DataPro clocks 20, rolls out the drums

DataPro Limited is today celebrating its 20th anniversary with a public lecture in Lagos.
A statement issued by its Founder and Managing Director, Mr. Abimbola Adeseyoju yesterday said Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe is delivering the anniversary lecture, while the Director General of WAIFEM, Professor Akpan Ekpo is the Chairman of the occasion.

Going down memory lane, Adeseyoju said, when the idea of DataPro was conceived in 1995, it was essentially to bridge the gap that existed in the provision of reliable, credible, up-to-date and professional information/data on individuals and organisations in Nigeria for end-users such as local and international investors.

“The events of the 1990s were defining moments in the annals of Nigeria, which also, negatively, affected the image of the country. This was the era when the “Advanced-Fee-Fraud” a.k.a 4-1-9 became an organised and institutionalised crime. The activities of the very few Nigerians involved in these nefarious practices led to grievous reputational crises for Nigeria and Nigerians whose business operations were carried out within the ambits of the law.”

He said it was against this backdrop; there was the urgent need to safeguard the integrity of these individuals and corporations who have chosen to do business the honourable way. In other words, there was the moral burden to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“In order to achieve this, our mission was simple: To provide efficient and effective matrix, solutions, knowledge, skills, information and data to all end-users in their pursuit of mitigating and managing compliance and business risks in Nigeria.”

Adeseyoju added that people often say, “The world changed on 9/11.” However, for us at DataPro our business took the quantum leap after the 9/11. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist bombing in the US, Nigeria was blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and classified as a “Non Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT),” due to weak and inefficient AML/CFT compliance regime.

DataPro had the privilege of being among the first consulting firms in Nigeria to offer AML/CFT compliance services and training; as it became imperative for the country to put in place sustainable structures that in line with the international gold practice in order to exit the NCCT list.