Dr Stella Okoli has stepped down as Group Managing Director of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries and stays on as founder and chief government officer. Day-to-day administration passes to pharmacist Uzoma Ezeoke, a senior government who beforehand oversaw common duties, human sources and finance. In brief, a new chapter has begun at Emzor.
As Okoli fingers over day by day operations and retains strategic affect, the timeline alone makes succession a truthful query. She earned her first diploma in 1969 and opened the pharmacy in 1977, almost 5 many years earlier than this handover. Is retirement within the works? Not clear but, however she could be maintaining the CEO title.
Once once more, Okoli opened Emzor Chemists Limited as a small drugstore in Shomolu, Lagos, in January 1977. Seeing that Nigeria depended closely on costly imported medicine, she moved into manufacturing and integrated Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries in 1984.
At current, the corporate makes over 140 merchandise, together with Emzor Paracetamol, a family title. It runs three factories, employs greater than 1,000 individuals and distributes in 25 African international locations, so a change in who runs it every day reaches properly past Lagos.
The scientific grounding was already in place. She earned a pharmacy diploma at the University of Bradford in 1969 and a grasp’s in biopharmaceutics at Chelsea College, London, in 1971. Okoli then labored at Middlesex Hospital and Boots within the UK.
Back in Nigeria, she labored at Massey Children’s Hospital and Park Davies Nigeria, now Pharma-Deko Plc, earlier than opening her personal drugstore.
Actually, it was a private loss that moulded her public work. After the loss of life of her son, Chike Okoli, Okoli based the Chike Okoli Foundation in 2006 to advertise coronary heart well being consciousness and entrepreneurship coaching for younger Africans.
The basis has reportedly taught hundreds of thousands of Nigerians about coronary heart well being and enterprise abilities. Her honours embrace the Order of the Niger at member and officer ranges. It is for such a legend that a new chapter begins.
