While serving as company secretary and legal advisor at Diamond Bank, Uzoma Uja has changed the culture of the legal department, making it more approachable, proactive and instituting a business partner model – something she thoroughly takes pride in.

Uja currently manages a team of 36 lawyers in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and Diamond Bank WAMU, which covers Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo and Benin Republic. Prior to this role she had a successful spell at Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria as assistant company secretary, legal manager where she lead the Wapco legal team in the merger of the Lafarge entities in South Africa and Nigeria to form a $1bn revenue generating company and the sixth largest entity listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. She also worked for FinBank as part of the team to merge First Atlantic Bank with Inland Bank, NUB International Bank and IMB to form FinBank.

‘The international and local transactions have shaped my expertise as a lawyer, it has also impacted on improving my interpersonal skills to be more inclusive in my work’ explains Uja. Amongst her most career-defining transactions, Uja concluded the share purchase of Lafarge Africa shares in United Cement Company in Nigeria.

Active in a number of social initiatives, Uja is commended by peers for being ‘passionate about the empowerment of the girl child’ and drives a girl empowerment seminar for underprivileged girls in rural eastern Nigeria under the platform of “Purple & Red Stitches”.