During this period, she built a reputation as a seasoned Lawyer and Corporate Governance advocate and retired from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) in August 2018, as Executive Director in charge of Corporate Services. In that capacity, she was responsible for General Administration, Branch Development and other Projects, Agent Banking, Total Quality Management, Procurement as well as the Cost Management Strategy of GTBank. In addition to her position as Executive Director, she served as Company Secretary/Legal Adviser of GTBank from 2006 till January 2017.
Prior to joining GTBank in 2006, Tola worked in other banks in Nigeria in various positions, including as Company Secretary/Legal Adviser. She also served at various times as a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Guaranty Trust Bank (Gambia) Limited, Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited and The Financial Institutions Training Centre of Nigeria (FITC).
Tola has served on various Committees over the years, including as a Member of the Legal Special Interest Group on Payment Systems, Vision 2020, Honorary Member of Council of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria and Member of the Technical Committee constituted by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria in 2018, for review of The National Code of Corporate Governance of Nigeria.
An alumnus of the University of Ife, Nigeria (now Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife), Tola obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) in 1987, graduating at the top of her class. She obtained professional certification (BL) from the Nigerian Law School in 1988. She also holds Masters degrees, in Law (LLM) and Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and Obafemi Awolowo University respectively.
She is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, United Kingdom (FCIS) and an Honorary Member of The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.