Victor Alewo Adoji
By Adebayo Obajemu
Nigeria politics has been viewed as a self -serving, narcissistic platform by a set of egotists who have no interest in the people they claim to represent, and on behalf of who they hold power in trust.
This perception of power and politics by the people is well grounded in the reality of their experiences in the hands of politicians right from independence.
One of the outcome of this is apathy on the part of the people.
In Kogi State, the people have not been lucky with their representatives at different levels, and this is evident in the backwaters status of the state.
All this is about to change with the hallowed entry into Kogi East Senatorial race on the platform of People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
The banker-economist turned politician is not a run of the mill political adventurer like many who have gone into politics,but a calm , calculated strategist whose sole goal for venturing is to rescue his people from the shackles of bad representation, poverty, distance from governance and poor educational opportunities.
He is not new into giving back to society, even before his attempt to govern the state in 2019; he had been in philanthropic activities of empowering the people of Kogi East.
His going into politics was a response to the persistent calls of his people to serve them in formal capacity as their representative in the hallowed chamber of the Senate.
Francis Bacon, the British renaissance philosopher once said that some are born great, while others attained or achieved greatness, even as some have greatness thrust on them.. For Adoji, it is a combination of being born great and working hard to attain greatness.
As the former Kogi State governorship and Kogi East Senatorial District aspirants during the last 2019 general elections steps into race for the Senate, there has been resounding series of welcome receptions for him as he moves from one community to the other to acquiant the people with his vision and programmes if elected.
He is coming into politics with intimidating credentials that will make a difference. As he says in LinkedIn:
“I am a learner and an educator who is favourably disposed to applying tested models and trying new things, not-minding the possibility of failing at them. I am encouraged by a fanatical commitment to the bigger picture, supported by a handsome knowledge of the “trauma of transition”.
“I was Group Head, Brand Marketing/Corporate Communication at Zenith Bank (Nigeria’s biggest and Africa’s fifth largest Bank) overseeing departmentally-related operations in countries including Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, United Kingdom and representative offices in China and the UAE). I functioned as a diplomatic liaison interrelating with diverse stakeholders including Board of Directors, C-level management and community leads, dexterously building excellent local and international networks while engendering partnerships and developing productive alliances.
“I am also a researcher who contributes to praxis in financial development, poverty/inequality issues, ‘intrapreneurship’, middle management influencing, economics, cognitive load management and corporate entrepreneurship. To this end, I apply hands-on experience in analytics, assessment of contexts, designing and implementing interventions using design-thinking protocols.
“I leverage ambidexterity and agile-at-scale skills to avail and evolve creativity from prognosis through ideation to prototyping to evolve and drive strategy, cohesion, process ownership and shared identity.
“As a board member of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN) and a faculty member of the Institute of Chartered Credit Administrators of Nigeria (ICA), I have undertaken a number of sector-specific and baseline studies across a range of metrics in a number of fields.
Victor Alewo Adoji, simply known as DVAA by friends and well-wishers, is a rare gem and a household name across a garland of interests and places.
He has made great contribution to the development of the Igala Kingdom (Kogi State) in several areas especially around education, empowerment, health care delivery and physical development.
Even before his attainment of fame as a public figure, his humanitarian service started as a pro bono auxiliary teacher at CSCC, Anyigba for a long period of time.
A cursory visit to the Ministry of Mercy orphanage in Otutulu, any of the doctors at Diagnostics and Reference Hospital Anyigba, the Ogugu Ofante Catholic Community, the bursary department of KSU or any members of Project Igala Education Committee will surely give laudable testimony of what he has done.
Adoji has influenced a number of people into a number of private firms and public parastatals through his contacts.
He singlehandedly built the main mosque and UEC Church in his village (Okula-Aloma). Added to this, he built a modern classroom block in the only primary school in Okula and in conjunction with other elites in the village established the secondary school in the village.
For over 12 years, he has been responsible for paying the salaries of all the teachers in his village. He is in the process of building an estate in the village under a 20-year mortgage scheme for people of his village-based in states around the country to own houses in the village.
He has sunk several boreholes in several villages and places including the Open University in Idah, the catholic orphanage in Anyigba and for the people of Ogene-Igah his maternal home.
The Zenith Bank branches in Anyigba and Ankpa and the cash office in Idah are all to his credit. This is aside from the numerous people whose employment he influenced and never mentions for professional and strategic reasons.
As a unionist, economist, banker, professional in politics, educator, resource person and others, he has been exposed to and responsible for an array of tropical and broad-spectrum developments in several areas.
Recently, in partnership with the Kamar Football Academy and Igala-Bassa Nations Cup, he sponsored the establishment of the Igala United Football Club with about 40 players and the entire coaching crew on his payroll.
His partnership with the cashew farmers association of Nigeria, Kogi East chapter, is another evolving goldmine that is set to particularly impact the economy of the eastern part of Kogi State and by extension, Kogi state and the country at large.
He has been focused on the empowerment and capacity building of young Igala people to embark on further studies, particularly in Kogi East and Kogi State at large. Because he hates to have his humanitarian services mentioned in public, he used individuals and organizations to assist several less privileged people to pay school fees, hospital bills and provision of shelters in times of need.
Adoji was born on May 29, 1971, to the family of late (Elder) Bernard Angulu Adoji and Deaconess Rebecca Adoji, of Okula-Alloma in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria.
He cut his educational teeth first at St. Paul’s Primary School (now, Mohammed Bankano Primary School), Sokoto and Federal Government College Sokoto, respectively.
He has a Diploma in Project Management from the International Business Management Institute, and a degree in Economics from the University of Jos.
He has four MBAs with specializations in Corporate Strategy, Leadership and sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Business Analytics as well as five graduate (Masters) degrees in Economics, Public Administration and International Affairs, Sociology, Managerial Psychology and Social Welfare.
