FirstBank has confirmed Olayinka Ijabiyi as its substantive Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, placing one of Nigeria’s experienced brand strategists at the centre of the bank’s reputation, stakeholder engagement and transformation narrative. With more than 25 years across banking, telecommunications, media, entertainment, development communications and digital marketing, Ijabiyi’s confirmation comes at a time when financial institutions are competing not only on balance sheets, but on trust, visibility, innovation and corporate meaning.

A Strategic Appointment for a Heritage Brand

FirstBank, one of West Africa’s most recognisable financial institutions, has confirmed Olayinka Thomas Ijabiyi as substantive Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, effective immediately.

The appointment formalises a role Ijabiyi had held in acting capacity since December 2024, when he began leading the bank’s marketing and corporate communications function during a critical phase of institutional renewal and market positioning.

For FirstBank, this is not merely a senior communications appointment. It is a strategic brand decision.

In an era when banks are judged by capital strength, digital capability, governance standards, customer trust, social impact and market relevance, the communications function has become more central to corporate value. A bank’s reputation is no longer a performance accessory. It is part of performance.

Ijabiyi’s confirmation, therefore, strengthens the leadership layer responsible for how FirstBank tells its story, protects its reputation, engages stakeholders, and projects its long-term strategic direction across markets.

The Man Behind the Mandate

Olayinka Ijabiyi brings more than 25 years of experience in marketing, corporate communications, brand transformation, stakeholder engagement and strategic visibility. His career path cuts across financial services, telecommunications, media, entertainment, education, international development and digital communications.

That broad sectoral exposure matters.

Bank communications today requires more than press statements and campaigns. It requires understanding technology, customer behaviour, regulatory sensitivities, investor confidence, employee culture, public trust, digital channels, reputation risk and social impact.

Ijabiyi’s career arc reflects that mix.

He began in journalism, working as a reporter and researcher with Tempo Life, the lifestyle insert of Tempo Magazine, before rising to acting editor. That early grounding in storytelling and public communication later shaped his transition into corporate communications.

He subsequently worked with major organisations including MultiChoice Nigeria, British Council, MTN Nigeria and Etisalat Nigeria, where he held communications and public relations roles and contributed to major brand-building and launch-phase positioning work.

By the time he joined FirstBank in 2011, he had already built a strong communications profile across sectors where consumer trust, brand experience and public perception are central to growth.

Thirteen Years Inside the FirstBank Brand

Since joining FirstBank, Ijabiyi has occupied several strategic roles within the bank’s Marketing and Corporate Communications Department.

He has served as Head of Brand Strategy and Special Projects, Head of Digital Marketing, and Head of Brand and Stakeholder Management. These roles placed him at the intersection of brand positioning, customer engagement, digital visibility, stakeholder relations and strategic communications.

His work has reportedly covered major brand initiatives, anniversary campaigns, digital marketing transformation and reputation-building programmes designed to deepen the bank’s visibility and enhance brand equity.

This institutional memory is important. FirstBank is not an ordinary brand. It is a heritage institution with deep roots in Nigeria’s banking history and a footprint that extends across African and international markets. Managing such a brand requires sensitivity to legacy, but also courage to modernise.

The challenge is to keep FirstBank recognisable to older generations while making it relevant to younger, digital-first customers.

That is the delicate brand balance Ijabiyi is now expected to help sustain.

Marketing as Business Strategy

The modern banking customer no longer experiences a bank only through the branch. The customer experiences the bank through mobile apps, card services, social media, customer-care channels, agent networks, ATMs, branch ambience, complaint resolution, advertising, CSR activities, product design and the tone of executive communication.

This makes marketing and corporate communications a business function, not a ceremonial one.

Ijabiyi’s new mandate includes integrated marketing strategy, reputation management, executive positioning, corporate responsibility and sustainability, stakeholder engagement and communication initiatives aligned with FirstBank’s business objectives.

In practical terms, that means his office must help turn the bank’s strategic priorities into narratives that customers, regulators, investors, partners, employees and communities can understand and trust.

For a systemically important bank, this is crucial.

Trust is the first currency of banking. Without it, deposits weaken, customers hesitate, investors discount the brand and regulators become more watchful. With it, a bank can deepen relationships, weather crises and compete beyond pricing.

Digital Visibility and the New Banking Consumer

One of Ijabiyi’s previous roles at FirstBank was Head of Digital Marketing, where he helped drive digital engagement and transformation within the bank’s marketing ecosystem.

That experience is especially relevant now.

Nigeria’s banking sector is being reshaped by fintech competition, mobile-first consumers, instant payments, social-media complaints, online fraud concerns, artificial intelligence, data analytics and platform banking. Customers expect speed, clarity and relevance. They punish poor service publicly. They compare banks not only with banks, but with fintechs, telecom platforms and global digital experiences.

The communications leader in a bank must therefore understand digital behaviour as much as media relations.

For FirstBank, the challenge is sharper because it carries a heritage identity. The bank must communicate stability without sounding old; innovation without sounding gimmicky; scale without sounding distant; and customer commitment without sounding generic.

That is the new art of financial-services branding.

A Professional Profile Built Across Sectors

Ijabiyi’s academic and professional credentials reinforce the appointment.

He holds a Master’s degree in Public and International Affairs from the University of Lagos and a Bachelor’s degree in English Language from the former Ondo State University, Ado Ekiti. He is a Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria and a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, among other industry bodies.

This blend of language, public affairs, marketing and institutional communications is useful in banking, where technical performance must be translated into public meaning.

Banks speak in numbers. Customers hear through experience. Regulators listen for compliance. Investors search for confidence. Communities look for responsibility. Employees seek belonging. The communications function must connect these audiences without diluting the message.

That will be central to Ijabiyi’s task.

BRANDECONOMY Insight

FirstBank’s confirmation of Olayinka Ijabiyi speaks to a larger shift in African banking: reputation is becoming infrastructure.

For decades, banks competed mainly through branch networks, balance-sheet size, corporate relationships and deposit strength. Those still matter. But today, trust, brand equity, customer experience, digital relevance and stakeholder communication are also decisive.

FirstBank has heritage. That is an enormous advantage. But heritage is not self-renewing. It must be interpreted for every generation. A 130-year-old or century-scale banking brand cannot rely only on memory. It must keep proving relevance in the present.

That is why the marketing and corporate communications function is now strategic. It must protect the bank in moments of risk, amplify its transformation, humanise its leadership, interpret its sustainability agenda, engage younger customers, and keep the institution visible in a crowded market.

Ijabiyi’s cross-sector background is valuable because modern banking communications borrows from many worlds: the speed of telecoms, the storytelling of media, the public-value orientation of development work, the customer segmentation of entertainment, and the trust discipline of financial services.

The opportunity before him is clear. FirstBank must continue to own its heritage while projecting innovation, governance strength, inclusion and customer-centricity. It must speak to corporates, SMEs, retail customers, women, youth, digital users, investors and regulators with clarity and confidence.

In banking, money follows trust.

FirstBank has appointed a custodian of that trust. The market will now watch how effectively the brand story is sharpened for the bank’s next chapter.

For Olayinka Ijabiyi, the key task is to translate FirstBank’s heritage, transformation and customer promise into a sharper, future-ready brand narrative.