iSI - Our Team | i-Scholar Initiative

Dr. Olufemi Akanbi

Dr. Olufemi Akanbi is an experienced professional geophysicist. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Applied Geophysics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; a Master of Science in Geology from Stephen F. Austin State University, Nagodoches, Texas, USA; a Master of Science in Geophysics and a PhD degree in geophysics, Earthquake seismology both from the University of Houston, Texas, USA. Olufemi has over 25 years working experience in various professional fields in the oil and gas industry.

Mr. Akanbi is a philanthropist, mentor and community leader, who has been involved in various community projects and human capacity building up of the next generation of leaders in the society. He has been instrumental in mentoring and successful admission of over 60 Nigerian students to US universities and colleges.

Anthony Oyakhire

Anthony is a Director of Reserve Base/Development Finance for the Americas in Societe Generale’s Corporate and Investment Banking Group. Anthony has over 20 years of experience in the oil & gas Industry; prior to his current banking position in Societe Generale he worked for BP, ExxonMobil, Apache Corporation and Newfield Exploration serving in technical, commercial and strategy roles, leading projects in different parts of the world.

As a Director in Societe Generale, he is responsible for the valuation oil and gas companies and their associated reserves and for making financial recommendations regarding borrowing bases and exceptions to credit guidelines and policies.

Anthony has lived and worked in Africa and the Caribbean but currently lives in Houston Texas with his wife Ntianu and three kids; Danielle, Anthony (Jr.) and Ora.

He holds an MS in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Houston and a BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Benin. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Dr. Ike Eni

Dr. Ikedinobi “Ike” Eni is the president of EniHealthCare, The Woodlands Texas, USA.
He earned his medical degree from the University of Ibadan College Of Medicine in Nigeria. He then completed his residency in internal medicine at the Chicago Medical School in North Chicago, Illinois.
Board certified in internal medicine, Dr. Eni treats patients ages 18 and an older. He focuses on helping his patients manage multiple health and comorbidity issues.
In practice since 1982, Dr. Eni is dedicated to providing individualized and comprehensive care to each patient in a family-friendly and welcoming environment. He believes in empowering his patients through education and provides care to patients who are in the hospital. He speaks Spanish.
He has received a number of recognitions and awards, including the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Diabetic Care Recognition Award, the 2013 Texas Physician Award for preventive healthcare by the Texas Medical Association and was named one of the 2015 Top 10 Doctors by H-Texas magazine.
With his wife, Bella, they are actively involved in a lot of philanthropic organizations including American Heart Associations, Montgomery County Women Shelter, CASA Interfaith, In the Pink of Cancer, National Charity League etc.
Dr. Eni and his wife live in The Woodlands and have three adult children. When not practicing medicine, he enjoys traveling, soccer, basketball and reading.
Dr. Eni was recently featured on page 52 of Living Magazine.

Iyabode Attah

Iyabode Attah is the Education Adviser at Tabitha-Knowel Integrated Services and Co-owner of Iyaniwura Farms & Adunni Farms.
She was the Managing Director / CEO at Chariot Haulage Limited.
Iyabode was a Senior Facilities Engineer at ExxonMobil – Mobil Producing Nigeria for almost two decades and a Senior Scientific Officer at Energy Commission of Nigeria
Iyabo obtained a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering at University of Lagos, Post Graduate Diploma, Chemical Engineering at University of Benin and Bachelor’s degree, Chemistry, Second Class Upper at University of Ibadan.
Iyabo is very passionate about working with the younger generation to advance their career growth.

