By Emeka Aginam

After his 15years experience in Information Technology, working in consulting and the banking sector, Microsoft Nigeria has appointed Mr. Olayinka Oni as the company’s National Technology

Commenting on the new  appointment, the Country Manager, Microsoft Nigeria , Emmanuel Onyeje said, “I have personally worked with Olayinka for many years and his impact in the IT industry has been profound. I look forward to seeing him growing that influence even further with Microsoft”.

With excitement, reacting to the new appointment, Oni said, “I am extremely passionate about technology and I have a strong desire to see Nigeria take its pride of place in Africa leveraging ICT.  I am keen to be part of shaping and crafting the required and ideal policies that would make the country move ahead technologically to the end goal of making ICT a strong and positive contributor to the nation’s GDP   I see my new role as NTO being a lever to actualizing these goals and objectives.”

As National Technology Officer, Olayinka, according to Microsoft will be very instrumental in ensuring we have the right relevance in society and with the Federal Government through helping generate policies and programs that create a more sustainable ICT environment.

The role will also see him assist the government adopt and leverage technology to make them more transparent, efficient and competitive.

In this role, Olayinka, according to Microsoft  would align closely with their  already existing Public Sector, Legal, Developer, Education and Citizenship teams to meet our common objectives with the Government.

In this role, Microsoft said that  Olayinka would also forge and deepen their relationships with technology elites including the CIO Community and Academia.

His most recent experience was CIO/GM IT & Operations at Wema Bank Plc, a role in which he successfully provided strategic direction for banking operations, and ensured that the IT function and capabilities was tightly aligned to the corporate goals and objectives of the company.

Olayinka has also worked with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc as CIO/Vice-President Information Technology; and before then was with Accenture (Global Firm of Management Consulting) as an Experienced Manager in the Nigerian practice working across industries like Banking, Manufacturing and Government; and Access Bank Nigeria Plc., working across the Operations, Technology Support and Business Development functions.

Olayinka holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Economics from the University of Ilorin.

He is an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB), a Certified IT Business Manager, a Certified Disaster Recovery Professional, a Chartered IT Professional (CITP) and a Fellow of The Chartered Institute for IT (FBSC), and Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT).

His domain expertise includes solutions engineering, Program Management, Enterprise Architecture and IT Governance.

A deep thinker, prolific planner and astute executioner, he is one of 13 Global Technology Thought Leaders that sit on the Membership Steering Committee of the Centre for CIO Leadership. He is also a Co-convener of the CIO Nexus, a forum for CIOs across industry segment in Nigeria.