“I Regret Meeting Her’ – Tunde Ayeni Finally Breaks Silence on Adaobi Alagwu

Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Skye Bank Plc, Tunde Ayeni for the very first time has directly addressed the Adaobi Alagwu saga since the matter began years ago.

In a recent interview with journalists in Lagos, Mr Ayeni addressed the controversy surrounding Adaobi and emphatically stated that he regrets ever meeting her, described Adaobi and her mother as ‘desperate’  – adding that her chapter has been erased from his life trajectory. 

This interview marks the first time Mr Ayeni has taken time to field questions from the media on the issue and he left no stone unturned.

Read Excerpts below….

Growing Up?

Growing up, I schooled partly in Kaduna. As a toddler, I started my primary education at Army children’s school in Kaduna, then I completed my primary school in Yola at the Army children school in Yola, because my parents, as  public servants, were moving. They were transferred to another state and that determined where I had to be. I subsequently returned to my village to attend a seminary secondary school called Baptist secondary school, Iyah Gbede in Ijumu LGA of Kogi State. 

From there, I did my HSC in Ilorin at Kwara State College of Technology, but it’s now called Kwara State Polytechnic. After that, I had the privilege to study law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and I proceeded to Nigerian Law School, Lagos. I proceeded to the  University of Lagos for my LLM program which pretty much sums up my educational background. All of which are aside the numerous management courses abroad.Nigerian home decor ideas

Transition From Law To Banking….And The Failure Of Skye Bank?

Let me correct my impression. I am a lawyer and  I’ll always be one. It’s a profession that I am always very proud of. It’s also good to mention that being a lawyer does not necessarily mean going to court. You can be a lawyer without going to court. The two aspects of legal practice are combined in Nigeria, by this I mean that you can effectively practice as a solicitor and an advocate but in a place like England for instance, you can either be a  Barrister or a Solicitor, you can’t combine the two. So I still run my law office very actively till today, both in Lagos and in  Abuja.  Nigerian home decor ideas

However, at a very early stage in my career, I ventured into business. After my youth service, I worked  with a company that afforded me the opportunity to have flair for business. The company was in the business of marketing products and also manufacturing of goods. You know, in those days, things were relatively easier than what it is today. This gave me the background venture into business and when I left to set up businesses of my own, my then CEO, who trained me in the art of making deals, Mr. Rodney Hecksher, who is partly Nigerian and of Irish origin was such a dedicated and devoted employer of labour.  So I was exposed to business at a very early stage of my work life. I was his personal assistant for about two years and in that position, I could see everything that peers were not able to see.Nigerian home decor ideas

After I voluntarily resigned my employment, I went ahead to set up my law firm from where my other businesses came from. Also, at a very early stage in my career, I realized that what most business people need is the funding capability to succeed in business. You can have different business ideas but what is most important is the privilege of having the capacity to fund them to success. So, I made the decision to seek partners and set up a banking institution at a very early stage to support my business ideas so I wouldn’t always have to speak too much grammar to secure funding (smiles).

So I ventured into the banking business at the time, not as an employee, but as a part owner. Those days, the value of the naira was reasonably good, so the requirement for capitalization of a banking institution was initially set at N500m and later N2 Billion

The post “I Regret Meeting Her’ – Tunde Ayeni Finally Breaks Silence on Adaobi Alagwu appeared first on 36ng.