Our Board

Tokunboh is the Managing Director of Hill & Knowlton Strategies and has over 20 years of experience in public relations and corporate communications .She is well versed in the business operating landscape of Nigeria with established corporate and government agency links. Her areas of specialization include Public Relations, Community Relations, Advertising, Branding and Marketing in the Telecoms, Information Technology, Education and the Oil & Gas Sector.

Tokunboh spent over 14 years at Oando PLC where she was a part of the Group Leadership Council, heading the Corporate Services, Corporate communications/CSR divisions along the way. Most recently, she was the founding Director of the Oando Foundation, establishing the foundation in Nigeria, US and UK and developing its framework and partnerships.

Tokunboh holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and has attended numerous professional development courses in the Netherlands, USA and United Kingdom. She is a member of the Institute of Directors.

Adekanla’s career began with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation; she went on to the EU Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme where she worked as an Assistant Programme Coordinator. Most recently she was the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) / Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme.

She’s also worked with WaterAid Nigeria, British Council and been a consultant for USAID, EU-Micro Pilot Projects, CIDA, GTZ and Catholic Relief Services.

This is her second stint at Oando Foundation; she worked as the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Oando PLC and was one of the pioneer staff instrumental in the establishment of Oando Foundation in 2011.

has extensive experience in Educational Management and Institutional Development and has worked extensively on institutional and organizational development issues for over twenty years.
Specifically, she has strong analytical skills in education policy formulation; strategic planning and organizational management and development; education financing; human resource management; and leadership development and succession planning.
In addition, she has experience in innovative approaches to communication and information dissemination; civil society engagement and community participation; knowledge of development issues especially those related to Africa and specifically to Nigeria; Program cycle – including preparation, appraisal, negotiation, implementation, supervision and evaluation; Economic Sector Work (ESW); and Results-based Monitoring and Evaluation

is the Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD). He is the immediate past International Head of campaigns of ActionAid International and Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria. ActionAid International is an international organization working with people, communities, associates and partners in over 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to eradicate poverty and injustice. He is also an honorable Commissioner in the Police Service Commission (PSC). Prior to joining ActionAid, he was a Programme Co-ordinator of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an independent research, information and training institution. He also served as the Secretary of Citizens’ Forum for Constitutional Reform (CFCR), a coalition of civil society organizations committed to a process led and participatory approach to constitutional reform in Nigeria. Previously, he was a lecturer at the Delta State University, Lagos Centre and has published many scholarly articles on democracy, gender, politics and development.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy, masters’ degrees in Public Administration and International Relations and a doctorate degree in Public Administration specializing in Policy Analysis. He was a founding and leading member of many human rights and mass democratic organizations in Nigeria in the 1980s and ’90s. He is a member of many professional associations including Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Nigerian Institute of Management. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Strategic Management. He is the current President of Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria and also President of The Ejiro & Otive Igbuzor Foundation

A lawyer and award-winning journalist, Chude has, for more than ten years, garnered key experience in all forms of traditional and new media and has worked as a communication professional with blue chips including the Nigeria LNG, Virgin Nigeria and Bank PHB’s The Apprentice Africa.

Also known as a development expert especially with regard to the youth demographic, in 2007, he was selected as one of 101 Young African Leaders by the African Business Forum; in 2009, he was selected for the US Government’s International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP); in May 2010, he was selected for the Nigeria Leadership Initiative’s (NLI) Future Leaders Fellowship.

In May 2011 he was appointed a member of the awards committee for the Ford Foundation Jubilee Transparency Award, alongside distinguished Nigerians like Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte and Rev. Fr. Matthew Kukah and he sits on the board of the Oando Foundation, amongst others.
He was member of the Editorial Board of NEXT Newspapers, is the youngest recipient of the Nigeria Media Merit Award, and has a Masters in Media and Communication from the prestigious Pan-African University, Lagos.
He is Managing Partner at RED, and oversees Creative, Content and Communication

Before joining Oando Foundation, Leke was a Media and Reputation Management officer in the banking sector where he garnered extensive experience in Media relation, strategy and stakeholder engagement. Prior to that, he had also consulted on a number of advertising, public relations and experiential campaigns in the marketing communication industry.

