Jim Ovia is the Founder of Zenith Bank Plc where he retired as pioneer Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer after two decades of meritorious leadership which positioned the bank as one of the largest and most profitable banks in Africa. As an accomplished banker with over three decades experience, he introduced a great deal of innovations into the Nigerian banking industry.

Jim Ovia is also the Founder of Visafone Communications Limited. He is the Chairman of the Nigerian Software Development Initiative (NSDI) and also Chairman, National Information Technology Advisory Council (NITAC). He is a member of the Honorary International Investor Council as well as the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI).

Jim Ovia is a member of the Governing Council of Lagos State University, Lagos and also a member of the Board of Trustees, Redeemer's University For Nations, Lagos. He was a member of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (1999 – 2007) and also served on the board of American International School, Lagos [2001 -2003].

Jim Ovia is a noted philanthropist and has headed numerous Non-Governmental Organisations [NGO] at various times including being the first President of the Nigeria Internet Group (2001-2003). He is the founder and Chairman of Mankind United to Support Total Education (MUSTE), a philanthropic organization focused on providing scholarship for the less privileged, of which some of the beneficiaries are now qualified professionals in diverse fields. He is also the founder of the Youth Empowerment / ICT Foundation, which focuses on improving the socio-economic welfare of Nigerian youths by inspiring and motivating them to embrace Information and communication technology.

In November 2000, Jim Ovia was conferred with the national award of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) by the President, Federal Government of Nigeria. He had earlier received the Zik Award for professional leadership in April 1999. He was also conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc) in Finance by the Lagos State University in October, 2005.

Jim Ovia holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana, USA in 1979 and a B.Sc degree in Business Administration from Southern University, Louisiana, USA (1977). He is also an Alumnus of Harvard Business School (OPM).

He was recently appointed Chairman of the Committee on “Nigeria Polio-Immunisation Action Group”. The committee in collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation seeks to eradicate the scourge of the dreaded polio disease in Nigeria.

Mr. Pepple recently retired as Chairman, Zenith Bank Plc. He is an Economist by profession and was the Director of Employment Services, Federal Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity, Lagos between 1980 and 1984. Between 1984 and 1989 he was the Director of Industrial Relations of the same Ministry. In 1986 he became a member, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (mni) Kuru, Jos. He is currently a labour consultant and an affiliate member of the Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.

Professor Obika is a Graduate Zoology from the University of Ibadan in 1972 and a Ph.D Physiology from the University of Cambridge U.K. in 1977. He is currently a professor of Physiology at University of Benin. He is a renowned scholar and active member of numerous local and international learned societies. He retired as a member of the Board of Zenith Bank Plc in 2010

Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien has 15 years experience in strategic management, corporate sustainability and responsibility, advisory services, microfinance, rural development, project design and implementation, capacity building, enterprise development, and corporate governance spanning the private sector, public sector and civil society in Africa and Europe. As the Chief Strategy Officer of Strategy and Execution Ltd, Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien consulted for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources on the development of the National Food Security Program (2008-2010).

Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien was responsible for stakeholder consultations including organising the RAISE Nigeria Forum 2009. She has also organised and convened various international conferences including the Rural Telecommunications Conference in 2000, organized for NTCA, USAID and NCC, the Digital World Conference Africa in 2006 and the 6th Annual Forum and 48th Council Meeting of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation in 2008. She has established the largest ‘Bottom of the Pyramid Platform' in Nigeria, which has been managing CSR Projects for multinational corporations including Citibank, MTN, ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola, NLNG, EcoBank, VISAFONE, and public sector organizations including the Universal Service Provision Fund, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over a ten year time span, among others. GBF coordinates projects among a network of leading Microfinance Institutions and Co-operatives with a cumulative outreach to approximately 5 million entrepreneurs at the grassroots in Nigeria. Dr Nnoli-Edozien previously served as the Director of Strategy & Monitoring and Head of the CEOs Office at the Nigerian Communications Commission, and was the Founding Head (Vice President) of SecTrust Asset Management (now Afrinvest West Africa).

She holds a BSc (Economics) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a Diploma in Catholic Social Teaching; and undertook her PhD at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, in the area of “Ownership and Management Structures” with a specific focus on the global applicability of “an African Model of Corporate Governance and Sustainability”. Her status as a social entrepreneur was recognized by the Bertelsmann AG to whom she is affiliated as a Reinhard Mohn Fellow. She is also an associate member of the tt30 Club of Rome and participated in the pioneer conference of the ‘Partnership with Africa' Initiative of Professor Dr Horst Koehler, President of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Professor Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe the President of the Nigeria Academy of Science attended both Ilesa Grammar School and Igbobi College from 1962 - 1968 and the University of Lagos from 1968 - 1971. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science [B.Sc.(Hons)] degree in Mathematics in the First Class Division by the University of Lagos, Nigeria in 1971; a Master of Mathematics [M. Maths] degree in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science in 1973 and a Doctor of Philosophy {PhD} in Civil Engineering with specialization in Applied Mechanics/Systems in 1976 both form the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He was born on July 5 1949; married to Olusola and has 4 children.

Professor Ibidapo-Obe was a Western Nigeria Government Scholar at the University of Lagos 1968 - 1971 and was the overall best graduating student of the University in 1971. Professor Ibidapo-obe was also a Commonwealth Scholar (Canada) (1972-1976); and NSERC/CIDA (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council/Canadian International Development Agency and a Senior Fulbright Research Scholar (1980 -1981). He served the University of Lagos from October 1, 1972 as a Graduate Assistant through 1976 as Lecturer Grade II till 1983 as Professor. Professor Ibidapo-Obe has served as Head of the Engineering Analysis Unit (1991 - 1995) and the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Lagos, (1995 - 1999). He was subsequently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in April 2000 and acted as Vice-Chancellor between September 2000 and April 2002.

Professor Ibidapo-Obe was appointed substantive Vice-Chancellor on 1st May, 2002 and successfully served until the end of his tenure on 30th April 2007. He was the Chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. He was 2-times awarded the Best Vice Chancellor's Prize (2004,2005) for the Nigerian University Systems (NUS). He has published extensively in reputable international journals with some 100 papers after the appointment as Professor. The focus of his research is on Control and Information Systems in a Stochastic Environment. He serves as an honorary International Scholar-in-Residence at The Pennsylvania State University and a Visiting Research Professor at Texas Southern University both in the United States. Professor Oye Ibidapo-Ob was invested with the prestigious Fellowship of the Academy of Science and Academy of Engineering, Nigerian Computer Society and Mathematical Association of Nigeria and a recipient of the ICOBA Merit Award. He was conferred with the national honour as Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2004. He is the Apeluwa of Ile-Ife.