- The Story Of His 29 Year Marriage To HELEN
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One of the most prominent men in corporate Nigeria,Olabisi Stephen Onasanya is the current Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria Limited. Though he is set to retire as Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s biggest bank in few months but he lives larger than life.The Oyo State-born banker will cease being the group head of the bank, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc and Nigeria’s most valuable banking brand at the successful completion of his tenure at the end of the year, a position he has held since 2009. Born in Ibadan on August 18, 1961 , the Oyo State capital, Mr. Onasanya hails from the Onasanya Family in Ijebu Land, Ogun State. Bisi grew up in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, where he attended St Paul’s Anglican Primary School (Mushin), Eko Boys High School (Mushin), and the then Lagos State College of Science and Technology. Bisi is the eldest of four children from his mother, and the third of his father’s children. He was before this appointment the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of First Pension Custodian, and began his career with Arthur Young, an American audit firm. A chartered accountant, Bisi is credited with pioneering initiatives in Nigeria’s nascent pension custody industry that helped define best industry practices. Behind this successful man is a beautiful woman whom they have been together for 29 years. Helen Omowunmi Onasanya is the robust wife of First Bank MD, Bisi Onasanya. She is in her early 50s and does not look it at all. Last year, she was in the news with her husband when they staged a high octane wedding for their son in Lagos. Born in 1962, She runs Steve and Helen, a company where she stocks and import high grade of different cosmetics and other goods which she sells in wholesales. An entrepreneur right from when she left the University, she started her business in 1988.She learnt how to trade from her grandmother and she hails from Osun State. She attended Sijuade Nursery School, and then Mayflower Secondary School, Ikenne and Lagos State Polytechnic, where she studied Insurance.
The successful couple who have carved a niche for themselves in their different endeavours. The beautiful begginning started from when they were young. They met while in the secondary school, at a point they went to the same secondary school and the same polytechnic. Helen studied Insurance while Bisi studied Accounting and they started as platonic friends but later on, they met again on Broad Street Lagos and after a dinner date, Bisi proposed to his wife, Helen.The beautiful couple got married October 25, 1986 and they have beautiful and successsful children to show for it.Their first daughter is a computer scientist and workswith an international consulting firm. One of their sons is an accountant but much more interested in real estate. Their second son is studying economics at the university and the last born is also a boy. In one of Bisi’s interview on how he met his wife, he said’ “Incidentally, I met my wife in the secondary school in 1978. We were just friends. I went to Eko Boys High School but what happened at that time was that some private schools were shut down and the students were distributed to the government schools. We parted ways, met again in 1981 and we started talking. On one occasion, I invited her out for lunch and I proposed to her. We are more of friends than husband and wife and that has gone a long way in strengthening the relationship between us. We got married in 1985 and each day of the 28 years has been like a new day in the relationship. If I did not marry her then, I am not too sure I would have found true love because I became a very successful person early in life. As a 22-year-old qualified chartered accountant, I had everything a successful young man should have. It would be extremely difficult at that time if you were not in a strong relationship to find someone who loves you for who you are and not what you already have. Reputed as a seasoned banker and chartered accountant,Bisi Onasanya is a highly respected and personable executive who has established a reputation at FirstBank for solid performance and sound judgment. He is widely reputed as the architect of the modern FirstBank.
He succeeded Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer upon the appointment of the latter, now the Emir of Kano, as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009. He has spent over 25 years of his life in the finanacial sector and that was what catapulted him to be the head honcho of the Apex Bank in Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. His wife, Helen is a native of Osun state. She grew up with her grandparents.Born into an industrous family, she wasraised by her maternal grandparents and at a relatively young age, she had started doing business precisely when she left youth service in 1988. She learnt the ropes of trading from her maternal grandmother who is a seamistress.She has a company she runs,Helen and Steven which is the combination of their names.She deals in the importation of cosmetics.She is also a director with Daniel Ford Maintenance Ltd in London. Bisi’s growing up years started when he was born in Ibadan but he lived all his life and schooled in Lagos. His father was an accountant which helped in shaping his love for accounting. His mother was and is still a trader. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1982 at the age of 22, 5 years after leaving secondary school. Stephen Olabisi Onasanya has over 25 years post qualification experience and until his appointment as GMD/CEO was Executive Director, Banking Operations & Services. Prior to joining the Board of FirstBank he was the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of First Pension Custodian Nigeria Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Bisi started his banking career as Senior Accountant with Wema Bank in 1985. He joined FirstBank in 1994 as a Senior Manager and held several positions. He was Deputy General Manager and Group Head, Finance and Performance Management Department, as well as Coordinator, Century 2 Enterprise Transformation Project, before his appointment as MD/CEO of First Pension Custodian in 2005. He holds an HND Upper Credit in Accountancy from Lagos State College of Science & Technology and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and an Associate Member of the Nigeria Institute of Taxation. He is also a Director of FBN Bank (UK) Limited and FBN Insurance Brokers Limited.
-TAYO FAJORIN
The post how 1st bank MD, Bisi Onasanya found love appeared first on citypeople.com.ng.
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