Board of Trustees

The foundation is run by a board of eight trustees, and is chaired by Mr. Lawrence Agose.

Lawrence Ellumata Agose

On graduating from the University of Lagos in 1976 with B.Sc [Hons.] degree in Mass Communication, Mr. Lawrence E. Agose joined the Express Group of Newspapers as Features Editor. He rose to the position of Editor, Sunday Express in 1978.

In a mid-career move in February 1979, Mr. Agose was employed as the Manager, Press Relations by Nigerian Breweries Plc. After a string of other management responsibilities, he was promoted to the position of Public Relations Adviser in 1995 and appointed a member of the Executive Committee in 2000. He retired from Nigerian Breweries Plc in 2005.

In the same year, Mr. Agose joined Virgin Nigeria Airways Ltd as Director, Corporate Communication and in 2008, he was appointed as the Director, Corporate Communication/Marketing, retiring again in April 2009.

During his active career, Mr. Agose attended a lot of local and international courses, workshops and seminars. He is a Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.

He now manages his business covering public relations and hospitality. He is happily married with children.

Dr. Fidelis Ayebae

Dr. Fidelis Ayebae graduated from Mainland Institute of Technology in 1976 with a Diploma in Civil Engineering. He obtained Advanced Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Lagos in 1999. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administration and also a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management.

After working in various capacities in a number of organizations, including Citibank Limited, he started Fidson Healthcare Limited in 1995 as the Founder and pioneer Chief Executive Officer. He is also the Chairman and Director of many other companies. He has attended many courses, both locally and internationally including banking operation, organization development skills etc.

Mr. Emmanuel Imoagene

Mr. Imoagene was educated at the Universities of Benin and Ibadan where he obtained his first and second degrees respectively. He has attended several management development programmes at some of the leading business schools in the world including Havard, Wharton, IMD, INSEAD, amongst several others.

He started his career in the industry with the shell Petroleum Development Company Limited as a Management Trainee in 1981, after a one-year stint as a lecturer at the Auchi Polytechnic after his National Youth Service in Bauchi State. He joined Nigeria Breweries in 1985 as a Breweries Personnel Manager and rose to the position of an Executive Director in 1995. He made a cross-functional move to supply chain operations as Logistics & Procurement Director in 1999. After five years in that role, he moved back to HR as Human Resources Director between 2004 and 2008.

Mr. Imoagene joined Cadbury Nigeria Plc in 2008 as the Human Resources Director (West Africa). A seasoned and professional corporate leader with diverse private sector experience, he is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management.

Professor Emmanuel Emenyonu

Prof. Emenyonu is the chairman, Department of Accountanting, Southern Connecticut State University; is a professor of International Accounting, Accounting Information Systems, Fraud and Forensic Accounting. He has taught in leading University such as Howard University, Washington D.C; University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus; Covenant University, Nigeria; Sacred Heart University, Connecticut; Connecticut and Yale University, Connecticut.

He received his PhD in International Accounting and Financial Reporting from Glasgow University in Scotland. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He is passionate about promoting the practice of good business ethics and sound corporate governance principles as an effective antidote against corruption, financial reporting fraud and related vices that adversely affect the fortune of businesses and nations.

Mr. Greg Ojieh

Mr. Greg Ojieh is an Engineering & Process Consultant

After graduating from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Greg started his over 25 years working career with Nigerian Breweries Plc as a Maintenance/Production Engineer in 1982. After doing various engineering jobs, Greg was appointed Chief Engineer in 1992, a position he held for four years. In 1996 he was promoted to the pioneer position of General Manager, Soft Drinks to drive and manage the introduction of the Schweppes range of carbonated soft drinks. Following his success in this regard, he was in 2000 posted to Heineken International in Amsterdam, Holland to further develop his general management capabilities. While in Holland, he developed the Export Roadmap document which still guides the export operations for Heineken's African companies. This roadmap has since been adopted by all Heineken operations in Africa to guide their export activities.

After 3 years in Holland, Greg came back to Nigeria early in 2004 to drive and professionalize Nigerian Breweries Plc’s export business. At the same time between October 2004 and September 2005, he led a multidisciplinary team of managers from both Nigeria and Holland to execute project DAPO. This project reviewed NB Plc's commercial operations and restructured the function for closer and deeper market presence to ensure the continued dominance of the brewed products market in Nigeria.

At the end of project DAPO, Greg was again charged with the responsibility of midwiving the introduction of the then unknown FAYROUZ beverage brand into the Nigerian market and manage the SBU created solely for the brand. After rigorous preparatory work, FAYROUZ was successfully launched into the Nigerian market in December 2006. Under Greg’s leadership, the brand within one year assumed a premium position in the soft drinks segment of the beverage market. Greg retired from Nigerian Breweries Plc at the end of 2007 to face other challenges. During his over 25 years career in Nigerian Breweries/Heineken, Greg attended very many senior management courses at the prestigious Wharton Business school of the University of Pennsylvania, USA, and some other Business schools. He currently consults for a number of food & beverage companies in the areas of (a) Engineering (b) Production Process optimization (c) Business Strategy and (d) Cost optimization

Mr. Yusuf Ageni

Mr. Yusuf Ageni is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and the University of Ife, (now Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU), Ile-Ife where he graduated with a BSc. Honours Degree and an MBA in 1976 and 1979 respectively. His career experience spanned the Pharmaceutical, Foods and the Brewery Industries where he served at Managerial and Senior Managerial capacities cumulatively for a period of over 30 years. He retired from Nigerian Breweries Plc in 2012 as the Corporate Affairs Adviser and a member of the Executive Committee (Exco) of the company.

Currently, Mr. Ageni is on the Boards of First Marina Trust Ltd and British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation as a Non-Executive Director. He is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria.

He is happily married with four children.

Mr. Idode Ohiwerei

Idode Ohiwerei holds both Bachelor of Environmental Science and Bachelor of Architecture degrees. He practices as an Architect / Builder with a wealth of experience spanning 15 years. He is the Principal Architect of Detailed Designs, a firm of Architects and Builders with offices in Dolphin Estate, Lagos.

He specializes in construction (turn-key projects), project management, renovation & refurbishment. ldode Ohiwerei has handled several jobs most prominent of which are the design and supervision of Nigerian Tobacco Company’s National Head Quarters in Ikoyi Lagos, Construction of Bankers Warehouse Limited (Cash in transit centre) Illupeju, renovation and reconstruction of Access Bank Plc. Marina branch and Petroleum Trust Fund’s rehabilitation of Government College Bomadi to mention a few.

Mr. Ohis Ohiwerei

Mr. Ohis Ohiwerei is a Civil Engineer whose career has largely been in the Financial Services Industry. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree from the University of Benin and also a Master of Business Administration degree from the same school. He has attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School, and the Advanced Strategic Management program at the IMD Business School, Switzerland.

He retired from the banking industry after 24 years, as Executive Director in Guaranty Trust Bank plc responsible for Commercial Banking and Public Sector, Lagos. Prior to that he was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director in Diamond Bank Plc. He also had a stint at Ecobank Plc where he was Country Treasurer for Nigeria and also responsible for Treasury Audits across West Africa.

He currently serves on the board of Notore Chemical Industries PLC as Managing Director. In addition, he serves as an independent director in the following companies, Bastion Health Limited (Chairman); Orange One Finance Limited; Griffin Finance Limited; and Bloom Bank, Sierra Leone. He has served on the boards of Guaranty Trust Bank PLC, Nigeria; Guaranty Trust Bank, Sierra Leone; Diamond Bank PLC, Nigeria; ADIC Insurance, Nigeria, and AXA Mansard Nigeria PLC.