Ms. Evelyn Oputu
Currently at the apex of the Bank of Industry as its Chief Executive Officer cum Managing Director, it was not difficult to understand why scheduling a meeting with Ms. Evelyn Oputu turned out to be an exceptional task. Having been on her trail for several months, you would leap at the first opportunity to speak with her. Both the writer and photographer had to wait several hours before being ushered into her expansive office. Her warm smile was welcoming.
At 64, Oputu, who has been at the helm of affairs at BOI since 2005, exhibits an infectious gusto for her occupation. When the interview tees off with questions related to some of the innovations she has introduced to her workplace which include a gender desk, her face lights up at the prospect of elucidating it.
‘There are two reasons why I introduced the gender desk,” she starts the interview. “The first is that I am a woman and the second is that the statistics are clear that 90 per cent of the poor are women. We believe that if women can be empowered, it will change the country. The statistics have it that when a woman is economically empowered, it has more impact on the family.”
Not many know that Oputu, an indigene of Delta State, wanted to be a medical doctor. With an across-the-board experience in investment and commercial banking, she reveals that, “When I was younger, I wanted to be a doctor. Medicine is a vocation where you want to help people who are physically ill. Then, as you grow older, your eyes open and you know that, there is a bigger illness- poverty. It is out there and you want to be able to assist as much as you can because finance cuts across all the aspects of our lives. Also, I thought that being an emotional being, if I kept looking at sick people and corpses all the time, I probably won’t be able to impact them as much as I would do in finance. I came into banking late in life. I was in my 20s when I decided it was banking.”
To her, meeting one of Nigeria’s experts on economic matters, Gamaliel Onosode, was an eye opener. “At that time, he was the CEO of NAL Merchant Bank which was the only merchant bank at that period. I did my undergraduate project with him. From the interaction I had with him, I found out he is also a man that has high integrity. He had the kind of spirit I needed to work. I started my career in investment banking but not at NAL Merchant Bank.”
Still talking about role models, Oputu buttresses the need for every serious-minded person to have a role model.
“Everybody needs mentors and not just women,” she reiterates. “History keeps repeating itself not because we don’t listen but because we don’t learn from other people’s mistakes. We can always do things better. You have gained a lot of experience from working where you are now and you can therefore advise a younger person who is coming after you. Mentors are able to impact on young people for them to get a bigger vision just to be able to see all the possibilities and the potential that they have. You may not even know that someone has seen through the issues that are confronting you, why not come out of it and learn something? That benefit can be passed onto a mentee who has not been there and who can see better in terms of navigating both their careers and their lives. So, being a mentor, who actually has the best interest of the mentee at heart, is actually something that is necessary but which we don’t do enough especially in Nigeria.”
An alumna of the University of Lagos, where she studied for a B.Sc degree in Business Administration and the Harvard Business School, soft spoken but firm Oputu offered tips, which if implemented, will witness many women rising to the pinnacle of their professions.
She says, “It is very difficult for me to offer tips about how to get to the top. First, you have to be self-motivated. If you want to do that, you must be able to sacrifice, which is also a requirement. It is not just hardwork; you must also have your heart in the right place. If you don’t have your heart in the right place, it won’t work. Sincerity and integrity of purpose are aspects of our work life which we take for granted. Most people believe that you can be insincere and still get to the top. They believe you can tell a lie and have your way. For me, honesty of purpose, focusing on the goal, looking beyond yourself and doing things for the poor are some of the ways to get to the top.”
Not done with that, she goes further to explain: “If you are too myopic in your ambition, people can see through it. Working hard is just one small aspect of it. You don’t just have to be focused; you have to prepare and stay at it, learn something new every day and pay more attention to personal integrity.”
While her leadership qualities are not in doubt, she humbly credited the success recorded so far at BOI to her team, whom she says, share her vision.
“I don’t think I have done anything differently and I am not sure you can say it is me,” she says chuckling. “I have had the same people that work with me and each person has their own style. I know many of them will say that I brought it out of them but it is the team that I have. They believe in the dream that we can impact society positively and they came on board. I don’t think it’s the way I do things. I did not even do it, they did it because I work with a team and they do a great job.”
Ask her why she makes being a CEO look so easy and she is quick to say: “It takes a good teacher and a good student to pass. If you don’t have good students, no matter how good the teacher is, you are going to fail. I am a mother too. You have to know how to manage people.”
She admits that managing challenges that come with her job applies to all aspects of her life. “You take each step at a time. The important thing is people would follow if they see that you are sincere about what you want. I meet good people every day.”
Her physical looks are not representative of her years. Slim and svelte, Oputu, without being told, is a die-hard fan of indigenous prints and this represents her style.
“Am I not an African and what should a Nigerian woman, who believes in her country, who believes that we are excellent producers of anything, be wearing? I think I would be contradicting myself if I am not African in every way. What I like to see happen is for Nigerian women to wear more African clothes that will attract outsiders to want to dress like us. I am Nigerian and I am proud to be one.”
One other thing that interests her is giving back to the society and this she does with much pleasure especially establishing a foundation.
“I have a foundation for young people that is dedicated to the memory of my late son. I started it for youths between the ages nine to 20 but now we have stretched it down to age five to accommodate our children at primary school level. We have the Ovie Brume Foundation and Ovie Brume Youth Centre where we help young people to see their potential. We also give some scholarships and we have about 130 on an annual basis. We also have the circle of women which is to strengthen the Nigerian woman. The ages range from 15-80 years old and we mentor one another. We want the women to have high integrity and be more polite. Also, we teach each other etiquette, parenting and we want each woman to stand beside a man, be his friend, partner and complement each other and not for her to be his punching bag,” she stresses.
Forthright, Oputu is a firm believer in living and doing right. “I think the most important thing for us is to constantly give back to society and not always think of taking.”
Source : Punch Nigeria
Via; @FreshMindWorld
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