Cadbury Nigeria Plc has paid tribute to a former Managing Director and Chairman of the Company, Dr Christopher Kolade, who passed recently, aged 92.

Making this announcement via an official statement on behalf of the Company, Head, Corporate Communications and Government Affairs, Cadbury Nigeria, Dr Frederick Mordi, described the late Kolade, who was the company’s first indigenous Managing Director, as an accomplished corporate colossus, a distinguished diplomat and an intellectual giant that nurtured many business leaders.

Chair, Cadbury Nigeria, Adedotun Sulaiman, said the board, management and staff, joined the family and all Nigerians, to mourn the demise of one of the finest administrators Nigeria has ever produced.

“Dr Kolade played a key role in our company’s transformation and contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria’s human capital in various capacities. While we will miss him greatly, we are comforted in knowing that he left behind enviable legacies,” he said.

Managing Director, CadburyCadbury Nigeria, Oyeyimika Adeboye, added that he was a stickler for discipline, a symbol of corporate governance and an advocate of strong ethical leadership. “We flagged off our 60th anniversary with a fireside chat with Dr Kolade, earlier in the year, as a mark of honour. Cadbury Nigeria Alumni Association (CNAA) Annual Lecture is named after him, while a road within our corporate headquarters bears his name.”

Dr Kolade, the first Nigerian Managing Director, who later became Chairman of the Board of Cadbury Nigeria, joined the Company in 1978 and retired in 2002. He served as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2007.

He was a faculty member of the Lagos Business School (LBS) and the School of Media and Communications (SMC), both affiliated with the Pan-Atlantic University. He taught Corporate Governance and Human Resource Management at LBS and Leadership and Conflict Management at SMC. Dr Kolade was also a former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Pan-Atlantic University and Chancellor of McPherson University, Ogun State, Nigeria.

An ace broadcaster, he was a Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria, among others. He was awarded the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2000, in recognition of his contributions to nation-building.