By Dickson Omobola

The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company PLC, NAHCO aviance, has appointed Mr Olumuyiwa Olumekun as the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company effective on January 1, 2025.

Olumekun, according to the organisation, would replace Mr Indranil Gupta whose tenure ended December 31, 2024.

In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, dated December 27, 2024, NAHCO’s Secretary, Mr Bello Abdullahi, disclosed: “The Board has approved the appointment of Mr. Olumuyiwa Olumekun as the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company with effect from January 1, 2025.”

The notice also acknowledged the retirement of the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Indranil Gupta, stating: “He retired on December 31, 2024, upon completion of his service contract tenure as the GMD/CEO and also retiring from the Board of Directors of the Company accordingly.”

A seasoned business executive with over three decades of leadership experience across various industries, Olumekun retired as Group Executive Director, Corporate Services at NAHCO PLC in February 2022.

During his tenure, he held multiple strategic roles, including Acting Managing Director (August 2021 – February 2022) and Executive Director of Corporate Services, where he provided leadership to key functions such as Human Resources, Learning & Development, IT, Administrative Services, Infrastructure, and Procurement and was part of the team that successfully implemented the Company’s

transformative 2019–2023 strategic plan, which resulted in over a 300% increase in profitability.

In 2019, he spearheaded NAHCO’s Commercial and Business Development efforts before transitioning to the Corporate Services Directorate.

Since 2022, he has remained as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of NAHCO subsidiaries including NAHCO Free Trade Zone, NAHCO Commodities Limited, NAHCO Travels & Hospitality Limited and Mainland Cargo Options (now NAHCO Logistics).

Olumekun holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Ibadan in 1985 and is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School, where he completed the Chief Executive and Advanced Management Programmes Prior to joining NAHCO, Mr. Olumekun spent 23 years at Red Star Express PLC, FedEx, where he retired as Executive Director in 2015.

At Red Star, he managed the FedEx brand and oversaw core functions, including Sales, Marketing, Operations, Strategy & Business Development, Customer Service and IT and was a member of the Board of Directors for a decade.