Titilayo Olujobi

Titilayo Olujobi graduated with a B. Sc. (Honours) degree in Economics from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1985 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989.
In 1990, she joined Nigeria International Bank Limited (now Citibank Nigeria Limited; a subsidiary of Citigroup) as a Management Associate. During her seventeen (17) year career at Citibank, she worked in various capacities including Head of the Treasury Operations Department, Money Market Head and Foreign Exchange Head in Treasury, Financial Controller, Senior Relationship Banker in the Energy (Oil & Gas) Group and Senior Credit Analyst. She rose to the level of Vice President (Deputy General Manager) before she left in 2007.
At Citibank, she served in various leadership roles including chairing the Bank’s Communications Team and its Voice of the Employee Committee. She also chaired the FX Committee of the Money Market Association of Nigeria (now Financial Markets Dealers Association of Nigeria).
Titi joined IBFCAgusto Training Limited in 2008 as the Managing Director where she was responsible for driving the strategic focus of the organization. In 2014, with the consolidation of IBFCAgusto’s training business with the consulting practice of Alliance Consulting to form IBFCAlliance Limited, she became an Executive Director, with varying responsibilities especially in the areas of Training Facilitation, Risk Management and Business Consulting. In January 2018, she transitioned to a non-executive directorship role on the board of the company, contributing to strategy and policy formulation as well as overall corporate governance.
Titi is a Certified Professional Coach of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), focusing on Executive and Business Coaching. She is a Clarity4D Accredited Business Partner and a seasoned facilitator.

Uwem Ukpong

Uwem is the Executive Vice President, Regions, Alliances & Enterprise Sales for Baker Hughes. In this role, he is responsible for identifying and realizing growth opportunities through deep customer relationships around the world and market-backed strategic partnerships.
A 27-year industry veteran, Uwem has a wealth of global experience, having directly managed global oil and gas operations across multiple regions, including North America, Europe, Sub-saharan Africa, North Africa and Latin America; and having served as Baker Hughes’ Chief Global Operations Officer. Formerly the Vice President of Baker Hughes Integration at GE Oil & Gas, Uwem oversaw the successful integration of the $32 billion merger between GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes.
Uwem began his career at Schlumberger, where he held multiple oilfield services operating roles, including petrophysicist, and reservoir engineer. He served as President of Schlumberger Software, where he was responsible for overall strategic development of oil and gas software and services covering reservoir characterization, production optimization, and drilling to solve exploration and production challenges. He also held executive positions in HR and regional operations.
Uwem earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and computer science from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, and a master’s degree in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Prof. Idowu A. Olayinka

Abel Idowu Olayinka is a professor of Geophysics whose treatise and research have been instrumental in the body of academic and professional discourses in Geophysics. He was educated at University of Ibadan between 1977 and 1981 where he bagged B.Sc. (2nd Class honours, Upper Division) in Geology and at Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, University of London, United Kingdom (1983-1984) where he was awarded M.Sc. in Geophysics, and also a Diploma of Membership of Imperial College in 1984. In 1988, he got his Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham with focus on the use of a microprocessor-controlled resistivity traversing system for borehole citing in basement areas of Nigeria.
He has been in the employment of University of Ibadan since April 20, 1988. He was promoted to the post of professor of Applied Geophysics on October 1, 1999, by the University Senate.
As a scholar of geophysics of international repute, he has written books and articles that have proved to be reference points in the annals of academic and professional discourses in geophysics. To date, he has written well over 50 publications, some of which he co-authored with other scholars of repute.
He has also attended over 95 scientific conferences in and outside the country. His expertise in the field of geophysics has been engaged by government and private concerns. He has consulted for the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development on the review of solid mineral resources in Nigeria (1991-2) and on Bitumen Implementation Committee on the Ministry (2000-2). His services have also been engaged by oil multinationals such as Shell Petroleum Development Company and Chevron and Agip Oil in the areas of oil prospecting and environmental impact assessment of oil prospecting in the Niger Delta.
Olayinka, who has continued to provide leadership and community service, is currently the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan.

Tolu Ewherido

Tolu Ewherido joined Mobil in 1991 after completing her bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. In her 28-year career, she has had several technical and management roles across ExxonMobil in exploration, development and production in Nigeria and the U.S.
Ms. Ewherido currently serves as Vice President, Subsurface in ExxonMobil Upstream Integrated Solutions Company, and is responsible for delivering subsurface technology applications, capabilities and talent required for ExxonMobil’s global upstream portfolio of opportunities.
In the U.S., she has held positions as the Exploration Commercial Manager for the Americas, Exploration Manager for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and Exploration Technical Vice President. Prior positions at ExxonMobil in Nigeria include General Manager of Production Geoscience and General Manager of Deepwater Projects Development.
Tolu has a passion for community work. She is a past president of the Society of St. Vincent De Paul and she sits on the board of the Catholic Women’s Foundation, both in Lagos, Nigeria. In Houston, she is an active supporter of the United Way of Greater Houston. Her other passion is career coaching. She was a founding co-sponsor of the ExxonMobil Women Interest Network (WIN) in Nigeria and continues to be a mentor for the program in Houston.

