Tomorrow, March 8, 2025, the world will mark the International Women’s Day to celebrate the women folks and their contributions to socio-economic development and life in general. BusinessDay also marks the day by featuring some women, who are leading in the Nigerian hospitality industry. Below are some of them, writes Obinna Emelike.
Cuthberga Onuoha
With over 14 years in her progressive career in the hospital industry, Cuthberga Onuoha is worth being mentioned among women that are leading in the Nigerian hospitality industry.
The Ghanaian-born hospitality expert, who is married to a Nigerian, is the director of Rooms Division, Lagos Continental Hotel, a position she had held in the last three years and which has not been occupied by a woman since the inception of the hotel.
Excitedly, the mother of two, started as a front desk agent, worked as a housekeeper, worked in the engineering and other departments.
Today, she occupies one of the top positions in any hotel. As she will always point out, “I was not employed as Director of the Rooms Division, I learnt and grew on the job”.
Moreover, Cuthberga’s venture into the hospitality industry is intentional, amid a passion that was further fueled by a formal training in Hospitality Management.
Her driving force is that fact there are no roles that are meant for the male folks only. Hence, preparing oneself for opportunities, commitment to excellence at work and continuous improvement, she insisted, can see any woman in the highest position in any hotel.
So far, Cuthberga has lived up to her role at Lagos Continental Hotel, especially ensuring a seamless transition of guests from the quality experiences with InterContinental Hotel, former managers and now to Lagos Continental Hotel.
She gives credit to her team members for their support and the management of Continental Hotels Group for giving opportunity to excel in her passion of meeting and making guests happy.
The industry is on the lookout for Cuthberga, who is also passionate at grooming more females in leading positions in the hospitality industry, starting from her team members.
Of course, she is not done yet, as she aspires to occupy more elevated positions in the industry in her career.
Oluwafunmilola Philip-Adewunmi
In an industry that thrives on innovation, customer experience, and revenue optimization, Oluwafunmilola Philip-Adewunmi stands as a trailblazer, shaping the commercial landscape of hospitality in Nigeria. With an impressive 27 years of experience, she has mastered the art of driving revenue growth, optimizing sales strategies, and leading high-performing teams.
As the Commercial Manager of Legend Hotel Lagos Airport, Curio Collection by Hilton, Oluwafunmilola has been instrumental in positioning the hotel as a leading destination. Since joining in April 2018, she has developed and executed commercial strategies that have significantly helped expand market share and enhance profitability. Her leadership in sales, marketing, and revenue management has further strengthened the hotel’s presence and redefined guest experiences.
Her career spans across hospitality and banking, where she has successfully managed marketing communications, direct marketing programmes, and client relationship management.
Beyond revenue generation, she is committed to repositioning brands, optimizing occupancy, and increasing customer loyalty. Her leadership has also ensured a near-zero level of guest complaints, reinforcing her commitment to service excellence.
Oluwafunmilola is not only a commercial strategist but also a mentor and inspiration to women aspiring to lead in hospitality. Her passion for reading, singing, traveling, creativity, and strategic planning reflects her dynamic approach to both personal and professional growth.
A strong advocate for continuous learning, Oluwafunmilola holds multiple degrees, including an MSc in Marketing & Communications from Rome Business School and Valencia University, an MBA in Marketing from Enugu State University of Technology, and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Obafemi Awolowo University. She is also a Certified Life Coach and NLP Practitioner, a Certified Safety Professional, and a member of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN).
As one of the top women in hospitality, Oluwafunmilola continues to pave the way for innovation, excellence, and female leadership in the industry. Her story is one of dedication, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.
Read also: Women need to prepare ahead for top positions in the hospitality industry – Cuthberga Onuoha
Fatima Omobolanle Salami
In September 2013, when the Nigerian hospitality industry welcomed the InterContinental Lagos, the first IHG Luxury brand in Nigeria, Fatima Omobolanle Salami was among the pioneering team, though in the capacity of a public relations executive for two years.
That was an impressive career start for the passionate Omobolanle in the hospitality industry.
Today and through hard work, she has proven her worth in the industry and is currently senior sales executive at Four Points by Sheraton Lagos, where she joined the sales team in june 2024.
Prior to her current engagement, she functioned as the general manager of Primal Hotel, an indigenous hotel brand and its AirBNB subsidiary for nine years starting 2015, further honing her skills in management, operations, sales and marketing.
Omobolanle also brings her expertise in customer service to bear in hospitality, as well as training and experiences curated from her time in the advertising industry as an account manager and business process outsourcing as a quality assurance specialist for the outsourced call centres of Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), telesales centre for MTN and Airtel, among others.
Unlike many of her folks, Omobolanle has a life ambition of owning a hospitality facility with a fusion of healthcare services, in the near future.
