DR. MKO BALOGUN B.ENG. (HONS), MBA, PH.D (HONS), CFM, FCMI; FMP
Born in Ibadan, Oyo State of Nigeria, to the late Dr. Abdul Ghani Kola Balogun (a trade unionist, politician, sports administrator, civil administrator) and late Alhaja Memunat Balogun, on July 5, 1967.
Muhammad Kassim Olatunde BALOGUN, MKO, as he is popularly called, attended various primary schools in Ibadan between 1973 – 1979 among which are Ratibi Muslim School, Odoye, Bere Ibadan, St. Patrick Primary School, Molete, Ibadan and Muslim Primary School, Oke Ibadan, he later went to Akure for his secondary education attending the famous St. Thomas Aquinas College, Akure between 1979 – 84. He proceeded to Apostolic Teachers College, Ilesa in 1984 and finished in 1988. He was one of the pioneering students at Wesley College of Science Ibadan in 1988, in 1989 he entered Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State where he finished in 1995 with B.Eng. (Hons).
MKO’s educational pursuit continued when he entered the prestigious Lagos Business School of Pan Atlantic University for his Executive MBA in 2004 and graduated in 2006. He started his Ph.D. degree in Entrepreneurship in 2012 at Walden University, US, in December 2012, he was honoured among other Nigerians in faraway Dubai with a Ph.D. in Management by Commonwealth University, Belize.
His work experience has taken him round various organisations, industry sectors, functions and he always leave indelible marks of achievement on his trail, everywhere he has been, the experiences prepared him for his entrepreneurial sojourn and focus on facilities management.:
- 1984 and 1989 as Executive Assistance, Public Relations Officer, Registrar, and Political Assistant,
- 1995 – 2001 Joined CFAO as a Youth Corp Member and rose to be the Technical Adviser, Northern Region winning the prestigious Peugeot Automobile Nigeria PAN Technical Adviser of the Year 2000 and twice Manager of the Year in the company in 1999 and 2000
- 2001 – 2004 UACN though General Motors in 2001 as Production Manager, later Marketing manager, and After Sales Manager. As Production Manager, the plant was voted as one of the best managed assembly plans in the world and as Marketing Manager expanded the sales network of the company across Nigeria winning the Best Manager Award in 2003
- 2004 – 2005 Bemil Security Services – AGM Armoured Vehicle Services in charge of marketing, production of armoured vehicles; shoes; coffins; etc, maintenance of vehicles and buildings.
- 2005 – He was at Leventis Motors Nigeria where he worked to introduce Mercedes Benz B-Class and Volkswagen Trucks to the market.
2006 UACN – Mr. Biggs as Project Manager, and later Facilities Manager, where he reduced the cost of Mr. Biggs set-up by more than 25%
- 2007 He joined UBA Plc as Mechanical Services Manager and later Facilities Manager and Project manager, at UBA Plc, MKO has to his credit the transformation of UBA house.
- 2008 – 2009 MM2 as facilities Manager in 2008 where he set the tone for proper FM of the terminal and reduced the cost of running the terminal by more than 12%
MKO left paid employment in 2008 to focus and grow his enterprise, Domme FM Ltd, a company he started with his project colleagues from the MBA as an MBA project.
MKO is the MD/CEO Global Property & Facilities International Ltd, and was MD of WSP FMC Nigeria, a position he took after the merger of Domme FM Ltd with WSP FMC Nigeria Ltd in 2012. As MD/CEO, MKO has grown the business from a local Nigerian company a company spreading across Africa with operations across 5 African Countries, he has also grown and stabilise the business since taking over in 2012 taking the company through mergers and rebranding. He is a member of the board of directors of Premier Paints Plc and the Chairman of the strategy committee of the board.
MKO volunteered as a lecturer for the Masters in Facilities Management Program at the department of Estate Management, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos when the program commenced in 2009 until he was appointed in 2014 as an Adjunct Lecturer, and continues to lecture on the program till date introducing several innovation to improving the knowledge and skills of the students such as – guest lecturer series; practical projects; visit to existing buildings to enable the students see FM in real terms.
MKO is a recipient of many awards amongst which are
- Nigerian Top Leaders International Magazine 2013 Global Lifetime Achievement International Gold;
- Corporate & Media Africa Communications 2012 Meritorious Diamond Award for National Development;
- Time News 2013 Excellence Gold Award for Economic Development of Nigeria;
- Entrepreneurship Award by FUTO Alumni. Peugeot Technical Adviser in Nigeria in 2001.
