The Chairman and Founder of The Address Homes, Dr Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree (Honoris Causa) in Finance at the 7th Convocation ceremony of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), held at the Main Campus, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State on Saturday, February 11, 2023.
The conferment was approved by the University Senate and governing council in recognition of Onasanya’s professional excellence, illustrious persona as an excellent banker and brilliant Chartered Accountant, as well as his exemplary leadership in contemporary Nigeria especially the real estate industry with positive impacts on the lives of the vast majority of people.
A former Group Managing Director/CEO of First Bank Plc, Onasanya was decorated during a well-attended ceremony, by the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE, Professor Abayomi Fasina, Chancellor, His Royal Majesty. Alhaji Matthew Opaluwa (Ata Igala) and members of the University Senate alongside two other prominent Nigerians; football legend, Segun Odegbami, aka ‘mathematical Odegbami’, and legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN.
A quintessential Nigerian banker, chartered, suave gentleman, and intellectually fertile colossus who phenomenally transited from the pinnacle of the banking industry to redefine excellence in the burgeoning real estate sector, Onasanya is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, and an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Taxation.
He also served as a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers’ Sub-Committee on Fiscal & Monetary Policies, and of the Presidential Committee on Reduction of Interest Rates.
In his acceptance speech, Onasanya expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor, the Governing Council, the Senate, staff and students of the University for finding him deserving of such an exalted honour as he promised not to relent on his efforts. An elated Onasanya, who was accompanied to the event by his wife, Mrs Helen Onasanya and some of his close friends and associates, announced the donation of one million naira to the FUOYE’s best-graduating student in Accounting, a 24-year-old lady, Oyedele Abibat Adejoke, who bagged first class in Accounting.
“I thank God that after seven years of my retirement as the Group Managing Director of First Bank, I am still active and relevant to my society”, he declared. We should be able to give back to Society and perform our duty wherever we find ourselves so as to encourage the young ones.”