Mariam Ogbolu
Born and raised in Kaduna, Mariam Ogbolu is a senior hospitality executive, with an unwavering passion and commitment.
Currently, she is the Director, Food & Beverage, Radisson Hotel Lagos Ikeja.
With a flair for food, nutrition and human health, she began her hospitality career as an Assistant Reception Manager at a Lagos based hotel, and rising through the ranks, she took on key roles in the Food & Beverage department, including honing her passion as Food & Beverage manager at Protea Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos after graduating from the Kaduna Polytechnic, with a Higher National Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics.
Through her 20 years career journey till date, Mariam has held various positions including; Food & Beverage Manager at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kumasi City, Ghana. On her return to Nigeria, she continued with new experiences at the Best Western The Island Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, and moving on to the exciting role of Food and Beverage Manager at the upscale Radisson Blu Hotel Lagos Ikeja where she now oversees the department as a director.
A journey of greater heights for her, Mariam has grown with the organisation to now overseeing all aspects of the Food & Beverage department’s operations, restaurants and outlets including the signature fine-dining restaurant at the hotel, restaurant reservations, research and product development, F&B training programmes and operating procedures, public health and hygiene standards.
Working closely with the general manager and a team of dedicated personnel, her portfolio includes the daily management of a team of about 50 personnel, bringing to life special dining and events requests from local and international guests. Enthusiastic about helping people make better dietary choices, Mariam continues in her voluntary work with hospitality students and colleges in the country, sharing her expertise to improve food and nutrition choices that better impact personal and public health. Her greatest joy is simply being mother to her son.
Oluwatosin Stella Abraham
Oluwatosin Stella Abraham is the manager, Citilodge Hotel, Abuja.
She is a seasoned hotel manager bringing progressive 20 years of experience in luxury hospitality, proven track record of consistently exceeding guest satisfaction metrics while optimizing revenue and cost controls.
She is highly skilled in staff development, operational efficiency, and guest complaint resolution, with a demonstrated ability to successfully launch new initiatives and maintain high standards in a fast-paced environment.
She started her career in the hospitality industry in 2003 as a receptionist at Median Hotel and Apartment Ltd, Victoria Garden City, Lekki. From her first job, she went on to garner experience at other hospitality outfits including: Nicon Hotel, VGC, Lekki, Lagos; Peniel Apartments, Abuja; Tranquil Mews Hotel, Abuja and now Citilodge Hotel, Abuja.
Her career progression has been impressive from receptionist in 2003 to a hotel manager today, courtesy of her dedication, hardwork and consistent training.
Stella is not stopping yet as she continues to learn, improve and aspire for more responsibilities ahead in the hospitality industry.
Apart from being a manager, she is skilled in leading operations, teams, and processes to drive business and guest service success within highly regarded and established corporate business and boutique hotels.
She also trains and develops staff, oversees profit and loss responsibilities and drives sales and marketing efforts in hotels.
What seems to endear her to employers is her skill in negotiating profitable contracts and implementing marketing campaigns that have triggered increased occupancy and steady growth in average daily rate (ADR).
She holds some professional qualifications, including; Certified Hotel General Manager by International Hospitality Institute 2021, Modern Human Resources Management by Alison 2022, Hotel Service Culture by Staff & Temps 2022, Workplace Ethics by PHRSS 2022, Global Leadership Summit by Global Leadership Network 2021, among others.
Olalonpe Atunrase
Rafiat Olalonpe Atunrase is the director of Human Resources, Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel Lagos Victoria Island.
She is a trained pharmacist, procurement specialist, human resources practitioner and administrator. She holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the Ahmadu Bello University, a Master of Science in Pharmacology from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos and is a certified member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management.
She worked with Glaxo Smithline as a junior pharmacist (NYSC) from 1996 and 1997 after which she joined the services of the Lagos State Hospitals management board, serving as Pharmacist at the Massey Street Children Hospital between February and December 1998 and Senior Pharmacist at the Surulere General Hospital from February 1999 to June 2002.
She left the services of the Lagos State Government in June 2002 when she joined Airtel Nigeria and served as shop and Internal Sales Manager for two years, after which she was deployed as Team Leader for the Sales Order Processing Unit, a position she held for three years. Between 2007 and 2012, she worked at Telecgsm Limited as Manager, Facilities Management and Administration, later redeployed to Manager, Sales, Key Accounts and Premium retail outlets.
Since 2012, she has been with Radisson Hotel Group, an international hotel chain, as head of Procurement Department and currently serves as the head of Human Resources at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos where her skills span across talent acquisition & talent management, employee relations, performance management, Learning and development to ensure the fostering of a positive workplace culture.
She has also attended various executive and management level courses including the Strategic Procurement and Inventory Management course at Philips Consulting, the Logistics Management Programme of the Lagos Business School and the senior professional programme of the Nigerian Institute of Purchasing and Management among others.
