Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe and Diverse Law Career Paths
The banking industry in Nigeria is experiencing a Joyous January. It records twin wins in gender balance leadership and promotes competence on all fronts, which has been the critical factor in continuous success in that sector. The recent appointment of Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank, one of the strongest public quoted banks in Nigeria, was received with pleasant feelings. It is worthy to state that her appointment received no objection from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Stock Exchange, key regulators in the sector the bank holds growing stakes. Industry watchers expected the appointment to receive excellent endorsements, and it sure did as the New Chief Executive Officer had, over time, distinguished herself in both personal and professional life.
Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe has over 30 years of banking experience, including stints at Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, and Enterprise Bank Plc. She joined Fidelity Bank Plc’s Board of Directors in 2015 and has reportedly played a very integral role in transforming the bank’s Lagos and Southwest Directorate before her recent appointment. My writing’s key fulcrum is her legal background, which I believe can serve as lessons to law students in training, young lawyers in transit, and every member of the “legal republic” still in the continuous task of answering the career path question. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe is a graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and my great alumni faculty we are all proud of and also holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from Kings College in London. A keen look at her work profile available in professional networks reveals that she invested over six years of her early career time working in a law firm and pure legal roles before making the switch to core banking functions. The legal profession in Nigeria today is blessed with hardworking members with vast career ambition. The bundle of issues that emerge at intervals, such as poor remuneration, lousy working conditions, lack of structured mentor-ship frameworks that offer practical opportunity blocks, can breed early frustration in young lawyers such as myself. The purpose of this writing is to call on fellow lawyers to look at the works and professional exploits of Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, and draw inspiration. Hope does not go into recession. It will end in praise. If it does not, that is not the end. We are currently in an era that calls for a specialty in specific fields. The market wants to know you for something. The new battlefield appears to be quantum computing, financial technology, corporate finance. Still, the pure market truth is that we cannot fit into the legal circle aggressively trying to serve these new needs.
As we can glean from the career trajectory of the new Chief Executive Officer of the Fidelity Bank Plc, starting one’s career from a place of general practice before taking a seat in the privileged chambers of specialization may work after all. Litigation lawyers will always be needed; in-house counsels are here to stay. Suppose your career plan is designed to take you off the daily drills of legal practice into the arena of core operation functions in fashion, entertainment, and general business. In that case, it will serve to restate that your aspirations are valid. Our education as legal practitioners has equipped us with broad-based abilities to hold our own in any field. The values of honesty, dignity, and consistencies instilled in us as lawyers are required for success in any chosen endeavor. I recall my days as a student fueled by native commercial awareness. I felt I could not fit into available descriptions of lawyers and created mine, which I call “Legal-preneur” which is a lawyer who is essentially an entrepreneur and keen on meeting needs with commercial value. This has guided my young practice, career choices, and looking at the decades-long exploits of the likes of Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, it appears we are not on the wrong paths. I encourage my colleagues to keep putting in the work. I also call on the Nigerian Bar Association leadership, headed by my fellow floret Kings-man Olumide Akpata, to amplify the voices and stories of “alternative lawyers” such as Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe and a host of successful others who has followed diverse career paths and yet made the profession proud.
The Section on Business Law of the NBA and the various other sections have since started work in this regard. It is key that no single lawyer willing to learn in Nigeria is left out. The change we seek in Nigeria’s legal profession will be a product of evolution and not revolution. It will occur over a long period and will start with one lawyer at a time. The message is out, and it remains evergreen that every legally chosen career path is valid. Congratulations once again to our learned colleague Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe and I wish her a successful tenure as the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc. We are confident she will make us all proud.
Geoffrey Nwokolo is a young lawyer, technology enthusiast, and Managing Partner of Situs Partners.
