THE Board of Directors of Supercard Limited has announced the voluntary retirement of the pioneer chairman of the company, Prof. Adebayo Dada Akinde.

In the same token, the board has announced the appointment of Mr. Demola Aladekomo as the new chairman.

Akinde is a renowned professor of Computer Science from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife (OAU). He is reputed to have propelled the company through extensive research and development (R&D), sound leadership and corporate governance culture from a financial loss-making position to profitability.

The professor said he "had to leave the stage for a young, energetic and dynamic successor to lead the company to even greater heights and profitability, increased market share and relevance in world Technologies"

Aladekomo, referred to as a genius with irrepressible appetite for birthing and adapting technologies with a burning desire to make Nigeria the technological hub of the world, is a versatile and successful Computer Engineer with over 25 years experience.

He is the pioneer Managing Director of Chams Plc, a company that is reputed to have contributed immensely to the technological advancement of Nigeria.

Chams Plc under Aladekomo is responsible for developing several groundbreaking technologies in Nigeria, the conceptualization and formation of Valucard Plc, the first electronic card payment firm, that involved several banks in Nigeria. Chams is reputed to have set up the largest card personalization plant in the world in its Abuja office with the capacity to produce 1.75 million cards per day. Chams Plc recently placed Nigeria on the world map when two of its Chams Cities (digital mall and online transaction centres) in Lagos and Abuja were certified by the Guinness Book of World records as the largest centres in the world.

Commenting on the development, the Managing Director of Supercard Ltd. Mr. Femi Williams was full of glowing appreciation to the outgoing chairman whom he described as having led the company to such enviable heights. Williams also said with an air of assurance that, he had no doubt about the quality of leadership that Aladekomo, the new chairman, would be bringing to the firm.

Supercard Limited, a member of Chams Plc group of companies, has grown over the years to become an active player in the identification and electronic-payment space. The company is reputed to possess the best skills and competence in biometrics technology in Nigeria. These skills have been deployed successfully to assist many state governments, educational institutions and embassies in Nigeria.

Supercard is known to have pioneered the issuance of multi- application cards in Nigeria while also in the advanced stage of launching what promises to be a revolutionary new card scheme to be called SmartID. SmartID will be the first real multi-application smart card with several solutions on one card.

(The Guardian, January 13, 2010 )