The Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria (CloDN) announces the sad news of the demise of its Doyen of Past President, Mr. Emmanuel Itoya Ijewere, DF.loD. Mr. Ijewere passed away in the early hours of Friday, 29 December 2023 at the age of 77.
Mr. fjewere was the sixth President of the Institute from 1999 – 2001. During his tenure as President, Mr. Ijewere improved the corporate visibility of the Institute putting it on a deserving pedestal as the premier membership organisation in Nigeria. It was under his leadership that the headquarters of the Institute moved to Ikoyi in Lagos, where it is still located till todav.
Mr. Ijewere was one of Nigeria’s most prominent businessmen, had a wide range of interests and experience in banking, finance, and agriculture.
He was also a Past President of ICAN and the Nigerian Red Cross. Born in 1946, the Mr. Ijewere studied in Lagos, Ijebu-Ode, Cameroon, and the United Kingdom (UK).
He began his accounting career in 1965 working at Coopers & Lybrand, and later established Ijewere & Co., a chartered accountancy firm in Nigeria, in 1979.
ljewere also served as chairman and director in many companies, including Best Foods Group, Emson, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Drum Resources Nigeria Limited, Apel Capital & Trust Limited, Countrywide Direct Mortgage Company, Kerildbert Holdings, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), Gemini Pharmaceuticals, among others.
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. He was a member of the national economic forum (NEF), the international investment council (HIIC), and the agricultural transformation implementation council (ATIC), under the chairmanship of ex-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and also served as a resource person on agriculture to the transition committee of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ijewere was the president of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NAGB), the umbrella organisation for Nigerian agriculture, until his death.