• The truth behind the rumoured spat between Guaranty Trust Bank head honchos
A multitude of evilly inclined people can stir up strife, just as a crowd of tsetse flies can make a noise like hailstorm, in desperate bid to thwart the bliss and quiet of the most peaceful household. When the target of their plot are two upstanding men of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) business clan, Fola Adeola and Segun Agbaje, the situation calls for tact and unprecedented caution.
As you read, mischief makers are at their hideous best; their plot this time revolves around the relationship between Fola Adeola, founding partner and former Managing Director (MD) of GTBank and Segun Agbaje, incumbent MD of the bank. Certain faceless people and rabble-rousers recently went to town with the rumour that there is no love lost between Adeola and Agbaje. They are claiming that the two GTBank head honchos are dangerously poised to tear at each other like loaded guns.
They predicate their argument on the frosty relationship that ensued between Adeola and late Tayo Aderinokun with whom he founded the bank. The duo allegedly fell out with each other and subsequently related like cat and dog until Aderinokun passed away.
Agbaje however, incurred Adeola’s courtesy his chummy relationship with late Aderinokun. The current GTBank M.D was very close to Adeola’s late partner and thus became his foe by default. No sooner did Aderinokun die did Adeola and Agbaje acknowledge their undisguised contempt for each other, they claimed.
The relationship between Adeola and Agbaje has reportedly deteriorated to the extent that there are fears in high-powered circuits of the banking sector that if eventually Adeola succeeds Godwin Emefiele as the CBN governor, he would gun for Agbaje, subject him to a tough inquiry and make mincemeat of him.
However sources close to the duo have dismissed the rumour and what they term malicious speculations, claiming they are figments of the imagination of agents of mischief desperately trying to sully the reputation of the GTBank head honchos and impair the bond of their friendship.
Adeola and Agbaje, they claim, are two honourable leaders of GTBank whose loyalty to each other and the new generation banking enterprise is unrivalled.
Adeola, who is currently head honcho at TransCorp. Hilton Hotel, served as pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive at GTBank for 12 years. He co-founded the bank with late Aderinokun in 1990. Earlier, he served as the Deputy General Manager and Divisional Head of Financial Services Division at the Continental Merchant Bank Limited, from 1986 to 1990. He also served as a Manager at the NAL Merchant Bank Plc, from 1982 to 1986.
He is a council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Institute of Directors of Nigeria (IOD) as well as a Member of the National Honors and Awards Committee of the country. He attended Yaba College of Technology where he obtained his HND in Accountancy. He has also obtained degrees from the London School of Accountancy, the International Institute for Management Development (IEP), the Lagos Business School (CEP), and the Harvard Business School (OPM).
Agbaje also flaunts a rich history experience in banking and management. As the current MD of GTBAnk, he has over 19 years investment and international banking experience that comes in handy in general management of the bank’s day-to-day operations. Agbaje has carved his niche as a truly accomplished professional within the West Africa sub-region, given his diverse experience in the financial services industry.
Prior to joining Guaranty Trust Bank plc, he worked with Ernst & Young, San Francisco, USA. He subsequently joined Guaranty Trust Bank as a pioneer staff in 1991 and rose through the ranks to become an Executive Director in January 2000, and Deputy Managing Director in August 2002. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco, USA. Agbaje was appointed Acting Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank plc in April 2011, and as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer on June 22, 2011.
At the backdrop of speculations about the alleged frosty relationship between the GTBank big guns, sources close to Adeola and Agbaje maintain that the relationship between them is cordial and devoid of the bitterness and cutthroat rivalry recently ascribed to them.
