Otunba Bimbola Ashiru was born in Ijebu-Ode to the illustrious Ashiru family, the son of the late Pa Simeon Adeyemi Ashiru, a distinguished Ijebu statesman, and Omo’ba (Princess) Moradeun Ashiru, of the Fidipote royal family of Ijebu-Ode and the ruling house of Owu-Ijebu. Over more than three decades since he first walked into a banking hall in 1989, Ashiru has moved from private banker to Group Head of Public Sector at Stanbic IBTC Bank, from two-term Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in Ogun State to Group Chairman of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, the conglomerate jointly owned by Nigeria’s six SouthWest states. Along the way, he has collected a royal title, a shelf of leadership awards, and a reputation, echoed by presidents and governors alike, as a quintessential gentleman and bridge builder.
Otunba Bimbola Ashiru’s story, however, begins not in a boardroom but in a large and unusually united polygamous household, where he was one of about one hundred children and the fifty-seventh among his father’s.
Roots: The Household That Shaped Him (Ijebu-Ode)
Growing up, Ashiru was the fifty-seventh of his father’s roughly one hundred children and the fifth of six from his own mother. He describes the household as large but united, spanning three generations who related to one another as friends, gathering every December 31 for a family reunion that endures to this day. His father, he recalls, held to one teaching above all: that his children must never carry an inferiority complex into any room.
“My father used to tell me that your name is the only inheritance you can’t afford to waste.” — Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, on his father’s example
Attesting to the Yoruba adage that says “Orúkọ rere, sàn ju wúrà àti fàdákà lọ,” meaning “A good name is better than Gold and Silver. a symbol of lawlessness and violence.” Indeed, Ashiru has carried his name with dignity throughout his career.
Education and Early Influences
Otunba Abimbola Ashiru completed his secondary school education at Adeola Odutola College in Ijebu-Ode from 1974 to 1979. Following this, he proceeded to higher education in the early-to-mid 1980s to obtain a Higher National Diploma in Marketing, Purchasing and Supply. He subsequently advanced his academic portfolio at Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University), where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Strategic Management.
Complementary to his education background, Ashiru credits his parents and much older siblings, some of whom were 20 to 30 years his senior, as his earliest mentors.
“Growing up around older people helped shape my life. It modelled me in a way that made me understand the realities of life.”— Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, on his early influences
He attributes much of his discipline and personal values to the example they set, particularly their influence in teaching him the importance of making sound choices and walking away from things that were not good for him, including alcohol, once he had made up his mind to abstain.
A Career Built in Banking (Lagos, 1989–2011)
In September 1989, Ashiru joined the then Chartered Bank as one of five new recruits, helping to pioneer the bank’s private banking unit under his mentor before rising through Branch Manager, Head of Institutional and Professional Banking, Regional Coordinator, and Country Director for Personal and Business Banking. By the time he left banking for the government, he had become the pioneer Group Head of Public Sector at Stanbic IBTC Bank, having also served as Director of Corporate Affairs and Corporate Social Investments.
His takeaway from the banking system into public service is such that it taught him the discipline of systems, among other things. He has this to say that:
“Banking taught me the discipline of systems and that the smallest lapse in judgment can undo years of work.” — Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, on his banking years
Public Service: Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Ogun State (2011–2018)
Appointed Ogun State’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in 2011, Ashiru served two terms, during which internally generated revenue rose by more than 1,279 per cent, over 300 factories and companies established a presence in the state, and cumulative investment climbed from ₦377 billion in 2013 to about ₦691.77 billion in 2014, placing Ogun first nationally. Under his stewardship, the World Bank’s Doing Business in Nigeria report moved the state from thirty-sixth to among the five best states for ease of doing business, and he facilitated a One-Stop-Shop Investment Centre within the ministry to fast-track investors.
With all these achievements, his central policy implementation goal is humanistic, as he expressed that:
“I wanted the government to work with the same seriousness as business. Policy only makes sense when people can feel the impact in their daily lives.”— Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, on his approach to government
What Ogun state has become since 2018, when he left, and the impact felt by Asjiru’s contribution can be seen from the continuous ranking of the state among the top revenue generating states in the country.