- Honorary Doctorate Award, Commonwealth University, Belize.
- He led his company to receive the best FM Company in Africa in 2012 and the Best in the world in 2015.
- Nigerian Selfless Service Gold Award 2015, Awarded by Majesty Global Publications
- NANS Leadership Award 2016
- NAPS Leadership Award 2016
- Listed in the top 50 Nigerian Professionals of 2016
- Top 50 CEOs in Nigeria 2016
- Leadership Award by Unified Nigerian Youth Forum, 2018
- Award of Service to the Nation by Congress of Nigerian Youth, 2018
- Award of Excellence, University of Lagos, in recognition of leadership position in the FM Industry in Nigeria. 2017
- President of THE PAN AFRICAN DIRECT MARKETING STANDARDS BOARD 2018 – 2020
- AI Acquisition International, UK 2018 Excellence Award – CEO of the Year Award 2018 – Facility Management
- NSE Ikeja Branch 2018 Award of Excellence
- Gbagada Comprehensive Secondary School Award of Excellence 2018
- NSE Akure Branch 2018 Award of Excellence
- African Price For Leadership Awards – African FM Personality of the Year 2018
- Real Estate Excellence Award Nigeria – 2018 FM CEO of the Year Award
MKO has also led his company to receive several awards and nominated for several others among which are:
- Best FM Company 2012
- European CEO Best FM Company of the Year 2015
- Most Innovative FM Company 2017
- 2017 Global Quality Award Nigeria
- 2017 International Quality Award
- ISO 2001:2015 Quality Standards
- AI Acquisition International, UK 2018 Excellence Award – Best FM company of the Year Award 2018 – Property & Facility Management
- Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ikeja Branch Award 2018
- Gbagada Secondary School Award 2018
- Real Estate Excellence Award 2018 – Best FM Company of the Year 2018
- 2018 World Global Quality Award – FM Category Africa
As a facilities manager, and popularly called Mr. Facilities, MKO holds the prestigious Certified Facilities Manager CFM qualification, of IFMA, he has been a lecturer at University of Lagos, since 2009 in the Masters in FM degree program, the founder of the African Facilities Management Institute, major speaker at various international FM and Building Industry programs in Nigeria, Ghana, Dubai, SA, attended various international FM conferences in US, Dubai, Ghana, Nigeria. His area of focus in recent times is Sustainability & Smart City Development.
MKO has attended several International FM programs of International Facilities Management Association, IFMA 2010, 2013, British Institute of Facilities Management, BIFM, 2014, Middle East Facilities Management Association, MEFMA, 2009, 2014 as well as training programs with Peugeot in France, 2001 and GM in Kenya, 2002.
He is a member/fellow of many professional associations and bodies such as
- Fellow of Chartered Management Institute, UK,
- Fellow of Institute of Direct Marketing Nigeria
- Member of Nigerian Society of Engineers,
- Member, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN,
- Member, Nigerian Institute of Mechanical Engineers,
- Member, Institute of Training & Development,
- Member, Nigeria Institute of Management,
- Member, Institute of Management consulting
- Institute of Administration, Nigeria
- Member of Rotary since 1986 and a Paul Harris Fellow.
- Member, Federal University of Technology Alumni Association
- Member National Steering Committee/Chairman, Publicity Committee, The FM Initiative – National Facilities Management Body in Nigeria.
- Founder, African Facilities Management on LinkedIn since 2014
- Member, International Committee for ISO Standards for the Global FM Industry
- Member, Nigeria National Committee for ISO Standards for the Hotel Industry
- Member, LBS Alumni Association and Past Class President, EMBA 10-2006
- President, African Direct Marketing Standards Board 2018 – 2020
- Patron, Southern Nigeria Youth Congress. 2018
- Founder and member, Doctor Muhammad Balogun (DMB) Foundation
- Fellow, Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria
As Class President, EMBA 10-2016; MKO brought members together, increased participation and connection between members, commenced and commissioned several projects at the Arrow of God Children’s Home, Ajah such as a Library equipped with 8 computers and inverter, Cooking equipment and a lifetime supply of gas, classroom upgrade with 5 whiteboards, annual 2 scholarships for university admission.
The DMB Foundation was established last year to provide full scholarships from Senior secondary to University Level to one child a year, already in its second year, the foundation also has other scholarship programs 2 polytechnics; 1 open university, 3 secondary school scholars, and 1 family sponsorship – house rent; small food business etc.
He is married to Mariam with 5 boys; Abdulrasaq; Kassim; Ali; Idris and Abdulmuiid