Yahaya: Atop the Stallion
Mohammed Imam Yahaya, 53, chief executive officer of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, one of the three biggest banks in Nigeria, is a quiet and efficient operator. He rarely grants press interviews or comments publicly on topical issues but would rather make his contributions directly to the target audience concerned.
Yahaya has ensured that as chief executive, he enhances the banks performance as one of the key operators of the Nigerian money market. This, he has done through diversifying its operations into strategic sectors and activities to ensure a steady and increasing income through meeting previously unsatisfied and poorly satisfied needs of customers.
Today Union Bank is not only engaged in rendering commercial banking activities. In 1994, it set up a mortgage banking subsidiary, Union Homes Savings and Loans Limited, which is one of such viable outfits to boost government's housing programme for the citizenry. Similarly, the bank established Union Trustees Limited, from its former trusteeship division. These two companies are already making significant contributions to Union Bank's balance sheet performance.
Another strategic investment of Union Bank is Consolidated Discount Limited, where it holds 30 percent shares. The company, like other discount houses, offers inter-mediating open market operation services to banks and other money market operators such as discounting treasury bills and other money market instruments. Union Bank also acquired former Citi-Trust Merchant Bank which is restructured and renamed UBN Merchant Bank Limited.
Under Yahaya, Union Bank opened a South African Representative Office to exploit the opportunities that exist there and service Nigerian and other businessmen who operate in the country. South Africa has a sophisticated capital market and well developed mining and industrial/commercial nexus. Yahaya has put his stamp of quiet efficiency on these developments to make Union Bank still wax on as the big, strong and reliable bank 80 years after its establishment. For many years now the bank continued to be declare the best bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund, ACGSF, a reflection of its unrelenting commitment to promote agriculture for the nation's computerising its services, and recently introduced Electronic Funds Transfer and Automated Teller Machines.
The bank has almost completed its new head office building, the Stallion House, meant to provide adequate office space and to project a good corporate image for the bank. The bank recently beefed up its board of directors by bringing in qualified professionals from different sectors of the economy.
In terms of financial performance, Yahaya has moved Union Bank to great height. From 1993 when he came, to 1996 the bank's total assets rose from N32 billion to N80.06 billion; the loan portfolio grew from N4.29 billion to N16.70 billion while deposits increased from N20.12 billion to N56.91 billion. The bank's gross income rose from N3.94 billion to N11.21 while profit before tax grew from N614.8 million to N1.26 billion. Yahaya attended Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where he earned a degree in administration. He also did a postgraduate diploma in industrial management a certificate in general management.
Newswatch June 29, 1998
" Newswatch 1998