Adoji also has several non-credit certifications including, Special Executive Masters in Project and Strategic Management (PSM) and Special Executive Masters in International Business Law (IBL) both from the London Metropolitan Business school. Added to these are certifications in Risk Management, Economics/International Business and Change Management all from IBMI, Berlin.
He holds a Masterclass certification in Business Management and leadership from the London Graduate School (LGS), and also studied and trained with several reputable local and international, professional and academic institutions including the Pan African University of Nigeria, University of Pennsylvania, University of Edinburgh, Wharton University, Yale University, University of Virginia, Oxford University, Harvard University, the World Bank, the IMF and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
He received his first doctoral degree (PhD) from the University of Panama, focusing on credit management, while his second doctoral degree in Business Administration (DBA), focused on leadership, corporate governance and people management, from Leeds Beckett University, UK.
He has a post-doctoral degree; a DBA (Honoris Causa) in Project Management from the Commonwealth University in conjunction with the London Graduate School, UK.
He holds several professional memberships and fellowships, including Fellow, Institute of Credit Administration (FICA) and a British International Certified Credit Fellowship (ICCF), Fellow, Chartered Institute of Public Management of Nigeria, Fellow, Institute of Credit Administration (FICA) and Fellow, American Academy of Project Management (FAAPM). Aside from being a Certified Procurement & Project Management Specialist (CPPMS) and a Master Project Manager (MPM), he is also a member of several professional and academic bodies in Nigeria and beyond including, but not limited to, Nigeria Economic Society (NES), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN) and the America-based Institute for Transformative Thoughts and Learning (ITTL).
He is a faculty member of the Institute of Credit Administration of Nigeria (ICA). The ICA is Nigeria’s only nationally recognized professional credit management body, solely dedicated to the provision of micro and macro credit management education, award of specialist qualifications, development of skills and capacity building of people involved in the everyday management of trade, financial and business credits in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world.
He is a board member of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN). The institute promotes and encourages the study and development of the art and science of economics in public practice, industries, commerce and seeks to inculcate professionalism and specialization in the economics profession in Nigeria.
Aside his training as a lifestyle coach and level-1 Neuro-Linguistic Programmer (OLCA), he also trained as a Conflict Analyst with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). The Institute was established by the American Congress in 1984 as an independent institution devoted to the nonviolent prevention and mitigation of deadly conflict.
Adoji started out with Paterson Cussons (Nig) Plc as a superintendent from where he stepped up to becoming the deputy editor, the business section of the northern-based Concern Magazine.
He joined Zenith Bank Plc in 2000 and left meritoriously in 2018 as the head of corporate communication .
While at Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s biggest and Africa’s fifth-largest bank, he functioned as a diplomatic liaison who interrelated with diverse stakeholders comprising the board of directors, C-level management and community leaders, dexterously building excellent local and international network endeavours around management, governance, administration, the private sector and civil society.
Further, in this role, he initiated and cultivated robust and strategic relationships with the Fourth Power, thereby contributing to efforts at repositioning and enhancing interactivity and social collaborations on local, international and social media channels.
Having chaperoned the development of aspects of the bank’s stakeholder engagement strategy, he leveraged the ability to drive the embedding of sustainable practices within an organization as part of reputation management initiatives.
He is reputed as a transformation agent with the competence to engineer continuous process improvement while incorporating business-out sourcing initiatives to enhance productivity and modernize operations to attain remarkable results in the face of regulated resources.
He was responsible for establishing strategic partnerships across some sectors of the economy. He was the liaison between the bank and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), an organization of private sector leaders representing key economic sectors in Nigeria, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), a leading US business association focused on connecting business interests in Africa by promoting businesses and investments between the United State of America and the nations of Africa. He was also a liaison for the World Economic Forum (WEF), a foremost international Organization (for public-private corporations) that engages leading political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
As deputy head of the Corporate Communications department at Zenith Bank, he was the lead for the project-specific team charged with the responsibility of marketing (offline and online) the bank’s Initial Public Offering (IPO). The IPO was oversubscribed by 554 per cent, the highest by any bank, in the history of Nigeria’s capital market to date.
He was likewise the team-lead for the marketing team of Zenith Bank’s listing of $850 million worth of its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as well as post-listing marketing required to access a wide range of institutional investors.
At the time he joined the bank, it was regarded as just “a bank” but with growth around the 10,000th percentile in major financial parameters including, but not limited to, Gross Earnings {8,259%}, Profit Before Tax {7,150%}, Profit After Tax {7,317%}, Total Assets + Contingent Liabilities {8, 128%} and Tier-1 Capital {11,643%}, he left the institution as “the bank”: The biggest and most profitable bank in Nigeria and the fifth largest in Africa.
He was widely acclaimed at Zenith Bank for his contribution, part of the numerous commendations and awards at both the board and management levels: 2007 – commendation for tremendous project success, 2006 – Best Individual Staff bank-wide, 2003 – commendation for impactful and strategic inter-department support, 2002 – 2003 Best Non-Marketing Staff bank-wide, 2002 commendation for outstanding project implementation and 2001 – 2002 Best Non-Marketing Staff bank-wide.
He ran for the Senate in 2019 but did not secure the nomination of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), but ran on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Within four months (October – January) he had visited over 700 villages in Igala land and all the 98 wards in the eastern flank of Kogi State.
He secured a commendable 31,171 votes, for a greenhorn in politics, it was an affirmation of his acceptance by his people.
Immediately after the ‘loss’, he and his supporters visited the people across all the nine local governments to say thank you for their votes.
As the 2023 is just a few weeks away, the people of Kogi East Senatorial have vowed to get him elected
as their representative in the Senate
