graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo University with a first degree, B.Sc in Politics Philosophy & Economics and went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Management (MMP) from the University of Ibadan. He also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Bradford.
He worked for British American Tobacco for several years, where he rose through the ranks to become Trade Marketing & Distribution Projects Lead in 2011. He left to join Globacom in 2012 as Head, Focus Business, from where he joined MTN as Sales and Trade Marketing Consultant. Having served as Senior Manager, Sales Channels at MTN, he eased into his current position in 2017.
HENRY OKOEDE
He is Senior Manager, Innovation at MTN Nigeria. He had a robust experience from the banking sector before he joined the telecommunication sector. He was the Software Development Specialist for Diamond Bank Plc, 20 years ago.
He joined HEIRS Alliance as Associate Consultant and later left to head the e-Business & IT unit of UBA Ghana Ltd. He moved over to Bank PHB where he became the Chief Technical Officer, Systems Development. He also served as at that bank as the Manager, Enterprise Risk Management before joining Sapphire Capital Management as Vice President, Fixed Income.
He joined MTN in 2013 as Senior Manager Business Development (FinTech). He obtained Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Mathematics, Statistics & Demography from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology. And Master of Science, Digital Currency from the University of Nicosia. He also holds a Master of Science, Industrial Mathematics from Nkrumah’ University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. He is an alumnus of SOAS University of London, where he obtained Masters in Business Administration.
JIDE YESUFU
He is the Senior Manager, Tax. The tax man cut his teeth at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) where he rose to the position of Senior Inspector of Taxes in 2004. He has been in MTN ever since he joined the company as Tax Manager in 2004. He is an alumnus of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, where he obtained Higher National Diploma in Accountancy & Finance. He is a Fellow, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and also a CITN Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
ABASI-EKONG UDOBANG
He is Senior Manager, Program Implementation. An Alumus of the University of Lagos where he obtained BSc Geography and Regional Planning, he worked as Network Designer at United Telesys until 2002 when he joined LexisNexis UK as Analyst Programmer, EDC.
He later joined Infoterra as GIS Analyst/QA. He moved over to Negris Group where he was in charge of Business Development. He was the Economic Empowerment Programme Manager, UBA Foundation, before he joined MTN Foundation as Portfolio Manager, Health in 2009. He later became Portfolio Manager, Education at MTN Foundation before becoming Manager, Transformation Office Programme at MTN Nigeria in 2017. He has held his current position since 2018.
JOHNSON OYEWO
The Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Oyewo is a thoroughbred professional who has extensive experience in regulatory affairs in Nigeria. A fine lawyer, he has held various senior positions before he joined MTN and rose through the ranks to his current position. He has been an invaluable asset to MTN Nigeria as it navigates the thorny labyrinth of regulations in Nigeria. He is one of the strongest legal minds in corporate Nigeria.
TAJUDEEN OMOKHIDE
He is the Senior Manager, Distribution at MTN Nigeria. He has garnered a lot of experience in the field of marketing in Nigeria and has risen to his current position after a wealth of experience in various sectors of the economy. He has marketed some of the biggest brands in Nigeria before he pitched his tent with MTN. At MTN, he has revamped all the channels of distributions in order to meet the challenges of the times.
SHUAIB ABUBAKAR
He is the Senior Manager, Media Planning at MTN Nigeria. He rose through the ranks at Research & Marketing Services, (now TNS) Inc. to become Senior Research Executive in 2002. He left for Guinness Nigeria where he was Research Manager for 3 years.
He joined MTN in 2005 as Customer & Competitive Knowledge Manager. He later held the position of Research Manager for 6 years. He was Pricing & Analytics Manager for three years and became Media Planning Manager in 2014. He became Senior Manager, Media Management in 2017. He is a product of Ahmadu Bello University where he obtained both his first degree and Master’s degree in Economics.
ABIODUN AJAYI
General Manager, Data & Devices, Ajayi obtained his BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Ibadan and Master of Business Administration, Business Administration and Management from the University of Wales. He is an alumnus of the IMD Business School.
He was a pioneer staff at Globacom Nigeria where he worked as Team Lead, Core Network until 2005 when he joined then Vmobile Nigeria as Specialist, Core Network Planning and New Technologies Deployment.
He joined Stratham in 2006 and served as NSS Engineer for two years before joining MTN in 2008. He rose through the ranks at MTN and held various positions before he eased into his current role two years ago.
DEBO AGUN
He is the Senior Manager, Mass Market Segment at MTN Nigeria. He is quite experienced in the mass market segment as he has been in the telecommunications sector for almost 17 years after he first joined MTN in 2004 as Customer Service Executive.
He became Postpaid Consumer & Small Business Support in 2005 and Analyst, Finance Operations in 2008. He left MTN to join Etisalat Nigeria as Team Leader, Customer Care. Held different positions there, culminating in his position as Manager, Mass Market Segment & Strategy. He left Etisalat to rejoin MTN in 2017 in his current position.
FUNSO FINNIH
He obtained his first degree from the University of Lagos in Accounting. Currently the Senior Manager, Digital Products, Funso has been in the telecommunications industry for almost 20 years, having joined MTN in 2002 as Reporting Accountant.
He was the Customer Knowledge Analyst in that company when he left to join Nokia Nigeria as Retail Business Analyst in 2007. He became the Sales Operations Manager of Nokia before moving over to Samsung Electronics West Africa as Senior Operator Account Manager until he rejoined MTN in 2013 as Senior Manager VAS, Data & Content. He was seconded to MTN South Africa as Acting GM Products and Digital Services before coming back to Nigeria to hold his current position.
AJIBOLA OPEOLUWA-CALEBS
An Alumus of Obafemi Awolowo University where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Home Economics, Opeoluwa-Calebs is also an alumnus of the Lagos Business School and certified by CIPM. He joined the telecommunications sector in Nigeria as Head, Compensation Benefits at Airtel Nigeria in 2007.
He has held several positions in the industry and was a -Coordinator at MTN Nigeria in 2009. He rose to his current position as the General Manager, Human Resources Operations, 2014.
INNOCENT ENTONU
General Manager, Regional Operations, he holds a BSc degree in chemistry from Ahmadu Bello University. He has almost three decades of experience in the area of sales. He was the Area Sales Manager at Chemiron International Ltd for three years from 1996. He was also the Marketing Manager at Afrocommerce (WA) Ltd, Lagos at the turn of the millennium.
He joined MTN in 2007 as Regional Sales Manager, South-Eastern Nigeria. He was also moved to the Northern region to head the sales unit for some time. He became Senior Sales Manager in 2014 and was later made Acting General Manager, Sales.
