Tunde Abatan, Associate Editor writes on the accomplished career of Marcel Okeke, renowned financial journalist and economist
How else would you describe the career and professional pursuit of a consummate journalist and writer who weathered the storm on all fronts, both in the newsroom and for several years in the corporate world?
For Marcel Okeke, the Chief Economist of the Zenith Bank (until September 2017) -one of the leading commercial banks in the country, graduating from the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1985 with a first degree in Economics came with a major challenge.
Okeke, who, for 32 years before his disengagement in 2017, held various top positions in the media and other companies he worked in, plunged headlong with other young colleagues after his youth service in 1986 into newspaper publishing-an area he knew little about, to earn a living, having graduated into joblessness and based on the belief that he could employ himself.
However, the economic challenges brought about by the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the then General Ibrahim Babangida regime who he said “introduced new economic and financial jargons into the management of the nation’s economy having refused to take the International Monetary Fund{IMF} prescriptions for loan to bail out the ailing economy” contributed to the short life span of the new newspaper venture, forcing Okeke and his gang of adventurers to pack up and dust their C.Vs and hit the streets looking for paid employment.
Being a graduate of Economics, Okeke was at home with the economic jargons brought about by the IBB’s structural adjustment policy and within a short time, he got a job with The Punch Newspapers from where he pounded the streets of Lagos looking for stories.
THE PUNCH
During the interview to join The Punch Newspapers, Okeke showed early grasp of the language and nuances of financial journalism, as his stories were published almost on a daily basis. This endeared him to the then Editor of the newspaper, Mr. Najeem Jimoh, who, before long, made him the head of a new business desk, mandating other reporters on the desk to report to Okeke.
“That feat was attained 30 years ago. I had the task of writing, re-writing, planning pages and in the process of doing all these, got exposed to all the beats on the business desk. I got familiar with banks, real estate, insurance, maritime and the oil and gas sectors of the economy”.
For a newspaper that was battling to survive based on diminishing returns on investment and lack of capital following its publisher’s demise, the management of The Punch according to Marcel had to set up a Recovery Team which paid courtesy calls to major companies of those days. And during these visits, he interviewed the chief executives, all in the bid to attract readership and advert patronage and help reposition the company (The Punch) and ensure its survival during the turbulent period.
All the moves, for Okeke who was an integral part of The Punch Recovery Team, were both an eye- opener and a challenge to sharpen his skills properly and before three years, he had been lured to the defunct Concord Group of Newspapers, specifically, Business Concord.
CHAMPION NEWSPAPERS
Okeke’s love for exploring new grounds made him to accept an offer at Champion Newspapers, just a year after he joined Concord, where he led the production of the first edition of Business Champion magazine to the admiration of many; especially the then Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Prince Henry Odukomaiya.
Despite his brilliant performance, he got a dose of newsroom politics as he was confirmed Deputy Editor –Business Champion magazine while the editorship of the magazine he pioneered was taken away from him. After all intrigues and scheming, one of the pioneer staff and member of the Editorial Board was made substantive editor of the magazine.
Consequent upon this, subsequent editions of the Business Champion magazine never came out until the publication was rested after months of inability of the new team to hit the new stand. Indeed, there were attempts to turn the magazine into a business newspaper—all to no avail.
SHELL
The biggest break for restless Okeke , who combines versatility with in-depth analyses of economic issues came in 1992 when he joined the Public Affairs Department of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria as its Head Information and Media Relations, Eastern Division, Port-Harcourt.
“The interview was an assemblage of ‘who is who’ in the media industry in Nigeria. Many editors from the electronic and print media attended the interview but as God would have it, the present Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, who was then General Manager of Shell, Personnel & Admin, was head of the seven-man interview team. This was after the shortlisting from an aptitude test.
“Having had a good exposure in energy reporting and the opportunity of paying working visit to Shell’s operating sites in Port-Harcourt and Warri, I had the advantage of first-hand information on the challenges of the company in its relationship with the host communities,” Okeke recalled
Okeke eventually got the job as Head of Media and Information, SPDC, Eastern Division, with mouthwatering remunerations, after the rigorous selection process.
