Enitan Oyenuga

Group Head of HR, FCMB · Lagos, Nigeria

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Enitan Oyenuga is British-Nigerian, but Nigeria was always home. When she left for the UK to study, she did so with a clear intention: to come back. “I had a destination,” she says, “but I didn’t have a clear path to return.” Careers in Africa gave her that path.

In 2004, Enitan heard about the Careers in Africa recruitment summit through a friend, a casual referral that would go on to change her life. At the event, she connected with Diageo. It was no ordinary introduction: she had already been working with the company through a university research project, so when they met at the Careers in Africa London Summit, the stars aligned. Diageo offered her a role in Nigeria, where the business was being rebuilt. “It was nothing short of divine,” she recalls. “Right place, right time.”

"Careers in Africa made my dreams come true. That's the simplest way to put it."

What followed was a 20-year career that reads like a masterclass in African business leadership. After a decade at Diageo, where she worked closely with McKinsey through a period of major transformation, developing what she calls “an appetite for transformational work”, Enitan moved to Lafarge, then Coca-Cola, then Jumia, before joining FCMB as Group head of HR last year.

She credits her Diageo foundation with shaping everything that came after. “My Diageo experience set me up very nicely for the rest of the journey. It built in me the appetite to do transformational work.” The lesson she carries from those early years? Stay hungry. “I was always very hungry. I put my hand up for things I’d never done before. That hunger shifted the rest of my journey.”

For Enitan, working on the African continent isn’t just a career choice, it’s a calling. “Africa for me is where I feel needed. It’s a greenfield. Huge opportunity to make a difference, in whatever sphere.” She sees unlimited potential for professionals with international experience and African roots who are ready to bring both worlds together.

Her advice to anyone considering the same path? “Dream big. Have dreams that scare you. If your dreams aren’t scaring you, they’re not big enough.” She laughs as she says it, she’s living proof.

Twenty years on from that London summit, Enitan is no longer the one looking for a way in. She is one of Nigeria's most respected HR leaders, shaping the careers of others from the very continent she always knew was home. Her message to the next generation is simple: the opportunity is there. You just have to be brave enough to take it.