Directors

1. Professor J.O. Irukwu SAN
Board Chair

Professor Joseph Ogbonnaya Irukwu is a lawyer, educationist, author and chartered insurer. He was called to the English Bar in 1962 and enrolled as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the same year. He has held many top positions in both the private and public sectors.

He is a Professor of Insurance Studies at the College of Insurance and Risk Management of the West African Insurance Institute and Chairman of the Board of that Institute and an Adjunct Professor of Insurance in the Faculty of Management Science, Enugu State University of Science and Technology.

He is a recipient of the 1993 and 1998 State Merit Awards of the Government of Abia State for outstanding service to the State and the nation. In July 1994, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) of the Abia State University in recognition of his unparalleled contributions to the Nigerian and African financial sectors and his distinguished career in the public and private sectors.

In December 1998, he was conferred with the National Productivity Order of Merit. For his outstanding contributions to the development of the Nigerian legal system, especially in the areas of insurance law, he was elevated to the status of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) at the Supreme Court, Abuja on September 8, 2003.

2. Bola Fajemirokun Ph. D.
Executive Director

Dr Bola Fajemirokun is a graduate of the University of Lagos and she was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984. In 1990, she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree of the University of London. She also holds a Master of Law degree of the same University.

Dr Fajemirokun was appointed a Fellow of the Ashoka Foundation in 2002 for her contributions to the development of environmental law in Nigeria. In 1999, she was awarded the Award of Excellence by the Akure Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture and appointed a member of the National Forestry Policy Review Committee.

Dr Fajemirokun was a member of the Programme and Implementation Committees of the Lagos State/UNDP 6th Country Programme for 2005-2007 in the fields of HIV/AIDS, environment and energy. She is a member of the Nigerian Environmental Law Society, the Pan-African Programme on Land and Resource Rights and one of the founding members of the Lagos Environment and Sanitation Network.

In 2000, Dr. Fajemirokun attended the Harvard Business School Executive Programme on Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. In 2007, she was recognized as a Distinguished Achiever by the University of Lagos Alumni Association. In 2006, she was appointed to the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development's Technical Evaluation Committee on the Privatization of Mining Sector Enterprises. Dr. Fajemirokun was also recently invited to serve on the Technical Experts' Committee on the draft Environmental Law for Lagos State.

3. Olayinka Shitta-Bey
Non-Executive Director

Ms. Olayinka Shitta-Bey is a barrister and solicitor engaged in active litigation and legal consultancy practice as principal partner in the law firm of O.A. Shitta-Bey & Co, Lagos. A 1983 graduate of the University of Lagos, she was called to the Nigerian Bar in August 1984. In her capacity as a non-executive director of Development Initiatives Network (DIN), she has been instrumental to the enhancement of DIN's networking and information outreach especially within governmental institutions and the legal profession. Ms Shitta-Bey is also a member of the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group, a non-governmental organization, which promotes the use of alternative methods of dispute resolution.

4. Rhere Omo-Eboh
Non-Executive Director

Ms Rhere Omo-Eboh graduated from the University of Lagos with a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B. Hons.) in 1983 and was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1984. She was an associate counsel in the law firm of Bisi Braithwaithe & Co, Lagos from 1986-1987 when she left to found the law firm of O. Omo-Eboh & Co, which subsequently merged with two major law firms to form Consolex legal Practitioners.

She is currently the Managing Partner. Ms. Omo-Eboh is a member of Women's International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria and the international body of WISTA known as WISTA International. In 2003, she was appointed a capital market operator (solicitor) by the Securities and Exchange Commission and in 2005, she was elected to the post of Vice President of WISTA Nigeria, which she held until 2009.

5. Captain Akin Attah
Non-Executive Director

Captain Attah is a Master Mariner. He is also the Managing Director of Attahgate Nigeria Limited, which is involved in property development and general merchandizing activities in the major commercial centres of Lagos and Port Harcourt. Captain Attah brings to the DIN Board his rich experience of enterprise development.