When Adesola Adeduntan Ascends the Ancient Stool of Valour

Dr Adesola Adeduntan has been installed as the Balogun of Oyo by the Alaafin, Oba Abimbola Owoade I, in a ceremony at the Alaafin’s Palace. The title, historically held by military commanders of the old Oyo Empire, now goes to a man whose career was built in banking rather than battle. Adeduntan spent over eight years as Group CEO of FirstBank, the longest tenure in the bank’s modern history. Under his leadership, the bank’s non-performing loan ratio fell from more than 24 per cent to single digits, while its customer base grew from about 10 million to over 42 million. He earlier served as pioneer Chief Financial Officer of the Africa Finance Corporation, where he helped secure an A3 credit rating from Moody’s, among the highest for an African financial institution at the time. His academic path started elsewhere entirely. Adeduntan trained as a veterinary doctor at the University of Ibadan before earning an MBA at Cranfield University in the UK as a Chevening Scholar. He is a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. He currently chairs the governing council of Abiola Ajimobi Technical University in Ibadan and holds the Apesin Ola title in Ibadanland. The installation carried added significance beyond the honour itself. It brought together the Alaafin and the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in what was read as a gesture of reconciliation between the two royal institutions. Adeduntan’s wife, Chief Mrs. Adenike Adeduntan, was also installed as Yeye Balogun of Oyo during the ceremony. He succeeds the late Dr Victor Olunloyo, a former governor of old Oyo State. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent his congratulations, describing the elevation as a call to greater service in the years ahead.