Olakunri, Ibrahim, Ahmadu join FAMAD board membership

…As firm renews shareholders’ hope

The shareholders of FAMAD, Nigeria’s foremost footwear manufacturer, recently elected three reputable professionals to its Board of Directors.

It named the new members as Oludotun Olakunri, Amina Ibrahim, and Olusegun K. Ahmadu.

The election was held at the company’s last Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

Olakunri, an award-winning businessman and film producer, holds the traditional stool of Fusigboye in Ijebu Owo, Ondo State. He has investments in the telecommunications, hospitality and film-making sectors. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria.

Olakunri’s working career spans BATA S.A. Vernon, France, private networks and renewable energy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Royal Holloway College of the University of London.

Amina Ibrahim, a legal practitioner of many years, sits on several boards in the financial services sector. A partner at Udo Udoma and Belo Osagie, she is versed in negotiations, documentation, government regulation, and regulatory compliance.

Ibrahim is also a guru in client management, business development, mentoring and supervision. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Islamic Banking, Finance and Insurance from Nungu Business School.

Olusegun K. Ahmadu is an alumnus of the University of Ife, the University of Ibadan, and Lead City University. He holds a B.Sc. in Estate Management, an MBA, and a PhD in Land Administration. He is the chairman of Stallion Construction, vice chairman of Homan Engineering and a Director at Bi-Courtney Aviation Services.

Chairman of FAMAD, Ituah Ighodalo informed the shareholders that FAMAD had reached a turning point towards profitability despite unyielding competition. “In the last few years, we have been able to update our machinery; and our product quality has improved as our designs for school shoes have increased…With God on our side, we are gradually recovering our lost markets.

“Today, I can confidently tell you that we have SON (Standards Organisation of Nigeria) certification on all our school shoes. The future’s looking brighter.

Describing some of the innovations embarked upon by the company, Ighodalo explained that “to cushion the effect of low patronage due to the off-season periods for school shoes, we continue to master the art of not just institutional footwear like boots, safety shoes, and others, but also have started to create a line for men’s formal footwear. The market response continues to increase positively.

“We have partnered with a local producer to make our soles for school shoes and have imported our moulds for them, owning the soles 100 per cent. This will give us exclusivity to the production of soles, which are lightweight and very durable in our weather conditions.”

Responding to shareholders’ questions and concerns, Ighodalo recalled that though the manufacturing arena had become more or less comatose because of the harsh operating climate, the company was able to ramp up production, while consistently improving quality. He also highlighted the hard work and sacrifice of board members, management and staff over the years, including the firm directive and motherly role played by the Acting CEO, Ronke Omame, in keeping the company afloat.