By Osinachi Gift Mar, 25, 2022 Private

In an email booklet that reached out from Bento Africa’s board of directors to the corporation’s clients and collaborators on Wednesday evening, the board proclaimed that Ebun Okubanjo will be holding “some moment off” and handing over all people-related rulings to his co-founder and COO, Chidozie Okonkwo. Chidozie will oversee people operations alongside the company’s country directors.

Bento’s board’s conclusion enters a few days after TechCabal unearthed the harsh ordeals of ex-employees of payroll startup Bento Africa and how Okubanjo had allegedly been the initiatir of that via direct and indirect bullying, verbal abuse, and threats to employees.

In their email to Bento’s prospects and clients, the committee convicted Ebun’s first statement to the story, mostly his tweets blasting the credibility of newspaper TechCabal.

“As professional Investors and Operators, we were aghast at the shielding and escalators' first tweets of Ebun on the matter, which we quickly moved against. Our responsibility and charter are to the Committee, not the creators we invest in,” the board said in an email sent to all Bento employees, before and existing.

Again, the board said that while Okubanjo is taking a back seat with immediate effect, an internal investigation into Bento’s workplace culture has begun. It also announced that it would be reviewing Bento Africa’s internal management practices and processes.

“We are reviewing the HR and People practices and guidelines at Bento and will work with HR consultants and the company’s in-house team to make sure that it is reflective of human values that drive sustainable performance,” said the board in the email.

The board claimed to have “…ensured that the current team is safe and free to speak freely. We voided any NDA’s that may have been in place and instructed Management to let the Team know they were free to speak to any journalist that contacted them.” TechCabal reached out to current Bento Africa employees who confirmed that they had been granted permission to speak freely without worrying about consequences.

Okubanjo also disclosed a personal apology to current and past employees of the company via his Medium page. In the post titled From Ebun. With Love, Okubanjo admits to encouraging a work culture of “long workdays and weeks” and apologised for his abusive outbursts. He also confirmed the board’s decision to appoint Chidozie to lead people operations at the company.

Okubanjo writes, “I am sorry,” “I have some work to do here and there is a lot of room for growth. It will be a lie if I say this is an alteration I can prepare overnight, I would desire to comprehend how to balance enthusiasm with empathy. I will step away from all people's decisions in the company. Chidozie will take over along with our new Head of People — Her arrival could not have been further early. The country leads will also be instrumental in helping shape a more humane people policy.”.

In a bid to fix up cracked bridges, the CEO also encouraged past and present employees who have “felt that fire that burns [sic] so hot when we are in the thick of it” to reach out to him. 

Bento Africa Employees exposed Ebun.

Tags: Bento Africa Toxic Workplace Tyranny Unhealthy work ethics terrible bosses horrible bosses

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