Institution-Building: Odu’a Investment Company Limited (Ibadan, 2022–2026)
On June 22, 2022, Ashiru was named Group Chairman of Odu’a Investment Company Limited (OICL), the nearly fifty-year-old conglomerate the six Southwest states inherited from the Western Nigeria Investment Corporation. Under his chairmanship, the company signed and handed over the licence for the BITA Marginal Field, redeveloped Premier Hotel and the Lagos Airport Hotel, established the South West Agriculture Company, and saw its Agusto & Co credit rating rise from A to Aa- on a stable outlook. Odu’a’s dividends to its six owner-states totalled over ₦1.3 billion across three years, and its Odu’a Investment Foundation extended digital literacy training to hundreds of pupils and teachers. He handed over the chairmanship to Dr Tola Kasali in 2026 after four years in the role.
Looking at the overall development and turnaround that OICL has experienced over the years, Ashiru provides the basis for this development, saying:
“If you get governance right, every other thing begins to fall into place.”
Beyond Odu’a, Ashiru chairs Blackcod Asset Management Group, sits as Group Director of OGC Foods and Beverages Limited (Lasena Water), and serves on the Advisory Board of the Africa Private Sector Summit, where he was later named Deputy Regional Chair for West Africa. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria, the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, and the Chartered Institute of Commerce of Nigeria, an alumnus of Harvard Business School and the Global Leadership Centre in Johannesburg, and a member of the Metropolitan Club, Ikoyi Club 1938, the Institute of Directors, and the Ijebu Heritage and Ijebu Renaissance Groups.
Ashiru has increasingly used public platforms, including the Duke’s Masterclass he convened, to argue that Nigerian leadership must return to integrity, teamwork and proactive communication, insisting that institutions endure only when political owners exercise restraint and let professionals run the show, as he says happened at Odu’a under the South-West governors.
“Leadership is not about building a personal empire or seeking public praise. It is about serving people. It is about creating value.”— Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, on leadership
Recognition Well Earned
His contribution to the development of Ijebuland and Nigeria as a whole has been recognized since 2006, when he was presented with the royal title of Otunba Adeona Fusigboye of Ijebuland by His Royal Majesty, the late Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr) Sikiru Kayode Adetona, CFR. Later, in 2014, three years into his tenure as Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, he received an Excellence Award as Most Proactive Commissioner from the Financial Institutions Businessmen and Businesswomen Association of Nigeria (FIBAN). That same year, he earned further recognition from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and the Centre for Values in Leadership as Most Outstanding Commissioner in 2015.
Reflecting on these honours, Ashiru notes that they stem directly from a solid reputation, echoing his father’s lesson that a good name is worth more than gold or silver:
“If you don’t have a good reputation, nobody wants to deal with you. Integrity remains the bedrock of leadership.”— Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, on reputation
In addition, his leadership and professional standing have also been widely recognised through numerous fellowships and honours. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE), conferred in late 2025 for his advocacy for technological advancement and industrial growth, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB)—reflecting nearly three decades in senior banking management, including his time as a director at Stanbic IBTC. Furthermore, he holds fellowships with the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (FNIMN), the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria, and the Chartered Institute of Commerce of Nigeria. Adding to his extensive list of accolades, his transformative leadership steering Odu’a Investment Company Limited was recognised at the Peak Performer Awards, where he was named Board Chair of the Year for 2025.
A Word to Southwest Nigeria’s Youth
To young Nigerians, and particularly to the Southwest’s youth, Ashiru’s counsel returns to the same discipline his father modelled decades ago: to never carry an inferiority complex into any room, to build one’s own name rather than lean on privilege, and to treat whatever institution one serves as one’s own.
“You can’t choose when to give your best. Once excellence becomes part of you, it shows everywhere in how you work, how you lead, even how you live.”— Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, on carrying standards across every role
Conclusion
From a household of about a hundred children in Ijebu-Ode to the head of a fifty-year-old regional conglomerate, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru’s life traces the same line his father drew for him: that inheritance is not privilege but the discipline to earn a name and pass it on intact. Boardroom, ministry or family room, he has applied the same standard everywhere he has stood, and by his own account, that consistency, more than any title, is the legacy he means to leave behind.
References
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