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  YAHYAH - Turn Around Expert!

   He is an epitome of great enterprise; contributing assiduously towards building Nigeria's economy and creating employment opportunities for many Nigerians. Mr. Suleiman Yahyah the Vice Chairman of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO), is a leading investment professional and has wide business interests spanning banking, securities dealing, telecommunications and management consultancy.

A  tested administrator and consistent achiever, Yahyah's achievement to date represent the dividends of hardwork and professional ingenuity. His entrepreneurial success is a statement in resilience, determination and clear sense of direction.

    Yahyah has made considerable in-roads into private investments and entrepreneurship. He is the chairman of three successful companies; Rosecom.Net_f Rosehill Group Limited and Empire Securities Limited. He is also the vice chairman of Talafon Telecommunications Limited as well as Director of First City Group Limited, promoters of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc, City Securities Limited CSL Stockbrokers Limited.

    A First Class Economics graduate from Bayero University Kano, Yahyah graduated in 1987 as the best student in faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and thereafter obtained a Masters Degree in June 1990 with flying colours in Development Economics from the prestigious Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

    He qualified as a Chartered Stockbroker in 1996, with experience and know how in both the primary and secondary market activities.

    He is widely seen as a pragmatic financial expert with deep insights on corporate finance, market development credit and investment management Yahyah is an accomplished team building and leader with a proven track record of quantifiable contributions to growth and innovative organisational changes in various major institutions.

    As a specialist in turn-around management, he was part of the team which re-engineered the then NUB International Bank and served as one of their pioneer directors. FCMB Plc also invited Yahyah to join the core group as director to assist in restructuring and repositioning the bank.

    He is a pioneer member of the Investment and Securities Tribunal (1ST) and also provides tremendous support to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) as an active member. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Corporate Executives.

    Yahvah started his working career as a parliamentary correspondent for the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) before joining First Bank of Nigeria at the Kaduna main office as clearing supervisor. He also worked with the then Continental Merchant Bank Plc for five years, rising to the position of senior investment banker.

    For four years from 1992-96, he was managing director/chief executive of Empire Ventures Limited, Lagos. The company is a specialized finance and investment group involved in debt conversion, asset trading, asset securitization discounting, credit and portfolio advisory, among others.

    A widely traveled man, Yahyah has also attended high level workshops and courses on management, international business, capital market and leadership.

    He is married with children and is a keen Golf and Chess player.

    In 2002, Yahyah was appointed a member of the Investment and Securities Tribunal, (1ST) a specialised High Court set up by the Federal Government which aims among others, at providing an accessible, cost effective and timely means of settling civil matters arising from investment and securities transactions in Nigeria.

     As a fundamental reform initiative and the first of such capital market infrastructure in Africa, the 1ST was established to boost the confidence of investors in the nation's economy by enthroning law, order, justice and equity in the capital market.

    IST has nine members called capital market assessors' and secretary appointed by the Federal Government. All the members are either lawyers or experts versed in the laws, regulations, norms, practices and operations of the capital market. They were appointed from the public and private sectors.

    Suffice it to say that Yahyah’s  contributions to the tribunal have been most profound. His organization, Rosehill Group Nigeria Limited, is a indigenous conglomerate.

It is the only indigenous institutional investor on the Board of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO). Rosehill’s representation on NAHCO Board is consequent upon Sabena (in liquidation) divesting its shareholding thereby relinquishing its seat on the Board.

    Following the development, the ownership structure of NAHCO therefore changed with British Airways having 10 per cent, Lufthansa Commercial Holding GMBH 6 percent, Air France, 5.8 per cent and Rosehill Group, 9.5 per cent. The remaining 68 per cent shareholding is owned by the public.

    A thorough-bred professional; Yahyah has continued to excel in his chosen endeavours. His commitment to professional excellence and dedication to duty is unrivalled. In all the places he worked, he had at various times executed assignments entrusted in his care successfully.

    Yahyah thinks that human resources constitute the most important asset in the performance of any organization. It is equally his thinking that an organisation's magnificent edifice and state of the art facilities are simply not enough if skilled, competent and committed professionals are lacking.

    It is a truism that effective and efficient corporate governance in line with international best practices, enhance competitiveness of corporate organizations, including nations. Yahyah thinks so, and believes also that it corporate - governance is indeed, a recipe for success in a fast changing business environment.

    Yahyah is convinced that investing in shares is one of the best investments in Nigeria because the benefits are truly immense. Besides capital appreciation, investors reap dividends most times in form of cash which could either be invested further or used for personal needs.

    Though still a developing market, he thinks that those who embrace the capital market today have a lot to gain.

Culled from Daily Champion Newspaper of Monday, June 30, 2008