by Wilfred Okiche

As the annual #YNaijaPower List enters its 4^th year, we bring you the most influential young Nigerians under 40 who are giving the term white collar job a whole new meaning. From boardrooms to high rise hotel lobbies, business class to multi city stops, these guys operate at the highest levels.

 

Ann Ogunsulire

Event organisers want to know her, the stars want to be close to her, and the regular folk? Well they just want to be like her. And who can blame them? Ogunsulire has worked with luxury brand, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) for 7 years, joining as global brand manager, Wines and spirits, before being promoted to oversee the champagne brands. With an expanding middle and upper class, Nigeria’s champagne consumption has exploded, and so has Ogunsulire’s clout. Here’s to the good life.

Doja Ekeruche

An advertising and brand management maven, Ekeruche joined Nestle Nigeria plc in 2004 as a brand specialist and has risen through the ranks to her present power position as global brand manager, Nestle SA. Until recently, Ekeruche was the category business manager, beverages and this position placed her in charge of the company’s Milo brand. A veteran of over 12 years in the advertising and marketing industries, Ekeruche has a background in Mass Communications from the University of Lagos.

 

Ebi Atawodi

The former head of corporate communications at telecoms bigwig, Etisalat made a power move in 2014 when she joined the app based transportation network and taxi company, Uber Lagos as general manager. In this capacity, the Imperial College of London alumnus has the mandate of making Uber Lagos as influential and profitable as the parent company. Atawodi hasn’t been off to a bad start. According to company reports, Uber Lagos has recorded a 10-times growth in the company’s supply within six months, as well as a hundred-fold growth in demand.

Leonard Eteh Ebute

As Head, Supply Chain, Kimberly Clark West Africa, Ebute’s scope and reach covers West, East and Central Africa. He leads a team of 6 managers with decades worth of experience in various aspects of supply chain including logistics, warehousing, import/export, procurement, planning and strategy; as well as other young professionals. Ebute has worked as Head of Procurement for North/East Africa at Sanofi-Aventis and Nestle Nigeria. Ebute holds an executive MBA in management and strategy from Lagos Business School, a graduate diploma in supply chain management and a bachelor’s degree in Economics.

Nkechi Okwuone

Okwuone Nkechi has worked with the Edo State government in the Information Communication Technology field for 3 years now where she has championed the launch of the first sub-national open data portal in Africa. She became the youngest Open data manager in Africa at age 24 when she was appointed Open Data Manager of the Edo State Open Data Portal in April 2013 and has pioneered the first developers’ community in Edo State (Gsquad) which utilizes government data to promote entrepreneurship. She is currently coordinating a project that will map all secondary schools in Edo state and develop decision making tools with the data.

Obinna Abajue

This young high flyer is executive director in charge of personal and business banking at Stanbic IBTC bank. Prior to this appointment, Abajue acted as the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC’s Pension Managers Limited (SIPML) – billed as the largest pension fund administrator in Nigeria .Prior to joining SIPML, he was Head – Asset Management at Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited and has extensive experience in asset management, relationship management and corporate finance. He holds a B.Sc in Actuarial Science from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and an MBA degree from The Imperial College London, United Kingdom.

Opeyemi Awoyemi, Olalekan Olude & Ayodeji Adewunmi

In the corporate sector, there are those who apply for jobs, then there are those who help applicants secure their dream jobs. The three young men behind the runaway success that is Jobberman.com belong in the latter category. Jobberman is Nigeria’s biggest recruitment and staffing company. From fresh graduates, to mid-career opportunities and top executive positions, Jobberman has something for everyone. A good number of young corporate players indeed owe their cozy, plush jobs to the industry of these 3 disrupters.

 

Owen Omogiafo

Tony Elumelu’s investment company, Heirs Holdings has birthed a number of successful young superstars but Owen Omogiafo is definitely one of the brightest. She works as the director of resources and constantly bridges the gap between management and other cadres of staff. Omogiafo has the responsibility of identifying talent for the organisation and providing an enabling environment for them to succeed and blossom.

Wale Abioye         

Abioye continues to innovate and break new ground in management consulting, a field that is known to chew up and spit out even the best brains. A Manager, Financial Services at KPMG Advisory Services, he has for close to 4 years championed the firm’s flagship Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey, which has an annual reach of over 14,000 banking customers across Nigeria. Banks have come to rely on the annual BICSS report as a key indicator of their customer service delivery health. Since he was last on the Power List in 2014, Abioye has enjoyed a double promotion and headed another BICSS survey. Now, that’s power.

 

Wale Adetula

In his capacity as marketing and communications manager, West Africa, DHL Express, Adetula, a seasoned new media specialist, applies marketing, PR, communications, sponsorship and branding support to countries. He pulled off the largest street activation campaign in Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire to mark the re-launch of DHL Express Easy product in both countries. Adetula has had previous work experience with brands like Jumia.com and Guaranty Trust Bank. He is also publisher of the popular lifestyle blog, The Naked Convos.