- Mr. Tayo Orekoya (President, Pearl Awards)
President of Pearl Awards, Tayo Orekoya, speaks with Paul Ukpabio on preparations for this year's edition of 'Pearl Awards' coming up on Sunday, November 25th, 2018, at the prestigious Eko Hotel, Lagos. He also shares his love for stylish suits with us and the immeasurable backing of his other half.
Once again you are set to celebrate
winners on the Nigerian stock Exchange, What are you looking forward to at this
year’s pearl awards?
We are looking
to a celebration of excellence rewarding quoted companies that have been able
to hold their own in spite of the challenges in the economy. The theme for this
year’s awards is: ‘sustaining the winning edge’ and
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| Tayo & Bim (wife) |
What do you recall from last year’s
event?
Last year’s
event was particularly outstanding. We had a revered statesman and former Head
of state, General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd) as the Chairman of that event and we also
had the then President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange
Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede who was the special guest of honour, and of course the
Chief Executive of the stock exchange Mr. Oscar Onyeama was also physically
present. The major feature of last year’s award was historic sweeping of five
awards by one company and that is United Capital Plc including the CEO’s award
which was won by its then managing director Mrs. Oluwatoyin Sanni and the first
time in history that it was won by a female CEO.
What’s going to be unique about this
year’s Pearl Awards?
It has been 23
years since Pearl Awards started in 1995 and every year has always had its
uniqueness. The interesting thing about the awards is usually its element of
surprise. The awards itself is based on verifiable indices, facts and figures,
so apart from the entertainment aspect of it, which as usual will remain outstanding,
there indeed will be an element of surprise. But for now, I will keep it under
wraps.
Few weeks back, you re-constituted the Board
of pearl awards, any special reason for that?
Change is a
constant thing in life. We agreed that there is a need to constantly re-energise
and re-vigorate the board in order to make it more dynamic. As such, it was
decided that we bring in fresh people, fresh ideas, first class professionals,
to re-position the awards for something greater and better coming up. And part
of the new initiative is that this new board is focused not just on Pearl
Awards Nigeria, but we are looking forward to having Pearl Awards Africa soon.
This is one of the major challenges of the new board and it has started
addressing it right from inception.
You are a man of many parts, how have
you been able to cope hosting Pearl Awards consistently over the years?
It has taken the
grace of God. It has also been a demonstration of good leadership in all
ramifications. It has not been about me, it has been about the team, having the
team to work with, motivating the team and having people who are selfless,
having a board that is selfless, understanding, professionals who work on
principles, credibility, integrity and of course also having the backup of a
good family, a good wife, makes the job easier: But most importantly, it has
been the grace of God.
One notices that you work with your
wife on your projects. How has the journey been?
It has been an
interesting experience. First we have had God as the backbone of everything we do;
secondly we have been able to separate our domestic and official issues. My
wife has been a strong pillar of our home and business. We have been together
for 38 years, that is, courtship of six years and marriage of 32 years, so, we
are more or less, one and same. We are very passionate about the things we do
especially as regards professionalism and integrity. It is the special favour
of God that has helped us all these while.
What is her background?
She studied
Business Administration. To a large extent, she has been able to give support
in terms of being the Executive Director (Administration) to the company and of
course she is always in the background for Pearl Awards, supporting the
secretariat professionally and in other businesses we do.
Most of the time your fashion and style
revolves around suits, is it because of your relationship with the stock
market?
(Laughs) I think
it is the nature of my profession, first I am a chartered accountant and beyond
that I was a banker for ten years and I’ve been handling Pearl Award for the
past 23 years. Also, I have been in the public sector as a director of a world
bank assisted institution for 12 and a half years before I left. So, I have
always been in suits. This is my comfort zone when it comes to fashion and
style. However, on weekends, you hardly find me in a suit.
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| Tayo & Bim (wife) |
Using the Nigeria stock market as a parameter,
what can you say about the economy presently and the hope for Nigeria as a country
as we go into another election year soon?
I must say that
the capital market has undergone a harrowing experience particularly this year.
Last year the market was able to perform well. It came first in Africa in terms
of performance and fourth globally. However this year, the returns have been
negative and that is a reflection of what the investor’s confidence on the
market. The upcoming election year has not helped matters either, foreign
investors have withdrawn lot of their investments in the market and this has
affected the market tremendously. Election year is a time when people want to
be cautious with investments. For us in Nigeria, the uncertainties are just too
high, that it has affected not just only the foreign investors but also our
local investor’s confidence in the market is waning. But I must say that in
spite of all these, a time like this is actually the best time for the
discerning investors to invest in the stock market because, the values of the
shares are way down below their actual values though the fundamentals are still
strong. So the discerning investors would plug into the market at this time
because they are definitely going to reap it. One thing is sure, Nigeria will
continue to be strong and the capital market will continue to be resilient. The
elections will come and go and the market will bounce back. So for discerning
investors, this is the time to get into the market.
As a top executive, do you find time
for recreation?
I do find time
for recreation. I am a complete family man; thank God that my children are full
adults now. I’m also a grandfather already. I give glory to God. When my
children were younger, we took out time to travel on vacation abroad, visit
recreation areas, Disney-world and such, we had time to go on cruise, which we
still do, I also indulge myself when I find the time to watch movies and play
golf. Though I wish I have more time for relaxation and recreation. But the
little time I find for myself, I try to enjoy it.