He however had the hard task of managing the crisis period of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region under the military regime of late General Sani Abacha; marked by Ogoni struggle, hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa and the eventual annulment of the June 12 ,1993 presidential election. After about three years in Shell, he had the proverbial ‘Banana peel experience’.
He had an accident driving his official car and this according to Shell corporate policy amounted to stepping on the peel and with much work place intrigues, he had to leave.
PURE WATER
Having left the high paying job in Shell, Okeke with the knowledge in ‘Waste to wealth’ as a business editor, launched into producing and selling ‘pure water’ which he said was much sought after in Port Harcourt. In fact, he claims the record of being the first person to introduce ‘pure water’ to the whole of River State, in 1995; using the Ikeoku Automobile Spare parts market as his entry point.
BUSINESS CONCORD
For some reasons however, he packed up the water business and returned to Lagos with his young family. Not long after, his wife secured a job in one of the banks while he returned to the newsroom on what he termed his “second missionary journey”. Specifically, he was wooed back to Business Concord by Mr. Stanley Egbochukwu, the then Deputy Managing Director of the Concord Group and founding Editor of the business newspaper.
In Business Concord, he became the Editor and holds the record of producing its last edition in 1998 soon after the death of the Publisher, Chief Moshood Abiola, in detention, which took its toll on the Concord Newspaper empire.
THE GUARDIAN
Like a cat with nine lives, an undaunted Okeke made his way into the Guardian Newspapers in 2001 as Editorial Board member and in-house Economist and brought with him his experience as the Founding President of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN, 1990-1992), former oil company executive and business editor of repute.
ZENITH BANK
He received the advice from a friend to return to the corporate sector in 2002 when he met and had an interaction with Jim Ovia, Co-founder and then Managing Director of Zenith Bank but the offer was not consummated. Almost two years later at a top-level meeting at the Central Bank of Nigeria sequel to the N25 Billion minimum paid up capital for banks introduced by then new CBN Governor, Charles Soludo, he bumped into Ovia again and two weeks later a deal was struck. And Okeke joined Zenith Bank Plc as its first and only (till date) Senior Economic Strategist, on September 1, 2004.
This again, like his entry into the oil industry, was at a very challenging time for the banking sector. Most of the banks were scrambling to meet the new minimum paid-up capital; many through mergers and acquisitions and search for fresh funds through the capital market.
Okeke’s duties included, among others, economic research and intelligence, franchise enhancement, policy analyses, executive presentations; introduction and editing of many journals among which were the upscale Zenith Economic Quarterly, Weekly Economic Intelligence, Business Environment Scan and other on-line publications. He was also the representative of the Bank on the boards and Councils of many socio-economic organizations, NGOs, chambers of commerce, etc.
By end-2010, Okeke had been promoted an Assistant General Manager/Chief Economist and Group Head, Research & Economic Intelligence; and also heading the Bank’s Sustainability Group and coordinating the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) activities. He had all along also handled the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) functions of the Bank.
At the time of his disengagement in September 2017 from the Bank, Okeke had also become a much-sought-after keynote speaker, guest lecturer, discussant, resource person, mentor, etc; having also undergone executive trainings in several local and foreign reputable institutions.
Asked to compare life and challenges in the newsroom to those in the corporate sector, Okeke said “it is quite evident that the newsroom is a free world unlike the corporate world with its internal boardroom politics and intrigues”.
For him, there is no doubt that his interest and aptitude in reading and writing as well as some on-the-job trainings prepared him for the various phases of his journalism career, while his strong will to survive in the face of odds propelled him to the corporate height where he gained a lot in corporate management.
After thirteen years (2004 to 2017), Okeke disengaged from Zenith Bank but he is not tired of offering his wide experience through consultancy services, public affairs commentary and occasional articles in major newspapers and journals across the globe.
In addition to his degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, (UNN), Okeke who also holds an MBA (Finance) and Specialist Certificate in Financial Journalism from the Centre for Foreign Journalists, Reston, Virginia, US, is also fellow of several professional bodies. These include Fellow, The Institute of Credit Administration (FICA), Fellow, Portfolio Management Institute (Chartered) (FPMI), Fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration (FCAI), Fellow, Chartered Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC); Snr. Member, The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB), Member, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Member, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), etc.
