YOUNG & SUCCESSFUL – The inspiring story of AKEEM OYEWALE, Chartered Accountant at 20, Bank Subsidiary’s CEO at 27

He has one of the fastest career rise in Nigeria’s financial services industry. This is not a case of a father handling his firm to a young son to run.  His father never owned the company he worked for. He joined the firm, writing test like everyone else. In this article, we tell the story of the humble, unassuming, self-effacing, probably media- shy Akeem Shina Oyewale, currently a General Manager in StanbicIBTC Group and Chief Executive Officer of StanbicIBTC Nominees Limited. Aspiring youths of today will find the story teachable and inspiring.

EARLY LIFE

Akeem was born in October 1977 in Offa, Kwara state. He was named Oluwashina – meaning, ‘God has opened the door of success’ by his parents because his birth co-incided with the period his then young parents were making financial breakthrough as young couples.

He started his elementary education at Adeola Model School, Offa, reputed to be the first private primary school in the old Kwara state (now Kwara and Kogi states). Due to his precocious brilliance, he was made to ‘skip’ primary six, writing National Common Entrance examination at primary five in 1987, and gained admission into Offa Grammar School, Offa. He not only coped with his ‘seniors’ in primary school at OGS, but continued the academic streak. By the time he finished secondary school in 1993, age 16, he emerged the best graduating student in the school and one of the best in Kwara state, finishing with nine distinctions, five of which were A1s. He had A2 in English Language – that dreaded subject, and biggest headache to public secondary school pupils.

Akeem was said to be a very studious pupil. He never played with academics. He was mostly seen reading at the school library, and at home, supported by his parents.

The then pint-sized Akeem was actually an all-rounder. It wasn’t about books alone.  Everything he learns, he grasps quickly. At aged 15, he was already a good driver – well, by the semi-urban Offa standard. Far before that age, he had completed the Qur’an in Arabic.

THE UNILAG DAYS

Offa, even by 1993 when Akeem left, wasn’t a village per se. And even if it was, the young Akeem can’t be said to be a village boy in the sense of the word, because one that had been watching CNN and aware of global events even from the remote Offa, can’t be said to be unexposed.

In UME 1993, Akeem scored 263 (and the highest score in Nigeria at the time was a little above 280). Akeem gained admission into Accounting department of the University of Lagos in 1994, age 17. Now, why would someone that had A1 in Physics, Chemistry, and other Science subjects, suddenly turn to Accounting?

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT BEFORE 21

His father had always admired accountants and actually wanted him to be one, but the then principal of his secondary school was able to convince him that his boy was too good not to be a science student. He went on to finish secondary school as a science student.

Added to that, he once said that, in 1993, at the 50^th anniversary celebration of Offa Grammar School, after receiving his prize as best student for that year, one of the VIP alumni present, Prince Yunus Oyeleke, former Country Managing Partner at Deloitte, who was one of Nigeria’s earliest Chartered Accountants of the generation of the Doyen himself, Akintola Williams, called him aside and enlightened him on the difference between an Accountant and a Chartered Accountant.

The old man’s advice to the 16-year-old Akeem stuck. Akeem started ICAN just the next year, 1994, in his year 1 in UNILAG. By the time he celebrated his 21 Birthday in 1998, he was not only a graduate but a Chartered Accountant. He was one of the youngest persons to qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Nigeria.  Who are your own advisers? Do you learn from masters in your trade? It isn’t too late.

Akeem finished from Unilag in 1998 with Second Class Upper (He was actually a First Class material, lost the First Class target probably because he was writing ICAN simultaneously). Yet, he finished as one of the best students in the Faculty of Adminsitration in UNILAG for the set.

Actually, just as he was about graduating from UNILAG, a number of job offers were flying around, including from Arthur Andersen, one of the world’s biggest accounting firms then. He wrote and passed the recruitment test of the then Investment Banking and Trust Company (IBTC) and joined the company for pre-NYSC in late 1998. He did his youth service there, and he is still with that investment banking giant today.

A RISE IN LEAPS

Akeem joined IBTC at a time the company was using a relatively small office in Marina, before its edifice at Bonny camp was completed. He would grow grow with the company and rise within short time, and by 2004, at age 27,  he was promoted to the chief executive officer of IBTC Asset Management Limited, the biggest asset management firm in Nigeria. For his role in positioning IAML, he was nominated by Thisday newspaper for the award of Nigeria’s Young Manager of the Year 2006. He was later moved to IBTC Stockbroking Limited as pioneer CEO. Subsequently, he was given other assignments as Head, Global Markets Sales at the enlarged StanbicIBTC Bank and Director, Equities Brokerage at Standard Bank. He is currently the CEO of StanbicIBTC Trustees Limited and acting Chairman of StanbicIBTC Capital.

Despite the metamorphosis and business combinations that IBTC went through it is worthy of note they keep turning out beneficial to the young stockbroker as he continues to rise within the group.

He became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) in 2008 at 31, and in addition to that he is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers of Nigeria (FCS). He also holds membership certificates of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN). His insatiable quest for knowledge also drove him to Manchester Business School in UK, where he did his MBA.

LESSONS

1. Advice and guidance: The advice of his parents and the VIP visitor to his school in 1993 had a big positive influence on his career.
2. Humility: Akeem is known to be very humble and self-effacing. Humility could be helpful in career progression.
3. Focus: Keeping eyes on the goal can be very important. The young banker refused to let his rapid career progression get into his head.
4. The positives of business combinations: It is common for employees to fear business combinations (mergers, acquisitions etc), but in Akeem’s case, the many business combinations that his organization went through turned out to be blessing for him. They keep offering bigger platforms for him to prove himself and with dint of hardwork, they came with promotions.
5. Fast education: Before 21, Akeem was done ICAN and first degree and started working. By 30, he already had 9 year experience. That was enough to be CEO of a group subsidiary. Fast education played a key role here.

Story compiled by JarusHub, Nigeria’s number career resources website.