Leke holds a Master degree in Public Relations from the University of South Wales, United Kingdom. He is a Communication Professional with over 8 years work experience across different sectors of the Nigerian economy ranging from Financial Services, Education, Aviation, and FMCGs.

Mr. Johnson Ikube has over 36 years of experience obtained in Banking & Finance,Consulting, Manufacturing, Construction, Public Sector, INGO and Training. His overlapping functions within the levels and sectors include Strategy, Internal Consulting, Customer Service, HR Management, Brand Management, Internal Control & Accounting, Financial Management & Corporate Services.

Mr. Ikube was involved at Executive Management Level with the restructuring,consolidation and turnaround of Crystal Bank of Africa Limited as Standard Trust Bank Plc.

He is currently the Group CEO of JI Holdings Limited, a Group with core interests in Critical Competencies, Opinion Surveys & People Engagement, Mass Coaching and Personal Transformation Services. He evolved this Group over the last 14 years after having risen to the level of Executive Office Consultant in Standard Trust Bank Ltd(now merged with United Bank of Africa Plc.)

He has deep content in behaviour modification and alignment consulting. He is also a seasoned facilitator for professional institutions, regulatory bodies and corporate trainers as well as special presentations and discourses at Corporate Conferences, Management & Strategy Retreats within and outside the Country.
He has to his credit articles and papers covering many aspects of business, life and living. He is a Chartered Management Accountant and Marketer with a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Penny is a Specialist in Education, School Inspection and Supervision (International & local) with Penny Holden Ltd. From 2007 – 2011, Penny worked with the Nigerian Federal Inspectorate to transform the inspectorate: devising with the Federal inspectorate federal inspection policies, changing legal frameworks, instruments and process alongside training and quality assuring inspectors at Federal level. Subsequently working with nine (9) states to adopt federal laws and practices in inspection, training inspectors and other aspects of quality assurance such as self-evaluation and roles of state administrative and professional staff to raise standards and improve education. She has recently returned to quality assure the impact of this work as part of a teacher development programme in some of the Northern Nigerian states. She has also worked in Sumba, Indonesia, carrying out an analysis of remote and disadvantaged schools across the island of Sumba and the part quality evaluation plays. She has since devised, with a colleague, a system of grass roots inspections carried out by parents and the community to hold schools to account. This has been implemented and adjusted in the field. In the U.K., she works with a variety of schools, for example carrying out reviews for a large primary school in Newham on a weekly. She continues to train mentors for the London East Teacher Training Alliance; working with Cambridge Education and Norfolk County Council to review schools; inspection for International Schools – including the British School of Moscow; British schools in Spain, training school staff in Kuwait and training for Staff in English schools. Penny has also operated in all sectors – private, public and NGOs in numerous countries.

Abayomi (Yomi) Akinjide is Co-Head of Fasken Martineau’s Global Energy Group. He has practised at leading City of London and US international law firms and has extensive corporate experience, with a particular emphasis on complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions. He is experienced in private equity transactions and has acted for a number of well-established UK and international private equity sponsors. He is particularly skilled in drafting commercial agreements as well as joint ventures. He has acted for investment banks on a range of London Stock Exchange related work, including placings, flotations (on the Official List and on AIM) and recommended take-overs.

Yomi has substantial transactional experience in the oil and gas sector, including acting for international oil companies, oil service companies and in respect of LNG related matters. Recent experience has included acting for oil and gas companies in Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Papua New Guinea, Kazakhstan, Russia, Iraq, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Rwanda and Tanzania. He has also been involved in transactions in Europe, Africa, U.S., Canada, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. He has acted for international companies in transactions in Nigeria, as well as Nigerian companies in transactions in various jurisdictions.

