Ifiesimama Melvin Sekibo, given birth to on 18th of April 1965, is a Nigerian banker and entrepreneur adept at returning moribund companies to the path of sustained profitability. He is the pioneer and currently the CEO and Managing Director of Heritage Bank, Nigeria’s most innovative bank. A post he held since 2014.
Education
Sekibo has a degree in accountancy from the University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt, an alumnus of Harvard Business School OPM Class (2006-2009), and a Ph.D. Credit Management from the London Post Graduate Credit Management College, UK, an affiliate of American University, London.
He is a valued member and Fellow of a number of Professional Institutes including the Institute of Directors; Institute of Petroleum, London; Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Management; Institute of Credit Administration, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
He attended various international seminars, workshops, and courses in Banking, Insurance, Energy, Marketing, and Finance.
Career
Sekibo started his career as an Auditor 11 with the Rivers State government’s Audit department in 1988. He joined KPMG in Lagos as an Audit Trainee in 1989 before moving to ELF Nigeria ltd as a Cost Controller.
He moved to Investment Banking and Trust Co. Ltd, as an Assistant Manager from 1991 to 1997
He became a member of the Executive Management of Rims Merchant Bank Ltd. from 2000 to 2002, aside from being with Monipulo Limited (Petroleum Development) at its Financial Controller/ Head of Admin from 1999 to 2002.
He became the Group Managing Director of International Energy Insurance Plc., from 2003 to 2009 before the switch to Heritage Banking Co. Ltd as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2014 when he led the bank to acquire Enterprise Bank and got a national license from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate nationwide.
He has been the MD/CEO since 2014.
Summarily, Heritage Bank Plc. services include retail banking, corporate banking, online/internet banking, investment banking, and asset management services. Its headquarter is in Lagos, Nigeria. It has 127 branches, 202 automated banking centres and 350 ATMs across Nigeria.
Under the leadership of Sekibo, Heritage Bank developed as the most innovative banking service provider in Nigeria. It also won several awards including Best SME Bank in Nigeria by Capital Finance International (CFI) 2018. Also, Agriculture Bank of the Year at Nigeria Agriculture Awards (NAA) 2018, and many other awards.
Read Also: Youth Mentorship, pathway to Economic development, says Sekibo
Awards and achievements
A number of awards have been won by Sekibo, both for himself and for Heritage Bank Plc.
Under him, Heritage Bank was named at the Nigerian Credit Industry Awards: as the Corporate Credit Provider of the Year 2016, Award of Recognition presented to the bank as Nigeria’s Number 1 Youth SME Friendly Bank by Nigerian Young Professionals (NYPF), and Outstanding Partnership Award to it by Digital Reality Group.
Pilot Newspapers named Heritage Bank as the fastest growing bank in Nigeria in 2016, while it also won the CBN Sustainable Banking Award in Agriculture in 2017.
Some of Sekibo’s personal awards are; Man Making a Difference, Goal Attainment Made Easy (GAME), 2014, Award of recognition by Ikoyi Club TENNIS SECTION in appreciation for sponsorship of HERITAGE BANKING TEAM TENNIS TOURNAMENT 2014, and the International Society of Comparative Education, Science and Technology in Nigeria (ISCEST). Award in recognition of his selfless contributions towards the development of Education, Science, and Technology. December 2015. He also won the award of Leader of the Year Award, Leadership Clinic, Guardians of the Nation International (GOTNI), 2016.
Applause Achievers Award in his honour as an Outstanding Achiever in Banking Sector in 2016 and Appreciation Award by the National Women’s Summit in recognition of his financial commitment to Women Empowerment in Oyo State.
He got the Award of Excellence at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), conference, held on 26th October 2017, named Honourary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN), in the Atlanta United States of America in 2018, and a National Sports Award for his donor and sponsor towards Sports in 2019.
Mentorship
Sekibo has been involved in mentoring the youths over the years despite his busy schedules. He is involved in mentorship and giving direction to the youths. He has led several business forums for entrepreneurs and mentorship sessions both within Nigeria and outside Nigeria.
One of the cardinal points of his life, which he readily acknowledges, is mentoring the younger generation and this he does with all passion and God-given resources, buoyed by the early realisation of the need for the youths to embrace entrepreneurship as a means of survival.
Personal Life
He is married with children.
