His Excellency, Amb. Dr. Christopher Kolade, CON
An accomplished Veteran Broadcaster, Academic, Diplomat & Industry Captain, His Excellency, Amb. Dr. Christopher Kolade attended Government College, Ibadan and Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone [then an affiliate of Durham Universit, UK].
In his full-time career, Amb. Kolade worked as an Education Officer in pre-independence Nigeria as well as a broadcaster; attaining the position of Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation – the precursor to today’s Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria [FRCN/‘Radio Nigeria’] and Nigerian Television Authority [NTA].
Subsequently, our celebrant served as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the blue-chip Cadbury Nigeria PLC and later, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Currently, he teaches Corporate Governance and Human Resources Management at the Lagos Business School [LBS], and Leadership & Conflict Management at the School of Media & Communication [SMC[ — both of the famed Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria. He is also the incumbent Chancellor of McPherson University, Ogun State; and had previously served as Pro-Chancellor & Chairman of the Governing Council, Pan-Atlantic University.
He has also had stints at the Federal Government’s Subsidy Re-Investment & Empowerment Programme [SURE-P] and several other ad-hoc bodies in the public and private sectors.
The accomplished nonagenarian and mentor has made tremendous impact in his leadership capacities. He is acknowledged for promoting integrity in business in Nigeria through his chairmanship of such corporate bodies as Integrity Organisation Ltd. GTE and The Convention on Business Integrity Ltd GTE. Such is his abhorrence for unethical conducts that he resigned from the headship of SURE-P; citing “advanced age, corruption and transparency issues”.
Among his contributions as Cadbury’s Chair & CEO, he instituted a process and system for human capacity development and empowerment; including a Management Trainee scheme, Excellence Awards scheme, system of formal & informal appraisals, and respect for professionalism. He had said sometime in 1991 that: “A good example can become infectious so that we all strive to attain more of the same. Excellence is on the horizon. Our job is to travel towards it”.
Significant corporate developments during his tenure at the beverage giant included instituting strategic management, culture and system for innovation research & development in building the company; the award-winning Cereal Conversion Plant; establishment of Stanmark; effective public relations; and sponsoring a lawn tennis event at Lagos Country Club.
A Commander of the Order of the Niger [CON] & pioneer President/Chairman of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria; Amb. Christopher Kolade is the recipient of numerous awards and honours within and beyond Nigeria.
He is happily married with children and grandchildren.
Ladies & Gentlemen, we are exceptionally delighted to invite His Excellency, Amb. Dr. Christopher Kolade to receive the Hallmarks of Labour Role Model Award for Leadership and Corporate Governance.