Bolanle Olufolake Opeyokun
Bolanle was born on the 19th of July 1976 in Abeokuta to Lawrence Akinsola Opeyokun and lyabode Olayinka Opeyokun. After completing her primary education, she attended Federal Government Girls College (FGGC) Uyo from 1987 to 1992 where she was made the House Captain of Green House, showing her leadership qualities at a young age. Being the intelligent and independent woman that she is, she chose to study at the University of Ilorin from 1993 to 2000 where she completed her education with a 2:1 in Civil Engineering. It was at the University that she rededicated her life to God serving tirelessly and diligently as an usher and positively impacting the lives of many during her time there.
She had the unique vision of studying for a Master’s degree at MIT but God had other plans for her and she eventually obtained her Master’s Degree at Lagos Business School from 2008 to 2009 where she made lifelong friends and an impact like she always did everywhere she went.
Post NYSC, Bolanle started her professional career at Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company in 2003 as a Project Supervisor for two years. She thereafter moved to VMOBILE Nigeria in 2005, where she served as a project manager for four years. She was outstanding as usual, going over and beyond what was expected and proving that a woman could excel and do valiantly in a field that was predominantly perceived as a ‘man’s world’ male at the time. She particularly enjoyed demystifying the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and enabling young girls to know they can have and indeed aspire to have fulfilling and rewarding careers in STEM.
The major part of her professional career was spent in Ericson, where she joined as a Customer Project Manager in 2009, following her time in VMOBILE Nigeria. She was responsible for turnkey projects for Telecom giants spanning: ambitious network rollout deployments, cell tower, and mast deployments across indigenous locals of Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, Transmission Minilinks, work on 2G – 5G with collaboration partners, end to end network deployments, modernizations, relocations, co-locations, etc.
Bolanle, being a prolific, trustworthy, and amiable employee, rose through the ranks and into leadership positions including holding roles such as Head of Project Management Office – Hub West Africa, and Network Program Director. Bolanle was a champion of human development and was a mentor to many employees seeking to become project managers or advance in their careers. Her last role in Ericsson was the position of Director – Network Program, which she held till the day she transitioned to glory on 28th January 2023. She was heavily involved in promoting the careers of women, anchoring both our International Women’s Day programmes and Girls in ICT Day events.
The Bolanle Olufolake Opeyokun Scholarship Trust (BOOST) honors Bolanle and her vision to empower more young women in the field of ICT.