When God changes the heart, everything follows.Some hearts need this reminder.
Book of Ezekiel 36:26โ28
Believe this today.
May the ๐ธ blessings of this new week be abundant for us all.
New week. New spirit. New grace.
In 2014, Sir Kessington Adebukunla Adebutu known as Baba Ijebu took a risky bet and gamble
As a known risk-taker, he had previously started Nigeria's first betting franchise, Premier Lotto, known as Baba Ijebu.
However, this time the scenario was different.
Wema Bank was in distress and was a loss-making regional bank.
Many investors saw a badly run, struggling, distressed bank with a bleak future and stayed away, but Baba Ijebu saw an opportunity.
He saw a badly run bank that could do better if properly managed.
He acquired 29% of the bank's shares at a giveaway price and later bought an additional 32.8% in his daughter Abolanle Matel-Okoh's name, consolidating his hold and grip on the bank.
He started acquiring shares of Wema bank, bit by bit from that 2014 until late 2019 when he finally took over.
This move made him the principal highest shareholder of Wema bank.
After taking over the bank, Baba Ijebu hired astute management team led by Managing Director of the bank, Moruf Oseni to change the fortunes of the bank, started and founded by late Doyin Okupeโs dad.
It was a risky gamble, but 12 years later, it has paid off.
Wema Bank has been revived and is no longer a struggling bank. It is now a national bank with more than 1 trillion naira in valuation.
Remember it was a regional Yoruba bank when Baba Ijebu took over the reins of the bank in 2014.
Baba Ijebu's patience and measured investment have paid off, and his fortunes have soared with the bank's.
His initial modest investment in 2014 is now worth N314.63 billion as of today highlighting one of the biggest individual bank holdings in Nigeria.
But it is more than this.
Wema Bank had a good year in 2025, with a 116.3% rise in profit before tax to N222.07 billion.
Wema's 2025 full-year performance is the strongest in the bank's history by every major measure. Profit before tax rose 116.3% to N222.07 billion from N102.52 billion in 2024. Profit after tax surged 124% to N193.19 billion from N86.28 billion, a result the bank noted surpassed its entire five-year cumulative profit figure on its own.
Wema's digital banking platform, ALAT, Africa's first fully digital bank, has been a key driver of the lender's deposit mobilisation and customer acquisition strategy. Over 98% of transactions now take place outside branches, a figure the bank has used to drive down its cost-to-income ratio and redirect savings into lending growth.
Baba Ijebu will receive N14.84 billion in gross dividends from Wema Bank.
The N14.84 billion gross dividend is the largest single dividend payment Adebutu has received from Wema bank in his history as the bank's principal shareholder
And it did not stop here.
His daughter Abolanle Matel-Okoh, a non-executive director, holds a separate stake that will generate its own dividend income.
At N314.63 billion, Adebutu's Wema stake is now larger than the total market capitalisation of several Nigerian banks listed on the exchange, a measure of both how far the bank has come and how substantially the Premier Lotto founder's financial footprint has expanded beyond the gaming industry that made him.
ยฉ Solomon Olusesan Rufai
Calm. Calculated. Eye on the throne.
Built from the mud, now carving my stone.
No rush, no fear; I trust my timing.
Quiet ambition, steady climbing.
#VisionDriven#MondayMotivated
There's no better way to say this, but I will say it regardless
Nobody pays you because you โneed money."
People pay you because you solve problems.
And the better the solution, the higher the rate.
Go to ChatGPT and use this prompt: Create a caricature of me and my job based on everything you know about me.
Come back and share your photo: I'll go first.๐