Accenture has a talented and highly productive team of people from a wide range of cultural, educational and geographic backgrounds. Meet some of our high performers who are changing the way the world works and lives. Yemi Adetunji
Senior Executive, Resources Operating Group Solape Agagu
Consultant, Financial Services Operating Group
  Yemi Adetunji—Senior Executive, Resources Operating Group
If Yemi Adetunji believes in something, he backs it to the hilt. He has even been known to put his job on the line for his convictions. About eight years ago, a transformation project for a consumer beverage manufacturer in Nigeria had lost its fizz. Although the project was only in its first year, with at least 12 months still to go, it seemed that an early parting of ways was likely. Adetunji disagreed and pressed his supervisor to persevere. His supervisor agreed, albeit reluctantly–and with strings attached. "He pointedly told me that he would go ahead with the project on the condition that my career would be solely linked to the outcome," Adetunji says. "Because I was convinced that I could make a difference, I did not hesitate in accepting the challenge. The rest is history. We finished the second year with a pleased client and very good satisfaction scores." After this success, it almost goes without saying that Adetunji not only kept his job, but moved on to new and bigger challenges. He has no regrets about the career risk he took all those years ago. "Part of being with a company that helps to create high performance is that everyone is required to have an independent view and unwavering conviction in such views. Now, this is different from being inflexible. I believe high performance cannot be built solely on group think!" Adetunji, who holds a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Lagos, started his career at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), where he did his compulsory one year's national service. He then joined Unilever as a management trainee, later becoming a maintenance engineer and then a project engineer. After three years, he realised that as an engineer his career prospects were limited. "In searching for where to pitch my tent, I saw Accenture as a place of the best and the brightest," he says. "I did not want to become an accountant and management consulting had an irresistible attraction for me." Since joining Accenture in 1996, Adetunji has worked on strategy and human performance for clients in the banking and commercial sector, worked in London, Holland and Oman on Accenture's global Shell SAP Blueprint team, and handled projects for Total and the NNPC in Nigeria. His current role is as programme manager on a transformation project for the NNPC, which manages Nigeria's hydrocarbon resources on behalf of the government. Internally, Adetunji is also responsible for recruitment, counselling, scheduling and people satisfaction in Accenture's Nigerian Resources Operating Group. This side of his responsibilities is as important to him as his client-facing role. "Often when people see and feel the desire of their leader to succeed—for a good cause, of course—they are willing to follow, and will contribute their best only when the leader takes time to coach, develop and support them." To Top
  Solape Agagu—Consultant, Financial Services Operating Group
Immersed in the intricacies of a post-merger integration project for Nigeria's largest bank, Solape Agagu could be forgiven for being too busy to notice anything but the task at hand. On the contrary, her world view extends considerably further. Did you know, she asks, that Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya were hard hit by the December 2004 Tsunami? "They had roughly a third of the sufferers in Indonesia but received little or no relief attention at all. The result was that while the Asian countries are currently experiencing a donations glut, the East African countries did not have enough assistance to meet their needs." Similarly, she is concerned about the lack of global response to the Niger famine or the Sudan Darfur crisis, especially when compared to the response to the New Orleans flood disaster. "I would dearly love to see more global support for the African community." Her interest in the world around her stems from her views on the meaning of high performance. "For me, it is synonymous with delivering value for the client, for employees and for society," Agagu says. "A company cannot perform well into the future if any of these three categories of stakeholders are not satisfied. While Accenture's commitment to delivering value to clients is one of its most celebrated characteristics, I hold our commitment to the communities we work in just as important." Practising what she preaches, Agagu is actively involved in a range of community service activities in Nigeria. She is part of the Helping Hands group that helps support the Red Cross Motherless Babies Home in Yaba in Lagos; contributes to fundraising for Junior Achievement, which has an international partnership with Accenture; and has participated in a pro bono strategic session for the Youth Business Initiative, which also has a global partnership with Accenture. Agagu, who has lived in Nigeria all her life, has a B.Sc. honours in economics from the University of Ibadan and started her career at MBC International Bank as a credit risk management officer. In her very first year there, she was awarded the staff prize for excellence. "I received other awards but particularly value this one and consider it to be the validation of my personal work ethic—giving my best regardless of the situation." After three and a half years at MBC, she joined Accenture Nigeria in November 2002. "I wanted to work on varied and exciting projects. I also loved Accenture's reputation for excellent work, high standards and passion for learning." Everything she was hoping for became reality. In the past three years, Agagu has worked on projects as varied as credit risk management, strategy, performance management, system design and implementation, and post–merger integration, all in the financial services sector. Her current assignment is a post–merger integration project for First Bank of Nigeria, which also includes the creation of an autonomous investment banking subsidiary from the investment banking divisions of the merger partners. On this project, Solape is managing a team of 25 people, eight of them from Accenture, and serves as the integration team lead, project management officer, communications team lead and overall assistant programme manager. To Top |