The Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria has described the demise of its past president, Emmanuel Ijewere, as a sad development and a big blow to the institute.

Director General, CIoD, Mr Bamidele Alimi, said this on Saturday in Lagos, in reaction to the news of Ijewere’s death on Friday, at 77.

Mr Alimi revealed that Ijewere was the sixth president of the institute from 1999 – 2001.

According to the CIoD director-general, during his tenure as president, the late Ijewere improved the corporate visibility of the institute, putting it on a deserving pedestal as the premier membership organisation in Nigeria.

He said, “It was under his leadership that the headquarters of the institute moved to Ikoyi in Lagos, where it is still located till today. Mr Ijewere was one of Nigeria’s most prominent businessmen and had a wide range of interests and experience in banking, finance, and agriculture. He was also a past president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Nigerian Red Cross.

“He began his accounting career in 1965 working at Coopers & Lybrand, and later established Ijewere & Co. a chartered accountancy firm in Nigeria, in 1979. He was the pioneer chairman of the Agriculture and Food Security Commission and also the director of the defunct modified value-added tax committee in 1993.

Ijewere was the president of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, the umbrella organisation for Nigerian agriculture, until his death.

“The institute and the country at large would miss his very many valuable contributions to nation building, economic growth and development.’’

The late Ijewere also served as chairman and director in many companies, including Best Foods Group, Emson, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Drum Resources Nigeria Ltd, among others.

He was a member of the National Economic Forum, the International Investment Council, and the agricultural transformation implementation council under the chairmanship of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. The late Ijewere also served as a resource

person on agriculture to the transition committee of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

(NAN)