Tunde Lemo: A Giant Banker Seen in a New Light

HighLife

Nigeria is a place of many talents. This has been proven in recent times as indigenous establishments, boards of directors and individuals raise the bar in their endeavours. Tunde Lemo is the latest of these individuals to raise the value of the Nigerian industrious spirit as the bank over which he is Chairman, Titan Trust Bank (TTB), has acquired the majority stake in Union Bank.

2021 ended on an amazing note for many individuals and corporate entities. Lemo and his TTB top this list owing to their acquiring over 80 per cent of Union Bank’s share capital. The news of their takeover is still moving like a whirlwind across the corners of Nigeria’s corporate corridor, as the takeover is being hailed as one of the smartest moves for the year 2021.

Whereas Lemo is excited about TTB becoming Union Bank’s core investor, most observers are more focused on how Lemo and his team seemingly took up almost 90 per cent of Union Bank’s investment power without public knowledge. More than that, the management of Union Bank is pleased with itself even though it is clearly an ‘outsider’ that has inherited the bulk of their stock. So, many are hailing Lemo for managing the seeming annexation like a jolly solicitor.

For those who don’t know Lemo very well, the man is a progressive banker with colour. With top-grade certifications from Chartered Institutes (of Accountants and Bankers), Lemo’s educational portfolio is superlatively brilliant. Even more brilliant, however, is his career.

Lemo is most notable for being former Deputy Governor of Operations and Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Besides his old CBN mantle, Lemo’s shadow is also visibly imprinted on the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), an agency over which he is Chairman. These positions are just the tip of the iceberg as they do not include his ongoing chairmanship of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) or the many others.

Lemo has become a legend. How he managed to annex the majority of the stake of an established bank with TTB (which only started running in 2019) will soon become a popular narrative among motivational speakers. This is the degree to which Nigerians have changed their views of Lemo and how they will continue to see him going forward.