Amina Oyagbola

Amina Oyagbola is an extremely versatile legal practitioner with significant footprints in Litigation, Corporate in-house Legal Management, Boardroom Practices and Processes, and Human Resource Management. Her more than 35 years’ career spans Legal Consulting, Banking & Finance, Oil & Gas, and Telecommunications.

She obtained her undergraduate law degree from Ahmadu Bello University, her master’s in law from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and her master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Lancaster University Management School. She was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in July 1983. Amina started her career as a legal practitioner in the Chambers of the late Chief FRA Williams, the then leading litigation lawyer in Nigeria. She left advocacy in 1990 to set up the legal department in the freshly incorporated Crystal Bank. She later moved to the much older and larger United Bank for Africa Plc. as Head of the Legal Department to lead much-needed reform and revival. From the Legal Department, she moved on to head the Human Capital Management Division and, subsequently, to set up the Private Banking Division as head.

Amina joined Shell Petroleum Development Company to develop a new function as Head, HR Strategy, Standards, and Business Planning. In 2004, she joined MTN Nigeria Telecommunications Ltd (now a Plc.), the leading telecommunications provider in Africa and the Middle East, as Corporate Services Executive and Corporate Spokesperson. During her 12-year tenure as a member of MTN Nigeria’s leadership team, she contributed notably to the company’s extraordinary growth and development. As Corporate Services Executive, she had oversight over Legal, Regulatory, Company Secretariat, and Corporate Communications. She was the sole pioneer Executive Director of the MTN Foundation and ensured its growth into one of the most notable and innovative Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) institutions in Nigeria. She next became MTN’s Human Resources Executive, where she led a strategic transformation in the Human Resources function to improve business performance. Her leadership resulted in MTN becoming the first company in Nigeria to be accredited with the International Investors in People (IIP) Gold Standard in May 2015, as well as winning several other awards. She was also nominated as HR Person of the Year in 2015 by People Magazine. She served on the MTN Group Strategy Committee and on the board of MTN Spacetel Benin Republic, chairing the Audit and Risk Committee of the Board.

In December 2015, during a period of regulatory crisis, she was called upon to lead the legal, regulatory, and corporate affairs functions, in addition to her continuing responsibility for Human Resources. She helped to work for an amicable resolution. In 2019, she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by HR People Magazine. Although an original founder of Oyagbola Chambers, Amina took a long leave of absence and re-joined the firm in 2016. Her main areas of practice are Corporate Structuring, Transaction Advice, Corporate Regulation, Telecommunication, and Master and Servant Advice and Regulations.

A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusiveness, she is the Founder and Chairperson of WISCAR (Women in Successful Careers), a not-for-profit, gender empowerment, and strategic mentoring and leadership initiative for professional career women. She is a Chevening Scholar. Amina is a Fellow and Chair of The Africa Leadership Initiative – West Africa, a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), and a Chartered Fellow of the United Kingdom Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD), a Certified Ethics Officer, the Chair of the IoD Ethics Committee, a Member of Women Corporate Directors, and Former Vice Chair of the IoD Women Directors Development Committee. She is a Director at the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance, a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, and a member of the International Coaching Federation. Over the course of her career, she has attended and completed several executive and management courses at INSEAD, London Business School, IMD, and Harvard Business School. Her consummate 360-degree understanding of business from both the inside and the outside makes her a skilled adviser and trusted business partner.