MEET ADEJOKE ADELEKE, DEPUTY CFO OF A LISTED COMPANY 5 YEARS AFTER NYSC
We have featured on this platform many Nigerian professionals with rapid career rise, that of Adejoke Adeleke is yet another story we found interesting enough to feature. In March 2009, she completed her NYSC and started her first permanent job. By August 2014, she had risen to become Deputy CFO of a company. Not just a company, an oil company. Not just an oil company, an oil company listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange, a plc.
And no, this is not a case of a billionaire Chairman fixing his daughter in one of the companies he chairs. No, this was someone that wrote aptitude test like everyone else 5 years earlier, and joined the oil company 2 years earlier after undergoing regular interview process.
Adejoke Adeleke holds a first class bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife and a Cum Laude master’s degree in Finance and Economics from the Southern Illinois University, USA. She is a chartered accountant and received the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Merit Award for overall best performance in 2006. She has received several other awards such as the Shell University Award, Most Outstanding Female Student –OAU Economics Department, the Best student in Monetary and Business Economics (2007) and also Unilever Scholarship Award. In addition, she is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors and The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
Adejoke did her youth service in Bank PHB 2008/2009 before sealing a move to KPMG shortly after her NYSC. She consolidated her Big 4 experience with a move to PwC in 2011, before landing a job as Risk Management/Internal Audit Audit & Control Supervisor at Eterna Oil & Gas in March 2012, her last job before she proceeded to the US for her Master’s degree in Finance & Economics.
Upon completion of her master’s programme, she returned to the same company in August 2014 as Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO). CFO is the peak of finance career in the corporate hierarchy, rising to a step just below it within 5 years is no doubt an inspiring feat. She achieved that at 29. Now 31, how did this lady achieve this?
JarusHub Editor had come across her on LinkedIn only recently, despite being a year her senior in the same department in the university. Fascinated by her impressive profile, we sought her out to tell us her story if only to motivate our teeming readers who are majorly students, fresh graduates and young professionals.
1, You have a very fast career rise, becoming the Deputy CFO of a listed company less than 6 years after completing your NYSC. This is a very rare feat. What do you think has kept you going?
AA: Well, to God be the Glory. For me, I think it’s a case of opportunity and luck. Being at the right place at the right time. There are other great and talented people better than me; but I was fortunate enough to meet with the right opportunity at the perfect time. The desire and determination to excel has kept me going.
2, You’re an alumna of KPMG & PwC, 2 of the professional services firms together known as BIG 4. At JarusHub, we normally advise students and graduates that wish to pursue a career in accounting and finance to try to start from these firms. Do you agree with this? What exactly is special in these Big 4?
AA: Good question. I always advise every graduate that comes to me for advice to always start with an audit firm. Even if you can’t get into the big 4, there are some other notable audit firms around like the PkFs, Grant Thornton, BDO etc. But you see, the graduates of these days are after money. These Audit firms don’t pay as much as an oil company or bank would pay; but the depth of experience you get from them is phenomenal. I remember when I completed my NYSC in a Bank back in 2009; I was retained as a banking officer and at the same time had the offer from KPMG. I chose to go to KPMG despite the fact that the bank was going to pay me almost 2 times of what KPMG offered. Two years down the line, the bank collapsed and most staff were laid off. I look back at some of the staff I left there and most of them were still on the same position they were before I left.
What makes these firms special is the varied experience you get from them. You have a holistic understanding of how businesses work, their processes, controls etc. You learn 10 years of work in one year. You are able to sit face-to-face with the MD of a giant multinational company and put your points across. It makes you tick and sound. It also helps you build leadership skills.
3, You had your first degree in economics, why did you decide to pursue a career in accounting?
AA: Funny enough, it was not that straight forward. After completing secondary school, I was torn between a career in economics and accounting. You see, I love mathematics and I wanted to build a career premised on mathematics. Economics and accounting came up as the two choices. It was very easy to make a choice between the two when I discovered that I can always take the ICAN certification even if I don’t have an accounting qualification. And so the race began, I put in for a graduate degree in economics and also enrolled for the Institute of Chartered Accountants exam. To God be the glory, I qualified as a chartered accountant a year before graduating from Ife as an economist. So, it was a case of killing two birds with a stone.
4, I looked at your LinkedIn profile and saw that you have won multiple awards including best student in Monetary Economics and Business Economics at the Department of Economics, OAU, Ile-Ife, for your set. As a graduate of Ife economics department myself, I know how competitive these two prizes are. In fact, you’re the first person I’m coming across that won the 2 prizes. And I also know a couple of very brilliant students in your set (I finished from same department a year earlier). How were you able to achieve this rare feat?
AA: Well, like I said, nothing is impossible. It takes determination, focus and effort to do these things. I determined from my year one that I was going to win the two awards and I worked consistently at that. It’s not a day’s job. It takes planning, focus and hard work. Hard work does not kill. Of course, my social life was zero. That was the price I paid. I never attended parties. Little religious activity. More of a triangular life. Something has to give way for the other in achieving some life goals. Of course, I am a more sociable person now.
5, You had a first class degree in economics (2007). You are a chartered accountant (winning first prize when you qualified in 2006). If asked to choose one, which of these two qualifications do you think has been more helpful in opening doors for you?
AA: Nigeria is not like the Western world that has a high demand of economists; so I would say being a chartered accountant has greatly helped to open the doors. Although having a first class has also helped especially when it comes to being shortlisted for a particular test or interview.
6, You had distinction in all your educational endeavors (SSCE with 9 distinctions, first degree with first class, second degree cum laude i.e distinction), is there any special way you study? What study tip do you want to give our readers, a good number of whom are students?
AA: I like to study at night when everyone is sleeping. That way I can think through what I am reading and also assimilate faster because everywhere is peaceful and quiet. In fact, most of my greatest ideas came to me at night. I try to do some reading during the day, but the rate of assimilation is always slower than at night. I also practice lots of questions and answers before exams. Sometimes, I stand in front of a mirror and start to practice the questions. I speak and answer as if I was interviewing myself. I think my love for mathematics also helps me. In mathematics, you have to memorise a lot of formulas and so I am able to retain most of what I have read and commit them to memory.
7, Who is your career mentor?
AA: I love Michelle Obama because she is intellectually sound (especially as it relates to her a career), a good wife and a wonderful mum. She is able to balance all three appropriately. That is who I aspire to be. Have a wonderful home and a great career.
Thanks.
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What is she hiding that we cant view her linkedin profile