Former FirstBank CEO, Bisi Onasanya, Bags Honorary Doctorate Degree

Chairman and Founder of The Address Homes, Dr Stephen Olabisi Onasanya has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree (Honoris Causa) in Finance at the 7th Convocation ceremony of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) held at the Main Campus, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State on Saturday, February 11, 2023.

The conferment was approved by the University Senate and governing council in recognition of Onasanya’s professional excellence, illustrious persona as an excellent banker and brilliant Chartered Accountant, as well as his exemplary leadership in contemporary Nigeria especially the real estate industry with positive impacts on the lives of the vast majority of people. Onasanya, a former Group Managing Director/CEO of First Bank Plc, was decorated during a well-attended ceremony, by the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE, Professor Abayomi Fasina, Chancellor, His Royal Majesty. Alhaji Matthew Opaluwa (Ata Igala) and members of the University Senate alongside two other prominent Nigerians; football legend, Segun Odegbami, aka ‘mathematical Odegbami’, and legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN.

A quintessential Nigerian banker, chartered, suave gentleman, and intellectually fertile colossus who phenomenally transited from the pinnacle of the banking industry to redefine excellence in the burgeoning real estate sector, Onasanya is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, and an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Taxation. He also served as a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers’ Sub-Committee on Fiscal & Monetary Policies, and of the Presidential Committee on Reduction of Interest Rates.

In his acceptance speech, Onasanya expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor, the Governing Council, the Senate, staff and students of the University for finding him deserving of such an exalted honour as he promised not to relent on his efforts. An elated Onasanya, who was accompanied to the event by his wife, Mrs Helen Onasanya and some of his close friends and associates, announced the donation of one million naira to the FUOYE’s best-graduating student in Accounting, a 24-year-old lady, Oyedele Abibat Adejoke, who bagged first class in Accounting. “I thank God that after seven years of my retirement as the Group Managing Director of First Bank, I am still active and relevant to my society”, he declared. “We should be able to give back to Society and perform our duty wherever we find ourselves so as to encourage the young ones”.

Giving a piece of advice to the young graduates, Onasanya said; “Take everything you have learnt in the course of your time here as a tool to help with solving people’s problems. Education is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. The end is to create solutions for the society and people you meet throughout your life.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof. Abayomi Fasina said that the institution within the shortest time of creation has carved a niche for itself on the international grid of academic excellence and connecting the town and the gown for economic prosperity. While congratulating the graduands on their academic feats, Fasina admonished them to positively project the image of the institution.

Responding on behalf of the honorary award recipients, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN spoke glowingly of Dr Onasanya about his selfless impact in the society and that he has a lot to still offer Nigeria.

Having spent about 21 years with First Bank until his retirement on December 31, Onasanya had plunged into his long-time passion -the real estate industry, where he established The Address Homes Limited, a luxury real estate company with business interests in the acquisition, development, and management of residential buildings across Nigeria. Since The Address Homes came on board through his strategic efforts, the firm has taken over the leadership of the luxury real estate industry in Nigeria via professionalism, aesthetic designs, style, affordable and flexible payment plans to the admiration and satisfaction of its clients.