Jobs/Appointments
Banker Tasks Leaders on Innovation, Unveils Report on Millennial Employees
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A Marketing Communication professional and employee with one of the leading commercial banks in Nigeria, Mr Nduneche Ezurike, has advocated a revolutionary shift in employee management in the modern workplace.
Mr Ezurike, in his research work titled ‘Employee MarketPlace- a study on employee engagement and workplace innovation in the millennial age,’ cautioned that organizations seeking to create happy moments and fat pay cheques as a strategy for achieving improved productivity are in for hard times in the era of the millennials.
He advised that they should instead pay greater attention to creating enabling environment which harnesses individual talents in the work place.
According to him, “In the era of innovation, there is little correlation between organizations with the highest wage package and its net productivity.”
He revealed that the Employee Marketplace is an engagement design which seeks to harness employee self-interest to unlock organizational benefits of innovation and business growth.
“‘Employee Marketplace’ as a management model,” he declared, noting that it “provides a new paradigm on multi-teaming, employee self-interest and enterprise innovation.”
The banker declared that forward-looking organizations must deliberately renew their attention on the traditional three Cs: communication, collaboration and community, stating that since engagement remains essentially an emotional activity involving passion, empathy and creativity, hence efforts to advance digital transformation must first understand employee self- interest and emotional intelligence.
The report showed how leaders can take advantage of the creative energies and talents of the millennials to achieve innovation within the organization. The three-part Presentation include: a video documentary of professional perspectives on employee engagement, theoretical reviews of the subsisting practices of employee engagement as well as quantitative survey report which the convener conducted in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.(CIBN) titled ‘The Millennial Voice.’
Undertaking a review of the current practice of employee engagement, Mr Ezurike questioned the practical relevance of some of the existing theories on employee happiness, employee motivation and the Employee Engagement-Profit-Chain.
According to some highlights of the report which was done in partnership with CIBN, 41 percent of the millennials state that competitive salary will make them put in their best whilst 59 percent believe that manpower development, reward and recognition will enable them offer their best service.
On the operating culture within their organization, 41 percent of the millennials express dissatisfaction with it whilst 11 percent express confidence with their corporate culture.
The report also showed that 41.4 percent of banks’ current employee engagement activities are focused mainly on employee awareness. This figure is higher than product adoption (20.7 percent), regulatory information (13.8 percent), and change management (13.8 percent) respectively.
Sharing his opinion, Mr Biodun Adedipe, the MD/CEO of Abiodun Adedipe and Co, commended the research initiative as a unique kind of research; an incisive effort to unravel the seeming mystery of the generation X and their work attitudes.
Also, Mr Femi Awoyemi, the chief executive of Proshare, expressed his excitement, stating that ‘the matter which had always been discussed in hushed tones is now brought to the centre of agenda’. He noted the role of generation X to be that of supporter, facilitator and mentor to the young generation rather than competitor.
On his part, President of Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), Mr Charles Aigbe, lauded the depth of research undertaken by Mr Ezurike noting that it is in line with the association’s current effort to build the capacity of marketing communication professionals in the banking industry.
Mr Michael Ebia, a millennial and CEO of Ade Digital, who confessed he had never witnessed a conversation centred on millennials, praised the session as an insightful one.
“Overall, I now see a wide difference between collaboration and co-operation; I also understand communication more as listening to the millennials,” Mr Ebia declared.
The term Millennials is usually considered to apply to individuals who reached adulthood around the turn of the 21st century.
Millennials are estimated to constitute over 72 percent of the global workforce by the year 2025, whilst over 50 percent of employees in the banking sector are estimated to be in the millennial generation.
The initiative, according to the convener, Mr Ezurike, was designed to arm business leaders with the winning strategies in engaging millennial and Afrilennial employees as well as contribute to the global conversation on the role of millennials in the workplace, especially in mid to large organisations.
Jobs/Appointments
UNIZIK Appoints Nicholas Okoye Visiting Senior Lecturer, to Strengthen Digital Assets Education
Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) has appointed veteran investment banker and capital markets expert, Nicholas “Nicky” Okoye, as a Visiting Senior Lecturer in a move aimed at strengthening its capital markets and digital assets curriculum amid the growing global adoption of virtual assets and blockchain-based finance.
The appointment, which takes immediate effect, is expected to deepen the university’s capacity to train enterprise executives, entrepreneurs and policymakers in emerging areas such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), tokenisation of real-world assets and other digital financial innovations.
UNIZIK, which hosts one of Africa’s few dedicated Capital Markets faculties, said the appointment aligns with its strategy of equipping students and professionals with the knowledge and practical skills required to navigate the rapidly evolving financial ecosystem.
The university, in its statement, described the appointment as a significant milestone for the institution.
“Securing someone of Nicky Okoye’s calibre is a game-changer. As global finance evolves, we must equip enterprise executives, entrepreneurs and policymakers with the technical knowledge required to build long-term capital formation strategies. His real-world experience is invaluable.”
