In yielding to the will of Almighty God, we give thanks for the life of Ado Yakubu Wanka, who was taken from us too soon on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Although born into a powerful and influential family in Bauchi with an uncommon gift of a magnificent brain and a superbly refined mind, he never allowed these gifts to cloud his humility.

Ado chose an unconventional path defined by simplicity, humility, decency, and kindness—qualities he embodied from our university years until the end. Ado graduated with distinction from Ahmadu Bello University, earning a degree in Chemical Engineering, followed shortly by a Masters in Business Administration. My personal relation with Ado began while we were in the university, and flourished in the course of our working careers. Armed with exceptional knowledge and ambition, he began his career at Ashaka Cement as a Process Engineer, leaving an indelible mark.

In 1984, he made a pivotal shift into banking and finance, joining the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC), the nation’s single largest diversified holding company— where I was serving as Group Managing Director and CEO.

As part of a dynamic team of change management agents, he played a vital role in a transformational strategic planning exercise, elevating NNDC from a development-focused institution to a commercially driven, innovative financial institution. Arthur Anderson (the foremost global management consulting firm) was on boarded for a period of 18 months to midwife the organisation through this transformative change. Ado, as an integral part of the transformation exercise, attended to his duties with skill and distinction. No surprise that he was soon promoted to head the newly created Divestiture Department to oversee the restructuring and divestiture of underperforming businesses.

In the world of investment banking, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures are very cumbersome and complex undertakings with huge political undertones. Thus, it naturally fell to Ado to apply his complex mind and grit in building and motivating a strong team with a flair for excellence to successfully execute his mission. For this he earned the prestigious Group Managing Director’s Merit Award in 1988.

Following his tenure at NNDC, Ado had a brief stint at Citibank before joining the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). His talents quickly caught the attention of leadership, leading to his promotion as Head of the Strategic Planning Section.

Coincidentally, Arthur Andersen was actively shaping NNPC’s long-term strategic planning culture at the time. Leveraging his previous planning experience at NNDC, Ado made important contributions to NNPC’s organisational transformation under the visionary leadership of Dr. Rilwanu Lukman. Then came a large and historic opportunity in 1990 for turnaround management at FSB International Bank— where I served as Chairman and CEO.

Ado was persuaded to leave his comfort zone at NNPC to embark on a journey fraught with risk and uncertainty. He was one of the earliest executive management hires who led the multifaceted pillars of the transformation exercise at FSB. He and his colleagues were simply a marvel to behold as they were able to transform a failed bank into one of the most successful turnaround stories of our time. Thus, he quickly rose to become an Executive Director responsible for the Institutional and Corporate Banking Directorate – a mandate for which he gave the very best of mind and spirit. Because of his legendary people management skills, Ado was able to attract a number of exceptionally talented young men and women from the most innovative and forward looking financial institutions to form a large part of the core turnaround team.

Because of his knack for service excellence and formidable persuasive and negotiation skills, FSB became a magnetic field for attracting the crème de la crème of corporate clients. Because of his sterling qualities as a calm, steady hand, we were able to foster a culture of excellence in team building, unity, and cohesion across our geographies.

His rock-solid ethical conduct and integrity contributed in no small way to forging a climate of trust and transparency inside and outside the Bank. Because of his radiating personality, cool head, and dazzling brilliance, he gave us alternative paths to weathering many storms. Such was the make of this remarkable human being.

Ado later transitioned to First Bank, Nigeria’s largest financial institution, serving as Group Executive Director, contributing significantly to its landmark transformation and modernisation—clearly leaving an indelible mark on the bank. In 2011, Ado was appointed Managing Director and CEO of Unity Bank, an amalgamation of eight banks following the 2007 Banking Industry Consolidation Exercise.

Yet again, he laid a solid foundation for building a dynamic and competitive financial institution. The capstone of Ado’s career came in 2023, when he was named an Independent Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), playing a crucial role in monetary policy formulation and execution. I know that his dear friend, Yemi Cardoso, will sorely miss him. At a personal level, Ado was a bosom friend, colleague, partner, and intellectual soulmate.

Through many seasons he has been a source of inspiration and clarity whenever I was in doubt. Whenever I hit a thunderstorm at a personal or professional level, his calm, reasoned judgement gave me a pathfinder. But beyond all this, his milk of human kindness and sincerity was effusive and overpowering.

As a traditional title holder of “Magajin Gari” in Bauchi Emirate, Ado’s credentials in contributing to the welfare and development of the emirate are superb and worthy of high commendation. He was a man of deep and profound faith.

He was deeply devoted to his family and raised his children in his own image I bear witness to his limitless passion and unwavering love for Nigeria, reflected in the many national engagements he championed and those that we undertook together. Ado had many more years of service to offer his country, but Allah knows best, and we all must answer His call at the appointed time.

May the soul of this fine, distinguished, and deeply cultured Nigerian rest in perfect peace. We pray that Jummai, Maryam, and their offspring find the strength to bear this enormous loss.
HayatuDeen is a foremost Banker, Economist and Financial Expert.