There are achievers and there are achievers. But Folake Ani-Mumuney, Chairperson, FBN Insurance Brokers and Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, is a rare breed.
To all who know Ani-Mumuney, (who turns 52 today – 13th May, 2020), the super corporate amazon who is also the Vice President of the World Federation of Advertisers, her birthday is a special time to celebrate her gift to the world.
The strong woman, simply known as FAM by friends and well-wishers, is a humble combination of beauty, brains and workaholism. She recently clinched the Lifetime Achievement awards at the Marketing World 2019 awards, in Ghana.
The marketing and corporate communications guru began her prolific and illustrious career with the British Airways, where she was responsible for Brands Policies and Communications across Europe and African region comprising 59 countries. She was practically running 59 countries, more than the size of the African continent at a time. Folake Ani-Mumuney was the first black woman in a top management position in British Airways.
Her dexterity attracted the presence of the richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who promptly co-opted her into the group. Bringing her experiences to bear, she initiated the speedy turnaround of Dangote Industries as its Chief Marketing and Communication Officer. Her days at Dangote are remembered with fondness for the giant strides she took.
It was from Dangote that Ani-Mumuney moved to First Bank where she presently serves as Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications and General Manager. She is known to be the brain behind the meteoritic rise in the fortunes of the bank as she continuously dishes out one form of market oriented policy after another.
Born to the family of late erudite former Medical Director of the National Orthopedic Hospital, Dr. Francis Owosina, who served between 1977 and 1989, Folake could very well be said to be a chip off the old block, striding in the very transparent footsteps of her forebears. Her father is reputed to have developed the modernised general and specialised Orthopaedic and Emergency Services department of the hospital in addition to introducing hip replacement and spinal surgery when he held sway in the hospital. He was also the brain behind the recognition of the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi as a World Health Organisation collaborating centre in 1979 as well as establishing the Post Basic Nursing School and the Residency programme in Orthopaedics.
Versatile and very prolific, Folake holds a degree in Philosophy and Law and also a diploma in Business Computing System Analysis and Design in addition to several management certificates and affiliation to many professional bodies.
It is not for granted therefore, that her prolific nature was rewarded in 2017 when she emerged as the 10th President of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria in a keenly contested election. She therefore made history as the first female president of the association. Folake is known for creating firsts.
Between September 2017 when she took over the mantle of leadership of the association and today, Folake has walked her talk, creating a level playing ground for stakeholders as well as room for profit maximization in members’ respective businesses. Her intelligence and willingness to positively affect lives have remained her propelling philosophy to greater heights.
In the testimonies of those who had been privileged to work with her or just come across her, Folake is a quintessential enigma, down to earth and full of respect – a virtue she confessed to receiving from her disciplinarian parents – her late father and her still bubbling over 80 years mother.
A philanthropist of immeasurable standard, Folake has engaged in veritable corporate social responsibility, including individual based assistance to persons and communities. She is known to have put smiles on the faces of everyone that has come across her in one way or another, and has a retinue of gratitude in the bargain.
Folake is happily married with lovely children who are gradually carving a niche for themselves in their various little ways.
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