If the term ‘Slay Queen’ is of a positive connotation, then Osaretin Afusat Demuren should fall in the category of synonyms or definitions for that phrase. In the simplest way of referencing, Osaretin could be regarded as a Nigerian banker, and more notably as, the first female Chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank; a bank that has been regarded as one of the leading and most dynamic financial institutions in Nigeria.
Early life, Education and Career
Demuren attended high school at St. Maria Goretti Girls Grammar School, Benin. She holds a degree in Economics and Statistics from the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics and a Diploma in Russian Language and Preliminary Studies from the Kiev State University, Kiev.
Most of her career and professional life has been in the banking industry, most prominently, the Central Bank of Nigeria. Osaretin Demuren served 33 years at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (where she started work in 1976), and held several significant roles in Research, Exchange Control and Trade and Exchange Departments. In 1999, she made history as the first female to be appointed a Departmental Director of the Apex Bank as the Director of Trade & Exchange. She was later deployed to Human Resource Department where she served as Director until She retired from banking in 29 December 2009 after 33 years in the industry.
A woman of sterling qualities and stellar attributes, Osaretin Demuren has served on the boards of several public institutions including the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), and Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA). She’s a member of several professional associations including the Society for Human Resource Management of America, Nigerian Statistical Association, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. She sits on the board of Trust Fund Pensions Plc., a leading Pension Fund Administrator in Nigeria since February 2011, as an Independent non- Executive Director. She is also a non-Executive Director of LAPO Microfinance Bank Ltd, a leading and highly rated MfB, where she serves on the Remunerations, and Credit and Risk committees and is the Chair of the Environment, Social and Governance committee. Demuren joined the Board of Guaranty Trust Bank plc in April 2013, as a non-executive director and where she served on the Board Remuneration committee and Chair of the Board Risk Management committee until April 2015, when she was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank.
Mrs. Osaretin Demuren is a fellow of the Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Society for Human Resource Management of America (SHRM), Institute of Directors (IoD), and Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN), among others. At various times, she served as a member of several boards, panels and committees, and she has excelled at every one of them.
She is widely travelled and happily married. She lists her hobbies as reading and counselling in her local church.
References
Featured image source: securenigeria365.com