Wema Bank Names 10-yr-old Chinmamanda Ozoakpata As 1-day MD/CEO

As part of its 2026 Children’s Day celebrations, Wema Bank, Nigeria’s oldest indigenous national bank, most innovative and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT, has announced 10-year-old Chinmamanda Diamond Ozoakpata as the 2026 winner of the Wema Bank One-Day MD/CEO Children’s Day initiative.

Introduced in 2025, the Wema Bank One-Day MD/CEO challenge is an industry first initiative pioneered by Wema Bank to give children across Nigeria a platform to express their ambitions, tap into their unique potential, and get hands-on insight into the responsibility and success that their future careers hold.

The maiden edition saw 12-year-old ChiderijeMbah emerge as the Bank’s first-ever One-Day MD/CEO and this year, 10-year-old Chinmamanda Diamond Ozoakpata, Head Girl at Redeemers Foundation Nursery and Primary School, has broken a new record, becoming the first-ever female One-Day MD/CEO of Wema Bank after her 1-minute video entry gained over 50,000 views.

Handing over the insignia of office to young Chinmamanda, Moruf Oseni, the substantive MD/CEO of Wema Bank, shed light on the Bank’s inspiration behind the launch of the One-Day MD/CEO initiative.

According to him, “At our core is a deep-seated drive for inspiring children and showing them that they have what it takes to fulfil their ambition. For this reason, we launched the One-Day MD/CEO initiative in 2025, giving children the opportunity to step into the demanding yet inspiring role of MD/CEO at one of Nigeria’s longest standing institutions, Wema Bank. The impact has been phenomenal and this year, we decided to open up that opportunity to another child.

“It is with great pleasure that I have with me here, 10-year-old Chimamanda Diamond Ozoakpata, this year’s record-breaking leader. Today, I am handing over the reins of leadership to Chimamanda, who will become the MD/CEO of Wema Bank for today, in celebration of Children’s Day. On behalf of the Board and Management of Wema Bank, I, Moruf Oseni, by the power vested in me as MD/CEO of Wema Bank, do hereby hand over the role of one-day MD/CEO to our star, Diamond Chimamanda, for today, Monday, May 25th, 2026. Congratulations, I trust you will make us proud!”

Accepting the mantle of leadership, Chinmamanda extended her gratitude to Wema Bank for believing in her and giving her this unique opportunity.

Promising to make the Bank proud, she said, “Thank you, Sir, for trusting me with this great opportunity, for always looking out for the children, and for making our success a priority at Wema Bank. I am proud to be a part of the Wema Bank family, not just because of the honour bestowed on me today but also because Wema Bank has shown how committed it is to supporting our parents and empowering children like me with the tools and guidance that we need to become financially smart. Today, I have the honourof being the one-day MD/CEO of Nigeria’s oldest indigenous and most innovative bank, Wema Bank plc. This is just one of the many ways that Wema Bank celebrates Children’s Day, and I am truly grateful”.

As her first act in office, Chinmamanda signed off on three new rewards for children and teens. These rewards include Birthday Cash Gifts of N5,000 and N10,000 each for children turning 5 and 10 years respectively between May 25, 2026 and May 2027; N100,000 reward for the top 100 students in the National Common Entrance Exam starting next month; and the launch of the Evolve school tour-STEM challenge for children and teens. All these are available to active Wema Bank customers who have Royal Kiddies Accounts for their children.

Other highlights of Wema Bank’s 2026 Children’s Day celebration were the grand event which took place in the Bank’s Head Office on May 25, 2026, the allocation of N500,000 in cash rewards to three children at the event, and the official launch of the Wema Bank Money Adventures financial literacy book for children ages 6 years and upwards.