Oceanic Bank Honoured In London As Nigerian Bank Of The Year 2007

By Uche Nworah (info@uchenworah.com)

Oceanic Bank International PLC has won the 2007 Nigerian Bank of the Year Award. At an impressive awards ceremony organised by The Banker magazine, a subsidiary of the Financial Times of London held on Wednesday, 28^th November 2007 at the prestigious Dorchester Hotel, London, Oceanic Bank was adjudged the Nigerian Bank of the Year for the second year running. The bank had earlier won the Nigerian Bank of the Year Award in 2006.

A delighted Dr. Mrs Cecilia Ibru, managing director of the bank who last month won the African Banker of the Year award in America said she was dedicating the award to all the staff of Oceanic Bank. According to her, “I am deeply blessed and honoured to be working with such talented, dedicated and hardworking team, without them, this award will not have been possible”. Dr. Mrs. Ibru said that Oceanic Bank is highly committed to delivering value to the Nigerian economy, and to its core stakeholders, “we will not relent in our efforts and will continue to maintain our usual high financial standards that stand us apart from our competitors”, Continuing she said that “This award will only spur us on as we continue with our various strategies towards being an African bank to be reckoned with in the international community”.

An excited Obaro Ibru, son of Dr. Mrs Ibru who spoke on behalf of the family said that he was pleased with his mother’s achievements in the corporate world. “You can see the turnout of the family here today. We are all delighted for her and Oceanic Bank and wish her and Oceanic Bank many more successes in the future”.  

In his opening speech, Mr Philip Timewell, editor-in-chief of The Banker magazine paid particular tributes to banks from the emerging markets for turning in excellent financial performances when their counterparts in Europe and America were facing serious crises as a result of the recent spate of turbulences in the global financial market. “The banks being recognised and honoured today should feel proud of their superior performance in their respective countries”, he said. On the criteria used in deciding the winners, Mr Timewell said that the winners were selected based on a combination of factors mainly market capitalisation, growth, expansion, service delivery and shareholder returns amongst others.  

The event was well attended by representatives of banks from over 143 countries which entered the awards. Highlights of the night included the lifetime achievement award given to William Rhodes, a 50 years veteran of Citibank.

Michael Buerk of the BBC who hosted the event had the audience reeling in laughter to his special brand of humour. Amongst those who came out to support Oceanic Bank included members of the Ibru clan led by Olorogun Michael Ibru, also present were the Ibru children – Oboden, Obaro, Ejiro, Osio and Rode. An elated Obaro praised her mum for making Nigeria proud, “She is truly an amazing woman, i am so happy and proud of her and wish her and Oceanic Bank continued success in the future”, he said.

Others present included Richard Jory of Structured Products magazine, Bismarck Rewane of Financial Derivatives, Hajia Amina Abdulahi (Group general manger in charge of investments at NNPC), Apostle Hayford Alile (Chairman of Oceanic Bank), Ambassador John Fashanu, Nkosana Moyo (Actis), Chris Udechukwu of BusinessinAfricaevents.com, Obi Emelonye, Ovie Ukiri (Executive Director, Oceanic Bank), Dan & Doris Akpovwa, Francis Okumagba (Executive Director Oceanic Bank) and his brother Albert Okumagba (MD – BGL Securities), Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi and many more. 

November 2007.      http://thelongharmattanseason.blogspot.com/                      Image rights reserved

Go to ImageShack® to Create your own Slideshow

Robot  # 1 | 29.11.2007 21:00

Oceanic Bank International PLC...Read the full article.

salstep  # 2 | 30.11.2007 05:07

How won't they win the award. After all the federal allocations that have been through the bank.

Oghre  # 3 | 30.11.2007 06:15

salstep, On this rare occasion we (including you) must put aside your negativity (bad belle) and rejoice for Nigeria. This award could have been fraudulently given to Cameroon or South Africa, going by the way the west hates Nigeria. Honesty prevailed and the bank won it for Nigeria. This builds confidence in investors not only for that bank but for the nation. If Oceanic bank took in many state and federal allocations, they did not do so at gunpoint; authorities chose them for their efficiency and trust or for corrupt reasons like Barclays bank UK or Chase New York will do anyway, either way it is not the fault of the bank. Surely the must be doing something right for international organisations to honour them. That’s my take Ben

Palamedes  # 4 | 30.11.2007 10:19

I congratulate Oceanic sweet moment but if the policy of quantity over quality is not redirected to safety, I fear the bubbles of these Nigerian banks shall head toward sharply pointed objects. The rate of expansion defies caution. Nigeria (and Africa, for that matter), so vast market, and prudence advices that these banks concentrate on the local markets, improve quality and its customer base before making the grand entrance into the overseas market. It seems that (in typical imprudent Nigerian style, alacrity, grand gesture, and all that), the Bank Ogas' objectives are to claim the “bragging rights” over who has the most coverage (I can hear the Ogas bragging that, “We are everywhere now!”).

