Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi

Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi Biography / Profile

Abiola Ajimobi was born on December 16, 1949 to the renowned politically invested family of Ajimobi of Ibadan at Oja'ba, Ibadan.

Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi Age

Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi is 74 years old.

Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi Early Life

Abiola Adeyemi Ajimobi had his elementary education at St. Patrick, Abebi, ICC Primary school, Aperin and later attended Lagelu Grammar School for his secondary education. Whilst in school, he was very active in sports.

He had his university education in the United States of America. He studied Business Administration and Finance at the State University New York, in Buffalo, New York graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree.

His MBA was in Operations Research and Marketing with a concentration in Finance at the Governor’s State University, Park Forest, Illinois. As a result of his academic credentials and excellent performance at the New York Insurance examinations, he was engaged in Buffalo, New York as a state certified underwriter, by Equitable Life Assurance Corporation, which was the then 2nd largest Insurance Company in America.

Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi Career

He returned to Nigeria in 1977 and joined Management and Industrial Consulting firm as a Senior Consultant. He thereafter worked briefly with Modulor Group (an architectural firm) as the Finance and Admin Controller, before joining Nestle Foods Plc as the Operations Controller and later as Marketing Controller.

In 1979, he joined National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company as the Consumer Products Manager. He was the youngest Manager to occupy the position. His performance quickly earned him promotion to the level of Divisional Manager within one and a half years.

He was later promoted to head a newly created Corporate Credit division reporting directly to the Managing director. As a top flyer in the company and based on his problem solving ability he was deployed to Ibadan Business District as the Area Manager to ensure the repositioning of the company's entire activities in the area. The Company and the district experienced landmark achievements in its modern retail network results. In 1987 he built the company’s first 3 in 1 and the largest petrol station retail outlet in Nigeria. The district office built during his tenure still stands out today in Jericho, Ibadan.

In 1987, based on a worldwide international strategic positioning of the lubricants business desired by Shell International Oil Company, he was appointed the Lubricants Manager. He successfully built a new Lubricant division which became the most profitable business of the company and the largest contributor to the corporate profit. Having completed the strategic repositioning of the Lubricants department, he was moved to manage another troubled business arm- the aviation department. By 1993, he had acquired broad exposure in virtually all the marketing arms of the company. As part of the grooming programme, he was posted on an international assignment to Shell International Storage Company, Togo, serving the whole of West Africa as Chief Executive. He also was the Operations Director of Shell Marketing Company in Togo covering some West African countries.

He returned to Nigeria in 1995 and was appointed as the Oil Sales Manager in 1998. He was appointed to the board of the company as Executive director- Marketing, a position he held before his appointment on February 2001 as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company.

He voluntarily retired after 26 years of service in the Oil industry in 2003 and went on to become a Senator of the Republic of Nigeria. He was a principal officer in the Senate, serving as the Deputy Minority leader of the Senate.

He contested in the gubernatorial elections under the umbrella of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2007 but lost the election bid.

He contested again in 2011 under the All Progressive Congress and was elected in a keenly contested election. As the incumbent, he contested for a second term in an election that took place on April 11, 2015 under the All Progressive Congress.

He was declared the winner of the Oyo State gubernatorial election by the Independent Electoral Commission and has become the first governor in the state to serve for two terms.