Okoye brings decades of experience across global and Nigerian financial institutions. His career includes serving as a Financial Consultant at Merrill Lynch in the United States, Chief Strategy Officer at the Nigerian Exchange Group, and Founding Group Executive Director of Operations and Strategy at Transcorp Group Plc, where he led fundraising initiatives that collectively exceeded $1 billion.
He currently leads the Global Investment Advisory Community (GIAC), a coalition of local and international banks, asset managers and fintech firms working to develop a digital assets ecosystem across Africa and the Caribbean.
Beyond the private sector, Okoye has contributed to public policy, providing advisory support to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on capital market regulatory frameworks.
Stakeholders in the financial services sector have welcomed the appointment, expressing optimism that his academic engagement would help build capacity among investors and professionals as Nigeria expands its digital finance ecosystem.
Okoye also holds an honorary Doctor of Business Administration from Enugu State University of Technology, awarded in recognition of his contributions to enterprise development and business excellence.
He previously served on the Presidential Jobs Board and the National Council of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, where he provided strategic advice on economic development. Between 2014 and 2018, he advised the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Project Triple E, an initiative designed to strengthen indigenous participation in the upstream oil and gas value chain by integrating community-based contractors.
The appointment comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to establish a robust regulatory framework for digital assets. The Federal Government recently inaugurated a National Virtual Assets Council to coordinate the oversight and regulation of virtual and digital assets in the country.
The council is chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria, with support from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigeria Revenue Service, as part of broader efforts to promote innovation while ensuring investor protection and financial system stability.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has been appointed by President Bola Tinubu as the chairman of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), with immediate effect.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Monday night said Mr Tinubu also made 25 other new appointments into 10 federal government agencies and commissions.
Also appointed was Major General Junaid Bindawa as chairman of the National Salary and Wages Commission.
On the board of REA are Mr Ahmadu Abubakar and Engineer Ilyasu Ibrahim Makinta as members and non-executive directors. The incumbent DG of the agency, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, and three executive directors previously appointed make up the remaining board members.
President Tinubu made eight other appointments to the Wages Commission, along with Mr Bindawa. Former member of the House of Representatives from Lagos, Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas, is the new secretary of the commission. Dr Ogbole Ene Lilian, Oladele Olatubosun, and Yakubu Umar Barde, representing Benue, Oyo and Kaduna, were appointed as commissioners.
Dr Mai Adamu Yau, from Borno, Ginika Florence Tor (Enugu), Engineer Lawrence Okoh (Edo) and Bello Morenike Iyabode (Kogi) were appointed as members of the commission.
Tosin Johnson Adeyanju, who was previously appointed as the Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF), has now been moved to the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission as Secretary.
Mr Tinubu also appointed Dr Abuh Mohammed as the DG of the National Population Commission, Dr Akinola Odeyemi as Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), and Dr Anthony Inalegwu Godwin as chairman/CEO of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission. Engineer Julius Oloro, a former council chairman, is the new CEO of the Kwara-based National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), replacing Dr A.R. Kamal, who died last January.
The President constituted the board of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, with Dr Abdullahi Maikano Saidu as chairman. Members include Mohammed Asmau, Mohammed Aliyu Makama, Dr Suleiman Gidado, Louis O. Ndukwe, Amaechi Ugwele and Olaniyi Idowu Onikola.
Shuni Muhammad Dahiru is the new executive secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education, replacing Professor Shu’aibu Shehu Aliyu, who was reassigned to the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) in April.
To replace Mathias Byuan, the former executive director, finance of the Federal Housing Authority, who resigned to contest the governorship election in Benue, President Tinubu named Gisaor Vincent Iorja. The new occupier of the position is an economist, legal scholar, and academic currently serving as the secretary of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC).
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In line with the 12-year tenure prescribed for non-executive directors of banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Tony Elumelu will on August 21, 2026, cease to be chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.
The board of the financial institution at its meeting on July 6, 2026, has elected Mr Emmanuel Nnorom as the new chairman.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, the lender said Mr Elumelu’s successor, a non-executive director of the company, will assume the new role on August 21, 2026.
Mr Nnorom is a chartered accountant with over 40 years of experience in banking, finance and audit. He brings to the role extensive leadership experience and deep institutional knowledge of UBA.
“I am honoured by the trust the Board has placed in me and deeply conscious of the legacy I inherit.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on the board, management and our staff across all our markets to sustain UBA’s momentum and continue delivering long-term value to our shareholders, customers and stakeholders,” Mr Nnorom stated.
Commenting on his retirement, Mr Elumelu said, “Serving United Bank for Africa has been one of the great privileges of my career.
“UBA has a unique competitive position, across Africa and globally, and I leave the Board with great confidence in UBA’s future.
“Emmanuel Nnorom is a leader of integrity, experience and sound judgement, and I am confident that the Bank will continue to thrive under his leadership.”
The board thanked him for his visionary leadership and exceptional contribution to the growth, transformation and institutional strength of the UBA Group.
