• First female ICAN president, UBA chair dies at 80

By Moshood Adebayo

Nigeria’s first female president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and first female chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Ayora Bola Kuforiji is dead.
Kuforiji, 80, was also minister of commerce during the administration of Chief Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government
Kuforiji was born in Lagos on September 28, 1936 and reportedly died on Saturday, December 3, 2016, in Lagos, barely two months after she clocked 80 on September 28.
The late Kuforiji met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock in October, when she went to “thank him”
The banker, recently visited President Muhammadu Buhari to thank him for being such a big contribution to her success.
After the meeting with the president, Ayora Kuforiji said “it was Buhari, as a military head of state, who appointed her the first female UBA chairman.
“Having turned 80, I looked at my life and made a list of those who contributed to what I have become in my life and the name of president Buhari came topmost on the list…”
Her enviable track records include being the first woman in sub-Saharan Africa to serve as chairman of a leading financial institution, the United Bank for Africa PLC (UBA); the first chairman of Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority and vice chairman, National Conference on Nigerian foreign policy among others.
She was the first Nigerian woman to be chief executive officer of a multinational company, VYB Industries Limited, with British affiliates, Incheape and Co Plc and first female chairman of a public quoted company, Bewac Plc. Ayora Bola chaired and served on the boards of many other companies.
She graduated from the University of London in 1963 with B.Sc Honours in Economics. A fellow of Institute of Charted Accountants, England and Wales 1977, ICAN Nigeria 1976, British Chartered Institute of Company Secretaries (ACIS 1964). Nigerian Institute of management (FMIN) 1985, British Institute of Directors.
Olubi was a recipient of many honours and awards, including Doctor of Business Administration from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, 1997, Doctor of Laws, LLD honoris causa, Bayero University, Kano, 2004, Doctor of letter (Honoris Causa), Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State 2006.
Other honours and awards include member of the Order of the Niger in 1979, for her contributions to management education and socio-economic advancement of Nigeria.  She was conferred with the award of Order of the Niger (OON) in 2002, award of certificate of Merit by the United Nations Decade of Woman, 1980, award for Excellence from the University of Benn’s Skonit Club in 1988, honorary Grammarian of CMS 1988 by CMS Grammar School, award of excellence by Brigade of Nigeria, 1992, International Award of Excellence for outstanding entrepreneurial achievements, MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States. 1992, a recipient of 2002 award for Woman of Achievements under the auspices of the Woman Development Centre, Abuja, 2005. .
Meanwhile, former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has expressed sadness over her death.
Kalu said the late accountant created a niche for herself in the private and public spheres of life.
According to the former governor, Ayora Kuforiji served the country diligently and selflessly  in different capacities.In a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Kunle Oyewumi, Kalu said: “I received with pain, the news of the passing of Otunba Kuforiji. She was an extraordinary person who built true friendships and relationships across the country.
“The late Kuforiji was a reference and rallying point to her peers and the younger generation, many of who she mentored on corporate governance and leadership.
“She was, indeed, a woman of substance.” The former governor urged the deceased’s family to take solace in the fact that their late matriarch impacted lives positively through various platforms.
Reacting to her death, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun said the late octogenarian lived an impactful life.
In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant (Media), Mr. Adejuwon Soyinka, Amosun said Kuforiji was not only a successful technocrat, “she also impacted and motivated generations of Nigerians, especially women, through her industry and success as a technocrat and an administrator.
“Yes we will miss her, but we still have to thank God for the impactful and successful life she lived,” Amosun said.
Commiserating with her family, the people of the state and Nigerians, the governor added: “For us in Ogun State, she was an icon. She was one of those international icons that made us proud.”
On his part, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, described her as a distinguished business woman, banker, economist and accountant, who cut her teeth in the corporate world.
He recalled the former minister’s decades of distinguished career in the private and public sectors of national life, saying she was a role model to the future generation.  “Olubi was a woman of many firsts; she wrote her name in gold in the banking industry and was a pace-setter and leader in banking, manufacturing and entrepreneurship not only in Nigeria but, also, in sub-Saharan Africa. It was not surprising that she was a proud and well-deserved recipient of national honours.” fellowships, awards and honorary degrees from within and outside the country,’’ he said.