Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men so says the holy book. Few weeks back, that biblical verse proved right for the ebullient boss and Group Managing Director (GMD) of Courteville Business Solutions Plc, the owners of the AutoReg Franchise, Dr. Adebola Ismail Akindele, who walked tall in the presence of high-flying crowd as he was honored and voted Lagos State Man of the Year 2017.The colorful Award gala ceremony took place at the Eko FM Multi-Purpose Hall in Ikeja, Lagos. The event which was well attended had a large army of dignitaries such as Honorable Remi Babalola, Honorable Segun Olulade, and the Oba of Elejirin amongst others in attendance.
Dr. Akindele was placed amongst people in what would be described as a tough list of nominees which featured the likes of Dr. Herbert O. Wigwe who is the MD/CEO of Access Bank, LASU Vice-Chancellor Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, Hon. Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Lagos in the person of Hon. Muslim Folami, Oba (Dr.) Sejiro Olalekan James of Kweme Kingdom, Chairman Local Government Service Commission of Lagos State Alhaji Babatunde Rotinwa, Engr. Adeyemi Abidemi, Olori Francis Meshioye, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi and Aare (Dr.) Safiriyu Kazeem.
Bola Akindele emerged the winner against all odds with 3,324 votes from the over 10,000 votes cast with Prof. Fagbohun of Lagos State University (LASU ) garnering 2,934 votes to come in as first runner-up. Olori Francis was 3rdrunner-up with 2,084 votes. The GMD whose strategic direction has led Courteville to be the number one e-business solutions company in West Africa which also is the biggest data capture company in Sub-Saharan Africa was duly recognized for his good work of improving lives of people via technology.
A few years ago, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Courteville Investment Limited. The company underwent a name change to become Courteville Business Solutions PLC in years after, and he rose to the position of a Group Managing Director. One of his laudable achievements is the expansion of the company’s operations into 20 states in Nigeria and operating over 200 franchises.
Bola who holds a B.Agric in Animal Science from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), is also an M.Sc. holder in Banking and Finance from the University of Lagos. He attended numerous management courses in Financial Services, Human Resources Management, Logistics, Risk Management and Bank Fraud Control & Prevention, Information Technology Systems Audit, Strategic Customer Service Management and Treasury Management in Nigeria and overseas. He is also an alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School, London Business School, and INSEAD, Fontainebleau. His academic curiosity culminated in the completion of his Doctorate degree in Business Administration program at the International School of Management, Paris (ISM). He is as a mentor to many young professionals and has been a guest speaker at numerous events on e-commerce, entrepreneurship, leadership, and technology and business strategy.
Dr. Akindele a proven model citizen and leader who is a corporate governance champion and a disciple of exhibiting best practices in all his endeavors is an individual of exemplary leadership. A leader whose daily utterance is to help his staff to grow and develop themselves via training and helping them harness their potential by giving 100% in supporting their passion is truly deserving of the award which is the Brain Child of the Centre for Policy Development and Political Studies.
