ROLE MODEL OF THE WEEK (Mrs IbukunOluwa Awosika)

@The Girls Revolution 4, University of Lagos, Akoka


Mrs. Ibukun Awosika graduated with a BSc. in Chemistry from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife). She is an alumna of the Chief Executive Programme of Lagos Business School and the Global Executive MBA Programme of the prestigious IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain.
Ibukun started her working career with Akintola Williams & Co. (now Deloitte) as an Audit Trainee during her national youth corps service. Thereafter, she worked at Alibert Nigeria Ltd, a furniture company, as Showroom Manager. Three and a half months after her employment, she resigned her position to set up her own furniture manufacturing company, Quebees Ltd, from which The Chair Centre Ltd later evolved.
She is the Founder and Chairman of The Chair Centre Ltd, a market leader in the office furniture and banking security systems industries. After the ban on importation of furniture by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2004, The Chair Centre Ltd went into a joint venture with Sokoa S.A of France and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to set up Sokoa Chair Centre Ltd., and she was appointed the MD/CEO of the joint-venture company.
In addition, she independently established another ultra-modern furniture facility, Furniture Manufacturers’ Mart in Lagos in the latter part of 2006. The latest additions to her entrepreneurial exploits are the opening of branches of The Chair Centre Ltd in Accra (Ghana), Tinapa and Calabar (South eastern Nigeria).
She is the host of a popular television programme, Business – His Way, where she shares ethical business values and principles, distilled from The Holy Bible, with the business community in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The telecast is presently transmitted on seven TV stations.
She is an ordained pastor of The Fountain of Life Church and the Founder of Christian Missionary Fund, a non-governmental body dedicated to raising supports for Christian missionaries across the country.
Ibukun is the immediate past Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ), an organisation committed to elevating the profile of women in management and business. She is also the Chairperson of Intermac, the organisers of SmartCard Conferences in Nigeria and Kenya. In addition, she also sits on a number of boards, notable among which are: The Convention on Business Integrity, and Youths Business Initiative (a project of Prince Charles organisation – Prince Trust).
She founded the Afterschool Graduate Development Centre (AGDC), a national career centre in Lagos, Nigeria, which was set up in September 2007 to address the high rates of unemployment in the country by making Nigerian graduates employable and good assets to the economy. AGDC runs developmental programs/projects that focus on the employability, economic productivity and global relevance of the Nigerian graduate.
In the first African edition of Dragons Den by Sony Pictures, Ibukun was asked to join five other Nigerian entrepreneurs as dragons in Dragons Den, Nigeria, in the first season which is currently airing and can be seen in the UK on Sky 187. Ibukun Awosika is a nominee and recipient of a number of awards, some of which include:

Nominee, Entrepreneur of The Year (2005), THISDAY Newspaper’s Annual Merit Award
Nominee, The Best Female Entrepreneur of the Year (2006): Financial Standard and Pan-African Organisation for Women Recognition (POWR)
Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2005, Success Digests Magazine’s Annual Enterprise Award.
FATE Model Entrepreneur Award for the year 2006: FATE Foundation.
Golden Heart Award (2007), under the aegis of the International Women Society
Award of Leadership Excellence 2008: Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Lagos Island Chapter
International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge Award 2008: Manhattan Chambers of Commerce and the United States Government

She is married to Abiodun Oludola Awosika, and their marriage is blessed with three sons