Victor studied Sociology at the University of Ibadan from 1976 to 1979. He obtained Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Lagos and later studied Law in the same University. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1996. Following a 6-year HR work experience in a private company in Lagos, Victor joined Nigerian Breweries in 1986 as Personnel Manager, initially at Headquarters Lagos. He later transferred to Kaduna as Brewery Personnel Manager. He returned to Lagos HQ to assume a new position as Job Evaluation Manager. In preparation for his new role, Victor had a 6-month on-the-job attachment to the UAC Remuneration Adviser and the Unilever UK Remuneration Department. He attended Remuneration Techniques Workshop at the Unilever Head Office in Black Friars, London, complemented by on-the-job attachment in the Personnel Department of various Unilever Production sites in the UK. Victor’s function was enlarged to combine Job Evaluation and Remuneration, thus becoming the first HR Specialist in the Company’s history to head the Reward function. Much further into his job evaluation career, Victor attended several Hay Job Analysis/ Evaluation Workshops in London, Paris and Cape Town thus becoming one of the first Hay Certified Job Evaluation Specialists in the Nigerian HR Community. Victor was later appointed Industrial Relations Manager.
In this role, he managed Employee Relations, Collective Bargaining, Employee Engagement, HR Policy Development and related matters at corporate level. He was subsequently appointed Manpower Development and Training Manager with responsibility for Management Recruitment, Career Planning, Talent Management, Learning and Development. As Manpower Development Manager, he developed and implemented the Nigerian Breweries Campus Management Initiative (CMI), now one of the key pillars for attracting bright young Nigerian graduates into the organization.
He also developed and implemented a Performance Appraisal Calibration System, to ensure objectivity and transparency in the company’s appraisal process. In 2002, Victor was seconded to Heineken Corporate Headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In Amsterdam, he worked first, as Human Resource Consultant in the global team of Heineken Hay Job Evaluation Specialists. Subsequently, he was appointed HR Policy Development Officer; Manager - Corporate Social Responsibility for Africa/Middle East and lastly as Human Resource Director, Africa/Middle East. In this last role, he supervised the HR function across Heineken operations in the region, travelling extensively in Central, West and North Africa as well as the Middle East. He returned to Nigerian Breweries in October 2008 to assume the role of Human Resource Director.
Whilst on cross posting in Holland, he was privileged to lead core HR projects in East and Central Europe, The Netherlands, Switzerland, North, Central and West Africa.
Victor attended Executive and Senior HR Leadership Development Programs including the Unilever General Management course at Four Acres, Surrey UK; Cornell University Utaka New York State, IMD Lausanne Switzerland, London Business School UK and Harvard Business School, Boston Massachusetts, USA, among others. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Victor served actively in the various organs of the Institute for many years and eventually was elected President & Chairman of Council of the Institute from 2013 to 2015.