Seyi Ajayi

Seyi began his career at Citibank Nigeria in 1992 following graduation from The University of Lagos and completion of mandatory one year national service. He qualified as a chartered accountant and then moved to Finance in Shell Nigeria in 1993. After earning his MBA from London Business School, Seyi joined Global Crossing Telecommunications as a Senior Analyst in 2001.

He joined Chiron Vaccines in Oxford, UK in 2004 as Finance Manager and was promoted to Business Planning and Analysis Manager and transferred to the Divisional HQ in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2007 following the acquisition of Chiron by Novartis.
In 2010, Seyi joined Systagenix (now part of KCI) as Controller North America, covering the US and Canadian Operations until the company was sold to KCI. Following the sale in 2013, Seyi joined Autoliv Active Safety Division as the Controller for the Global Radar Business Unit. Seyi helped in the 2017 successful restructuring leading to moving US Radar sensors manufacturing to Canada and consolidating manufacturing operations.

In 2018 Seyi transitioned to consulting in variety of settings in life sciences, most recently helping Akcea Therapeutics, American Optics and Azurity Pharmaceuticals. He also recently enrolled on the Doctoral Program at Case Western Weatherhead School of Management.

Seyi is married to Foluke, a school teacher, and they are both active in the local Highrock church in Metro West area of Boston and together they are blessed with two adult children.

Femi Fajolu

Olufemi (Femi) Nelson Fajolu is a Research Scientist with the Department of Human Services of the State of Minnesota, USA. He has previously been a Business Intelligence Analyst with Target corporation.

Femi earned a Master of Science degree in Management Science (Operations Research)/ Business Analytics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) USA and an Undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. He is currently a doctoral student at the College of Management of the Metropolitan State University in Minnesota.

Prior to leaving Nigeria for the USA, in 2006. Femi worked as the Ondo State Technical Coordinator and later a national production manager on the Nigerian national identity card project.

Femi is a strong advocate for diversity and equity and he also volunteers his time to mentor immigrant boys and girls around the Twin Cities and across the USA. He is a member of the board of the Bethel’s Rock Assemblies of God Church, a multi-campus Pentecostal church in the state of Minnesota. He has also previously held several leadership positions in the Minnesota branch of the winners chapel. He currently serves as the general secretary to the management board of the international Scholars initiative. Femi is married to Dr. Oluseyi Fajolu and they are blessed with 3 girls – Toluwani, IreOluwa and Praise. They all enjoy spending time together whenever he is not working.

Dr. Akintunde Adeyemo

A dynamic leader with a background in regulatory compliance and legal due diligence. In his current role at Ernst & Young LLP, he works as a consultant to G-360 clients, providing advisory services in the following core areas: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), focusing on FCPA compliance and regulatory requirements and business intelligence; risks management, focusing on third-party risks in supply chains; and forensics and integrity services, focusing on securities and fraud investigations, corporate compliance monitoring, and e-Discovery/litigation support.

Akintunde is the Founder and Chief Research Officer at Aletheia, a media intelligence platform, specializing in collecting actionable intelligence on entities /individuals that have been implicated/indicted/prosecuted for financial crimes in Nigeria. He is also a political blogger and legal analyst, having published over 160 articles, including in some national newspapers such as This Day and The Nation. He also serves as a Political and Legal Analyst at Apex 1 Radio in Columbus, Ohio.

Akintunde previously served as a Clerk to the General Counsel of the Michigan National Guard.

Akintunde is well read. His educational background includes a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Western Michigan University. He also received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from Duquesne University, and an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences from the Community College of Allegheny County.

