Celebrating Nigeria’s boardroom maestro, Ernest Ebi at 75

Today, June 30, 2025, Ernest Chukwudi Ebi, former Chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc, a smooth operator – the type who, like slow moving water, runs deep, marks his 75th birthday anniversary. 

As he turns 75 today, his legacy as one of Nigeria’s most accomplished boardroom giants is indisputable, a firm testament to a career built on vision and  integrity. Here is a man who has quietly, yet assuredly shaped the country’s financial and corporate landscape for nearly half a century.

From his early years as a young banker in Washington D.C. to his leadership roles in Nigeria’s apex bank and across the boards of blue-chip companies, Mr. Ebi’s journey reflects the steady rise of a consummate professional.

Though he shunned the limelight, preferring to let results speak for him, the imprint of his influence is unmistakable across Nigeria’s banking and corporate sectors.

One of his most high-profile roles came in December 2016, when he was appointed Chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc. In the four years that followed, the bank experienced significant growth under his steady hands.

Profit after tax rose by a staggering 420 per cent, from N5.457 billion at the end of 2016 to 28.425 billion in 2019. Over the same period, Fidelity’s total assets climbed from N1.298 trillion to N2.114 trillion, representing an increase of over 63 per cent.

These figures not only reflect Ebi’s strategic competence, but also his ability to inspire confidence in corporate governance, financial prudence and forward-looking decision-making.

He oversaw some of the bank’s best-performing years and helped reposition Fidelity as one of Nigeria’s most reliable financial institutions. But to define Ebi’s legacy solely through his time at Fidelity, is to tell only a fraction of his story.

Perhaps his most consequential public role was as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where he served from 1999 to 2009. Over this decade, Ebi held the Policy and Corporate Services portfolios and was at the heart of some of the most transformative reforms in the banking sector.

He was a key figure in the famous Soludo-era consolidation exercise that restructured Nigeria’s banking industry, reducing the number of commercial banks from 89 to 25 through mergers and recapitalisation.

His chairmanship of the implementation committee of Project EAGLES – the reform project which modernised the CBN – was instrumental in transforming the apex bank into a globally recognised institution, both in operational structure and policy formulation.

Before his appointment at the apex bank, Ebi had already demonstrated his capacity as a turnaround specialist. In 1995, he was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the now-defunct New Nigeria Bank Plc by the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
There, he led a bold restructuring effort, developing and implementing a credible turnaround plan that significantly improved the bank’s non-performing loan portfolio and operational stability.

His private sector experience also included a pivotal role as Deputy Managing Director of the defunct Diamond Bank Ltd., where he directed marketing strategy and new business development. Earlier, at International Merchant Bank (IMB) Plc, he held senior roles including Head of Treasury, Chief Credit Officer, and Head of Audit and Risk Management.

Mr. Ebi’s journey into banking began in the United States in 1978 at Community Federal Savings and Loan Association in Washington D.C., where he served as Assistant Vice President/Controller.

He returned to Nigeria in 1981, joining IMB Plc, bringing with him the ethos of international best practices and regulatory discipline that would define his later career.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Marketing and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), both from Howard University, Washington D.C. He is also an alumnus of several prestigious global institutions where he completed advanced executive programmes, including Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, Oxford Said Business School, Columbia University, and Stanford University.

Beyond the CBN and commercial banking, Mr. Ebi has become a highly sought-after presence in Nigeria’s boardrooms. After concluding his term at Fidelity Bank in 2020, he was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director at Dangote Cement Plc and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc – both strategic institutions in Nigeria’s industrial and infrastructure sectors.

In 2022, he joined the board of Seplat Energy Plc as a Non-Executive Director, replacing Dr A.B.C. Orjiako. Ebi had been nominated by Shebah Petroleum Development Company Ltd. His appointment was a vote of confidence in his deep understanding of governance, corporate finance, and policy engagement.

He also served as Chairman of AIICO Pension Managers between 2010 and 2021, Board Chairman of Unic Insurance Plc, and Director of Afromedia Plc.

He is currently Chairman of Julius Berger Services Nigeria Ltd., Beloxxi Industries Ltd., and Agrited Nigeria Ltd., and sits on the boards of Coronation Capital Ltd., Coronation Asset Management Ltd., Travelex Nigeria Ltd., and The Venture Garden Group Ltd.

This portfolio of board appointments is testament to the confidence Nigeria’s corporate institutions place in his leadership, judgement, and integrity.

In recognition of his outstanding service, Mr. Ebi was conferred with the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2007 by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB) and the Institute of Directors Nigeria (FIoD), two of the most prestigious professional designations in the country’s financial and corporate community.

In 2017, he was honoured with the Zik Prize for Professional Leadership – an award instituted in honour of Nigeria’s first President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe – for his role in nurturing leadership and strengthening corporate governance in Africa.

What sets Mr. Ebi apart is not just his long list of accomplishments, but his character: unassuming, disciplined, and driven by purpose. He has often preferred to lead from the shadows, letting his results speak louder than his words. This quiet strength, often lacking in the theatrics of corporate Nigeria, has earned him widespread respect.

Colleagues describe him as a boardroom maverick – a master of calm, strategic thought whose interventions are always deliberate, constructive, and grounded in decades of institutional wisdom.

Even at 75, he continues to contribute meaningfully, mentoring a new generation of business leaders and offering clarity in an era that often struggles with ethical leadership and effective governance.

An untiring septuagenarian, Ernest Ebi remains active on multiple boards, proving that relevance in leadership is not defined by age but by value. As Nigeria continues to face complex economic and governance challenges, his example is a reminder of the power of professionalism, long-term thinking, and quiet resilience.

In an environment where corporate leadership is too often undermined by short-termism and expediency, Ebi represents a refreshing contrast … a man who has built and sustained a career on competence, discipline, and public trust.

As he celebrates 75 years of a life marked by excellence, Mr. Ebi stands tall as a national asset, one of Nigeria’s finest sons whose work across banking, policy, and governance continues to bear fruit.

His life is not just a testament to individual achievement, but a blueprint for the kind of leadership Nigeria urgently needs: strategic, ethical, and grounded in service.

In the boardrooms where decisions shape nations, in institutions where integrity is currency, and in the hearts of those he has mentored and inspired, Ebi’s legacy lives on.

Happy 75th, Ernest Ebi, our late publisher, Prince Emeka Obasi celebrated you as his mentor. You’re a statesman without fanfare, a leader without arrogance, and a patriot without pretence. All of us at Business Hallmark salute you and wish you even many more years in good health, as you continue to shine the lights in a nation in desperate need of real champions.

Indeed, the story of Nigeria’s corporate rise cannot be told without you.