FUNMI ROBERTS

Funmi Roberts became a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria haven graduated top of her class both at the University of Ife, Ile Ife in 1981 and the Nigerian Law School in 1982 It was also in the University of Ife, Ile Ife that she earned her Masters of laws Degree, during which she was awarded the University of Ife Alumni Fellowship.  

Funmi’s tenacity and refusal to be defined or limited by her environment, have enabled her to build of one of the leading female-owned value-driven legal and ADR law firms in Nigeria, Funmi Roberts & Co, registered in 1989. She is also the founder of Funmi Roberts & Co. Nominees Limited, a company that offers cutting edge company secretarial services to several blue-chip companies in Nigeria. The two firms operate from Ibadan, Oyo State and Lagos State, with a focal point at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.   

Funmi Roberts who expends time mentoring young professionals, belongs to several professional organizations such as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), where she served in various capacities, including serving for several years, on the National Executive Council, the highest decision-making organ of the NBA. She is member and former chairperson of Oyo State Chapter of the Federacion Internacional de Abogadas (FIDA, which in English means International Federation of Women Lawyers). 

She belongs to several professional organizations including the International Bar Association, Business Recovery Practitioners Association of Nigeria, Society for Corporate Governance, Institute of Directors, Nigeria etc. Funmi is a Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (U.K), a member of the Global Panel of Mediators of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution CEDR, (U.K), a tutor and assessor in both organisations. Until recently, she was a member of the Dispute Resolution Panel of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and one of two Nigerians on the Mediator Panel of the World Bank and still serves as mediator of the Mediation Unit of the Office of the Ombudsman of the United Nations Funds and Development (UNDP).

Oluwafunmilayo, a Chartered Arbitrator, received global recognition for her dispute resolution expertise when last year, she was appointed a member of the ICC Court of International Arbitration, Paris having served as a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR since 2017. Also last year, she, and 3 others were appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to represent our country on the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague.

Funmi, who served as an African Union Observer at the Presidential Election in Kenya and as the Consultant who developed the governance documents for the African Union Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSSOCC), is well published and has delivered presentations on several platforms. She is the first female to serve two terms as Honorary Legal Adviser of Institute of Directors, Nigeria, was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Women in Management Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) from 2017 to 2019.  and until recently served as the Vice Chairman of the not-for-profit organisation, Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH).  She is the current chairman of ARFH Resources Ltd, Healthstack Limited etc. For 8 years, Funmi served on the board of the largest bank in Liberia, Ecobank, Liberia, where she was the chairman of the board credit committee, and was given a letter of merit at the end of her terms. 

Passionate about paying it forward, Funmi offers scholarships to financially-challenged students, and mentors young lawyers on various platforms including a program tagged ‘Breakfast with FR’. She is also a mentor in the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Women’s Forum. 

Funmi is married, and a grandmother of 6 and still counting.