Betrice Funke Ogunmola

Beatrice Funke Ogunmola, is a Registered nurse. She had her Bachelor of Nursing at Walden University and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in the same school as a Nurse Practitioner. Beatrice is a Charge Nurse at HCA Houston Healthcare, Tomball, Texas. Beatrice originally graduated from The Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti with Distinction and as a best graduating student. In her undergraduate days, Beatrice won The Rectors Award of Excellence, an award for best students in each department, two years in a role including her final year.

Outside her nursing profession, Beatrice Funke Ogunmola, popularly known and referred to as BFO, is an upcoming filmmaker and an entrepreneur. She is the producer at Hope Studio Films in the USA and her Nigeria affiliate film production company, BFO Media. BFO loves making stories come alive in ways that will impact and inspire you. BFO is a producer of LOVE CASTLE, an upcoming film that features some of the veterans in the Nollywood industry like Jide Kosoko, Desmond Elliot, Racheal Oniga and other veterans.

BFO is an impact maker, who always wants to make a positive change in the lives that come across her path. She is a natural giver that has touched many lives, no wonder it was easy for her to completely support the vision of the iSI.

BFO is a Nigerian-American. She is happily married to Victor Ogunmola, and blessed with three children – Daniel, Hannah, and David.

Joy Mbadugha

Joy Mbadugha is an experienced Geoscientist. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Geology from University of Maiduguri.

She Proceeded to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she completed Data Science and Big Data Analytics: Making Data Driven Decisions.

Joy is a certified Support Supervisor, a Scrum Master and a KCS coach with over 14 years working experience in Oil and Gas industry. She started her professional career with Halliburton.

As a Certified Support Supervisor and Geoscience expert, she effectively supervised the Halliburton-Landmark Technical Support Team in Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Region before her international transfer to the United Kingdom.

Joy is an advocate for women in STEM. She is very passionate about Education and believes Education is the best legacy you can give to a child. Driven by same natural passion, Joy has been a long term Partner of the i-Scholar Initiative with other academics driven individuals; selflessly invest in the career and aspirations of the self-motivated scholars, to help alleviate poverty and build the next generation of leaders.

Joy enjoys voluntary activities and she’s a member of the Hospitality and We Care Group in the community.

Dr. Olukunle Ojeleye

Olukunle Ojeleye holds a BSc Honours degree in International Relations from the University of Ife (now known as Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He further obtained a Master of Arts degree in International Peace and Security, as well as the Doctor of Philosophy degree in War Studies from Kings College, London. Kunle began a working career in 1988 at the defunct Standard Newspapers, Jos, Nigeria. He created and maintained a weekly foreign affair features page for the media outlet.

Kunle subsequently worked in the United Kingdom for over 15 years, spending the last 8 years in management positions with responsibilities for local government social housing and urban regeneration projects. Since 2007, he has worked extensively as a consultant on e-government, e-business, as well as information technology projects in the UK and Canada. Whilst working in the industry, Kunle has simultaneously kept engagement in the academic/research community as a scholar with a published book as well as peer reviewed academic papers. He teaches African History/African Studies on a part-time basis at a Canadian university.

Kunle is a certified project management professional, a certified change management practitioner, a certified paralegal, and a member of academic associations relating to African, Diaspora and International Studies.

Oluwatoyin Adebisi

Oluwatoyin Adebisi is a Nutritionist, Data Scientist, and a Researcher at heart. She has over eight years of experience in project management, monitoring, and evaluation. Currently, she leads the welfare department of RCCG LivingSpring Morgantown, WV, which cater for the well-being and the needs of people in the church and the surrounding community.

She is a visionary of the Lifted Foundation, creating awareness of women’s health in Nigeria. Also, she serves as the Matron of West Virginia University African Student Association, a student social-cultural organization which cater to the need of African students in West Virginia University.

