Nigeria has an undoubtedly huge population of top female achievers who have dared to dream and to accomplish outstanding feats in their respective fields. These daughters of Eve are effortlessly ranking their male counterparts. One of such women is Arunma Oteh, former Director General of the nation’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Oteh is a darling of the Nigerian financial sector where she is well-respected for her stern handling of the SEC and her no-nonsense attitude towards financial impropriety, thereby restoring the glory days to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) during her tenure as SEC boss. Oteh, a 1984 first-class graduate of Computer Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with concentration in finance and capital markets from the Harvard Business School.
With over 25 years career that took her as high as holding top positions in international financial institutions like the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) where she distinguished herself and operated with great influence and positive impact. As SEC DG, Oteh was the highest ranked capital markets official in the country and was responsible for the regulation of the country’s capital markets, including the NSE.
She was nominated to the position by President Umaru Yar’Adua in July 2009 and was confirmed by the Senate in January 2010, and remained in the position until January 2015. Under her watch, the NSE gained prominence with investors across the globe and was able to increase its capitalization by trillions of naira. She carried out sweeping reforms in a bid to eradicate abuse of capital market practices in the country, replacing the entire leadership of the NSE in what is still considered to be the boldest move ever made by a SEC boss.
Before taking up appointment as SEC DG under the administration of late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua in January 2010, Oteh was the Group Vice President, Corporate Services at the AfDB, a position she held for about three years and a half. Prior to that, she was Group Treasurer for AfDB from 2001 to 2006. From 1997 to 2001, Oteh was Division Manager,
Investments and Senior Investments and Capital Markets Officer from 1993 to 1997 and Senior Financial Analyst, Public Sector Lending Department between 1992 and 1993. For a year (between 1990 and 1991), she was a Research Associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development and a Consultant with Irving Skinner in London just a year before, from 1987 to 1988.
She worked for two years at Centre Point Investments Limited in Lagos between 1985 and 1987 but really held her first job from 1984 to 1985 as a Computer Science lecturer at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) while serving as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member in Edo State. Oteh’s distinguished service in the AfDB played a huge role in the emergence of Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina as the new President of the bank after she lent him her support in the extensive lobbying that characterized the campaigns before the elections for the top position of the continental financial institution.
Renowned for her diligence, persistence and hardworking nature, Oteh’s career has not been without laurels applauding her contributions to the financial sector, both in Nigeria and on the African continent. One of such laurels was a “Distinction In Public Service” award from the Commonwealth Business Council/African Business in 2011.
Another was a national honour as Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in “recognition of her contribution to economic development and to transforming the Nigerian capital markets” the same year. Respect for her pedigree and for her commitment to the growth of the global economic and financial sector led to her being elected as the Chairperson of the Africa Middle East Regional Committee of IOSCO.
She was also a member of the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). As Arunma Oteh open another chapter in her distinguished career as she enters World Bank in July, 2015 with an appointment as the Bank’s new Vice President and Treasurer. According to the World Bank, “Ms. Oteh was selected to this position through an international competitive search”. The institution hinted that its choice of Oteh included the fact that ‘she led the transformation of the country’s capital markets industry into a major global presence’.
With her new appointment, Oteh joins the league of top Nigerian women to hold a Vice President position at the Bretton Wood Institution. One was former Finance Minister under the administrations of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan; Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who was Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group. Okonjo-Iweala stopped short of becoming World Bank President on two occasions at end of the tenures of both Paul Wolfowitz and Robert Zoellick.
Another woman to work for the World Bank was former Education Minister under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration and co-founder of Transparency International (TI), Oby Ezekwesili. She was the Vice-President of the World Bank’s Africa division between 2007 and 2012 before being replaced by Makhtar Diop. Oteh’s appointment proves without a doubt that Nigeria has not only beautiful women, but intelligent ones with strong leadership skills excellent enough to lead the globe.
Soaring all the way to the top in her career and taking Nigeria to an even greater level on the global scene, Oteh has proved that she is indeed worth her weight in gold as far as the local and international financial sector is concerned.