Femi Pedro; Politician and banker, Olufemi become a strident voice in the politics of Lagos within a short stint of time. Coming from a banking career which lasted 23 years, Olufemi Pedro joined Nigerian politics of Lagos State in 1999, becoming within four and a half years the Deputy Governor to Bola Tinubu. Pedro’s attempt to succeed his former boss in 2007 was unsuccessful.
Femi Pedro was born in Lagos on January 29,1955. He attended St. Stephen Primary School, Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos from 1960-67 and Ahmadiyya (now Anwar-UI-Islam) College, Agege, Lagos, between 1968 and 1974. He is married to Justice Jumoke Pedro, a judge of the Lagos State High Court, with whom he raised children.
Pedro was educated at the University of Wisconsin, U.S.A. in 1976 where he bagged a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Hon.) degree in Economics and a Master of Arts, M.A. degree in the same discipline from Wichita State University, Kansas, USA. Earlier in Nigeria,
Femi Pedro began his banking career in 1982 with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and rose to the position of assistant manager in 1985 and in 1986, a Research Economist. He moved to First City Merchant Bank (now First City Monument Bank Ltd.) Lagos in 1988 and promoted as deputy manager and head of corporate planning in 1989. After, he joined Guaranty Trust Bank as senior manager in 1990 and was again promoted assistant general manager in 1993. He rose to the pinnacle of his banking career as managing director and chief executive officer, CEO, of defunct First Atlantic Bank Plc. following the acquisition of the bank by a consortium of investors, from where he resigned to join politics as deputy governor in January 2003[i].
[i] Westerner August 3, 2009