Oluwatoyin is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Human and Community Development, West Virginia University. She also has an MSc degree in Applied Statistics and Food Nutrition from West Virginia University,

Victor Ogunmola

Trained as a Geoscientist at the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom; OAU, Ile-Ife and FUT-Akure,Nigeria, Victor has garnered over 15 years of consistent professional career experience in the Oil & Gas Upstream Industry. He is a Science and Technology enthusiast and expert. He skillfully leverages technology to drive efficiency and productivity in Geoscience operations.
Before his current role as a Geoscientist at ExxonMobil, he had worked for Statoil, Halliburton and GPNL across three continents -Africa, Europe and North America. Victor is naturally passionate about strategically creating opportunities for mentoring and developing the next generation of leaders.

Driven by the desire to build a heathy pipeline of talents and skills for the future of Nigeria’s growth, Victor partners with a team of other excited individuals to identify and purposefully invest in the career aspirations of the self-motivated and inventive minds among Nigerian teaming youths. Through i-Scholar Initiative (iSI), tens of thousands of US dollars is being invested in young Nigerians seeking foreign opportunities to advance their careers. He is convinced and confident that such a modest intervention is key to driving acquisition of the requisite skills required for the 21st growth and development of a nation that is in a dire need of transformation.

As a professional Geoscientist, Victor also actively supports the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in their key goal of building the next generation of Geoscientists. He meritoriously served, for several years, as a member of the AAPG’s Grant-In-Aid and Membership Career Service Committees. Victor currently serves as a member of the AAPG’s Education Awards and Visiting Geoscientists Teams. As a Visiting Geoscientist, Victor has visited, delivered lectures and shared practical experiences with 1000s of students and faculty members at over 40 Universities in the North America and African Regions in the last few years.

As the current University Students Chapter Coordinator for AAPG Africa Region, Victor has led a number of initiatives geared towards promoting networking, collaboration and integration between the University Community and the Industry in a way that enables research and knowledge sharing among professionals, students and faculty members.
Outside professional engagements, Victor enjoys outdoor activities-soccer, fishing, road trips, family time, and voluntary activities.

Victor is happily married to his best friend-Beatrice Funke and they are blessed with Daniel, Hannah and David.

Our Team

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Tolu Ewherido
BOT Chair

Prof. Idowu A. Olayinka

Titilayo Olujobi

Uwem Ukpong

Iyabode Attah

Dr. Ike Eni

Anthony Oyakhire

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Victor Ogunmola
President

Olufemi Fajolu
Secretary

Dr. Olukunle Ojeleye
VP, Operations

Joy Mbadugha
VP, External Relations

Oluwatoyin Adebisi
VP, Fund Raising

Oluseyi Ajayi
VP, Finance

Beatrice ‘Funke Ogunmola
MC, Member

Dr. Akintunde Adeyemo
VP, Regulatory Compliance & Audit

Dr. Olufemi Akanbi
VP, Talent Development & Mentoring

Latest Posts

Posts Categories

Our Team

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Tolu Ewherido BOT Chair

Prof. Idowu A. Olayinka

Titilayo Olujobi

Uwem Ukpong

Iyabode Attah

Dr. Ike Eni

Anthony Oyakhire

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Victor Ogunmola President

Olufemi Fajolu Secretary

Dr. Olukunle Ojeleye VP, Operations

Joy Mbadugha VP, External Relations

Oluwatoyin Adebisi VP, Fund Raising

Oluseyi Ajayi VP, Finance

Beatrice ‘Funke Ogunmola MC, Member

Dr. Akintunde Adeyemo VP, Regulatory Compliance & Audit

Dr. Olufemi Akanbi VP, Talent Development & Mentoring

Latest Posts

Posts Categories

Tolu Ewherido
BOT Chair

Victor Ogunmola
President

Olufemi Fajolu
Secretary

Dr. Olukunle Ojeleye
VP, Operations

Joy Mbadugha
VP, External Relations

Oluwatoyin Adebisi
VP, Fund Raising

Oluseyi Ajayi
VP, Finance

Beatrice ‘Funke Ogunmola
MC, Member

Dr. Akintunde Adeyemo
VP, Regulatory Compliance & Audit

Dr. Olufemi Akanbi
VP, Talent Development & Mentoring