mulan  # 5 | 30.11.2007 10:37

Sometimes I think the Nigerian bank chiefs are too insular I congratulate Oceanic and other banks that are doing well but they can't be too careful They just have to look at Northern Rock, previously one of the top 10 banks in the UK The last bank I worked for just before consolidation almost suffered the same fate What happenned? Obasanjo ordered all government deposits to go back to CBN Even right now, some are still floating on the tides of FDI they got during recapitalisation Some are even rolling on the waves of loans obtained from other financial bodies They out to be careful. A word they say is enough for the wise...

ozoodoo  # 6 | 30.11.2007 10:38

What is the award about? For services to the Queen, providing vehicles to crooked politicians to move stolen public funds to safe haven in UK at stupendous profit?

lumidii  # 7 | 30.11.2007 16:45

The very basic function of banks is to act as financial intermediaries in an economic system. Channelling funds from surplus sectors at a cost, into deficit sectors at a premium, and making a profit in the process. It is well known that Public sector is the biggest source of funds, Oceanic keyed into that a long time ago. Not only FG allocations as some one noted above, but also Public Sector collections franchise like Taxes, Duties, Levies; Parastatal bills eg NEPA, NITEL, MTEL; and Fees like WAEC, JAMB, NECO etc. Other banks with wider branch network turned up their noses at such, because they didnt want their banking halls clogged with customers, but Oceanic identified the untapped market and moved in big time. Even First Bank was paying approx N50M in WHT on div through a less fancied competitor(same oceanic) in the late 90's. Ditto UBN, UBA and their registrars dept. The result was the top four had their market share eroded by the emerging banks. The bank was collecting billions monthly, and just imagine the float income, before remmittances were made to the authorities. I saw the charts, and Oceanic was always at the top of the list. The fact is that First Bank and Union Bank have very cheap cost of funds, from over a century of being in business, along with the goodwill and stability that earns, coupled with the dormant a/cs in their books. New entrants can never build that, but they can be innovative, or at best, acquire it - as in STB/UBA. Even UBN had to starve off advances from Elumelu. As it stands, i'm of the opinion that another phase of acquisitions is in the offing, as the CBN boss has said three of the current banks are struggling. The Banker magazine must have had its own criteria for assessing the banks, and it is entitled to do that. Its left for us to decide whether we attach any importance to that or not. Congrats to Oceanic, and the Ibru clan. Thanks to Uche, for bringing this to us.

dem  # 8 | 30.11.2007 17:35

=lumidii;4294968379>The very basic function of banks is to act as financial intermediaries in an economic system. Channelling funds from surplus sectors at a cost, into deficit sectors at a premium, and making a profit in the process. It is well known that Public sector is the biggest source of funds, Oceanic keyed into that a long time ago. Not only FG allocations as some one noted above, but also Public Sector collections franchise like Taxes, Duties, Levies; Parastatal bills eg NEPA, NITEL, MTEL; and Fees like WAEC, JAMB, NECO etc. Other banks with wider branch network turned up their noses at such, because they didnt want their banking halls clogged with customers, but Oceanic identified the untapped market and moved in big time. Even First Bank was paying approx N50M in WHT on div through a less fancied competitor(same oceanic) in the late 90's. Ditto UBN, UBA and their registrars dept. The result was the top four had their market share eroded by the emerging banks. The bank was collecting billions monthly, and just imagine the float income, before remmittances were made to the authorities. I saw the charts, and Oceanic was always at the top of the list. The fact is that First Bank and Union Bank have very cheap cost of funds, from over a century of being in business, along with the goodwill and stability that earns, coupled with the dormant a/cs in their books. New entrants can never build that, but they can be innovative, or at best, acquire it - as in STB/UBA. Even UBN had to starve off advances from Elumelu. As it stands, i'm of the opinion that another phase of acquisitions is in the offing, as the CBN boss has said three of the current banks are struggling. The Banker magazine must have had its own criteria for assessing the banks, and it is entitled to do that. Its left for us to decide whether we attach any importance to that or not. Congrats to Oceanic, and the Ibru clan. Thanks to Uche, for bringing this to us. Well said sir. Unfortunately, a few folks cannot get over their personal hang-ups. Banks are banks, not churches. Their business is to make money for themselves and their shareholders. Every investor (big or small) will always take their funds/savings to where they think it will yeild the greatest returns. It's like that all over the world and since the begining of time. Yes, congratulations are in order in this instance.

ocnus  # 9 | 01.12.2007 04:55

It is always a pleasure to see the Ibrus doing well in a legitimate business. Their success in the fishing business and its parallel structure of more exotic imports is, no doubt, a good training field for the banking trade. Their reknown in the banking business is matched by the interest their other businesses attract from the international enforcement agencies.

Mikky jaga  # 10 | 01.12.2007 09:16

=dem;4294968396>Well said sir. Unfortunately, a few folks cannot get over their personal hang-ups. Banks are banks, not churches. Their business is to make money for themselves and their shareholders. Every investor (big or small) will always take their funds/savings to where they think it will yeild the greatest returns. It's like that all over the world and since the begining of time. Yes, congratulations are in order in this instance. Yeah, Lucky chaps. Banigo tried to go through the same route but lost his All States Bank to the bargain. One only hopes they will not play into the hands of another vindictive government like OBJ's. That will be the end of their so called success. Politicians, and by extension, governments are not reliable people to build your business success upon.

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---