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Wema Bank will be celebrating her seventy (70) years of existence as a banking organization in Nigeria. It is on record that Wema Bank is the longest surviving and the most resilient indigenous Nigerian bank. The bank was established on May 2, 1945 as a Private Liability Company with the name, Agbomade Bank Limited. It was granted a commercial banking license and commenced banking activities this same year.
Then in April 1987, Wema Bank was transformed from Private Liability Company into a Public Limited Company (PLC), and was listed into the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in January 1990. Eleven years after, February 5, 2001 to be precise, the bank was granted a universal banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This development allowed Wema Bank to provide the public with diverse financial and business advisory services.
Indeed, Wema Bank PLC has, over the years, diligently offered a fully-fledged range of value-adding banking and financial advisory services to the Nigerian public. However, in 2009, the Bank underwent a strategic repositioning exercise spearheaded by a new management team that has seen its profile rise considerably which finally culminated into its taking a sound strategic decision to operate as a commercial Bank with regional Scope in South-South Nigeria, South-West Nigeria, Lagos and Abuja in 2011.
It is worth noting that Wema Bank is driven by its mission statement, which is to give every customer a delightful and memorable service experience, and with its vision statement, which is to be the financial institution of choice in service delivery and superior returns. These have been the drives responsible for the success and achievements the bank has recorded so far from its inception.
About five years ago, the ownership of Wema Bank was transferred from the old hands to new ones due to some challenges that the bank was experiencing. In an effort to conquer these challenges, the new owners of Wema Bank brought in Mr. Segun Oloketuyi from Skye Bank to spearhead the operations and activities of the Wema bank. And today, that move has really saved the bank from collapsing as Mr. Oloketuyi strategized on different means of ensuring the survival of the bank.
Mr. Oloketuyi was the General Manager for Business Optimization Division of Skye Bank Plc and had also served as Executive Director of its Business Development. He had also served as Deputy General Manager in charge of Corporate and Commercial Markets of Skye Bank Plc (formerly Prudent Bank Plc) since he joined in January 2000. He had also served as the Executive Director of Finance and Enterprise Risk Management for Skye Bank Plc since January 2006. The new owner of Wema had that felt Mr. Segun Oloketuyi’s expertise in banking industry would help to boost the operations and activities of the bank, hence he was hired as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Wema Bank Plc. Today, the bank has been widely known as one to be reckoned with in banking industry in Nigeria.
Wema Bank now offers a range of retail and SME banking, corporate banking, treasury, trade services and financial advisory to its ever-expanding clients. Today, the bank operates a network of over 125 branches and service stations backed by a robust ICT platform across Nigeria. Wema is strictly committed to long-term sustainability in its business, and it maintains the highest standards of social responsibility, corporate governance and diversity in its operations.
By 2012, Wema Bank has reapplied for National banking license following the prospects of N35 billion capital injections by the end of the year, having released its operating results for year ended December 31st 2011, which show 29 percent increase in gross earnings and 56 per cent increase in operating income. Mr.Segun Oloketuyi has used his banking skills to bring about positive changes in Wema bank.
As a matter of fact, the past few years have seen Wema Bank evolve into one of the leaders in the retail banking space through a well-structured transformation process that has seen the implementation of sound corporate governance and risk management frameworks to further engender a stronger and more dynamic business model. It is not ironical to state that the bank has been very confident in its resolve to translate challenges into opportunities. As Wema celebrates her 70th anniversary, one cannot but to appreciate the unique efforts of Mr. Segun Oloketuyi in repositioning the bank in Nigerian Banking Industry.