Yomi has substantial experience in the mining sector and has recently acted on transactions in Senegal, Nigeria and Rwanda. Yomi served the maximum three continuous years on the board of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, including as Regional Director for Europe and Africa. He was presented with the ‘Member of the Year 2008/2009’ award for his services to the association. He is also an expert on Nigerian corporate and oil and gas law with extensive contacts both in government as well as in the Nigerian private sector.

Steven Fox is a partner in Clifford Chance’s corporate department specialising in public and private M&A, capital raising and IPOs, joint ventures and other corporate work.

Steven’s clients principally comprise a mix of international corporate entities, investment banks and financial institutions across a variety of markets. Steven also co-heads Clifford Chance’s global oil & gas practice and much of his work is in that sector.

He had advised on numerous equity financing transactions including by Afren, Brammer, Cairn Energy, Carphone Warehouse, EnQuest, Galliford Try, Helical Bar, Imperial Tobacco, Informa, Johnston Press, KCom, Northgate, Rockhopper, SOCO International, Speedy Hire, TalkTalk Group, Talvivarra and Tullow.

Okey Okuzu is an accomplished healthcare visionary and entrepreneur able to drive improved healthcare delivery to underserved markets and populations through emerging technologies. He founded InStrat Global Health Solutions (www.instratghs.com) in 2010 to identify and deploy technologies capable of overcoming barriers to effective healthcare delivery in Africa. He has introduced and inspired multiple breakthrough applications of SMS and 3G mobile health technology in Nigeria. Okey’s professional career spans over twenty years in leading financial and healthcare companies including JP Morgan Chase, Pfizer and Novartis. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Lagos and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from Columbia Business School, New York. Okey has served on the board of several non-profit organizations and associations and currently serves as the President of Oando Foundation USA, an independent charity formed by Oando PLC (Nigeria’s Largest Indigenous Oil Company).

Carlos Austin is a private investor and adviser who has worked and traveled in almost fifty countries, including countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Over this period, he has negotiated domestic and international transactions, informed US government policy decisions relating to emerging market economies as well as developed relationships of trust with political and business leaders, with a special emphasis on Africa.

Before beginning his independent investment and advisory activities, Mr. Austin worked for the US Department of the Treasury as an international financial advisor on Russia, as a Wall Street lawyer with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York and as a qualified accountant, having worked with Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers). His professional qualifications have included Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and the New York Bar Exam. He is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and of the Columbia Law School.

William Hickman has been involved in Africa as a lawyer and businessman since 1981. He is well known with leading members of the business community in dozens of countries and known by several heads of state. In addition to his business activities he has received from a Humanitarian award from the Phelophepa Foundation for his philanthropic services in Africa. This includes his Chairmanship of the St. Marks College of South Africa Foundation, the Chair of the Oando Foundation of Nigeria (USA) and his work in conflict resolution in the South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hickman currently is the Board Chairman of Net Oil Africa, a Pan African LNG supplier to world markets, and is the CEO of Atlantic CrossBorder LLC an international investment company in the areas of natural resources, oil and gas, health care and cyber security.

Mr. Hickman’s business experience includes serving as the former President of FreeMarket Global, Inc. an international investment company that he co founded with Jack Kemp and partners from Abu Dhabi that focused on natural resource, real estate and oil services projects in Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Hickman also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Avis Capital Group, Inc. an international investment company established by the founder of Avis Rent a Car.

Prior to his business career, Mr. Hickman practiced law in the U.S. for 25 years representing domestically and internationally several of the leading Fortune 50 corporations including Du Pont, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed, Bank of America, Chevron, Amtrak, RJ Reynolds and United Airlines. As a lawyer Hickman represented several of the major US and international oil companies, including Net Oil Enterprises, Chevron, Texaco, Atlantic Richfield and Sun Oil. This experience included negotiating term lifting agreements in Africa on behalf of Sun Oil with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and advising Net Oil during its negotiations for the building of the Baku- Ceyhan pipeline project in Azerbaijan /Turkey.

Mr Hickman’s dedication to education also included his service as a member of the Board of Trustees of Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles California.