Arise Cross River… Don’t Ignore This!

Hello Good People of Cross River State,
This is Cross River; indeed the place where the youthful energies of the likes of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba at age 27, that of the irrepressible Donald Duke, below 30 of age, just to mention a few; were favourably harnessed for the good of our collective development. Indeed it was not a stroll in the park for them, but they had respective points to prove that the way forward was and still is to make space for the forward driven youth, who seamlessly demonstrates capacity.

Thank you Governor Ben Ayade, we must say, for electing to come clean from that painful political process in the very near past which tended to recognize more, the whit-lowed contributions of shrunken sit-tight stakeholders with no stake in the Cross River commonwealth. We must begin to point our way out of that kind of entrapment that maligns the wishes of the people and goes on celebrate instead the mediocrity of individuals in positions.

If we have not introduced ourselves, bear with us for now and work with the #YouthDecide Project. It is deliberate so that those whose duty it is to blindfold the people and then walk them into a cave of stinging ants will begin to give way, realizing that the people have chosen to make informed choices. Unarguably, we give backing to Gov. Ben Ayade’s appointments (so far made) and remain convinced that as we take on the onerous and meticulous task of profiling a rich retinue of young and capacity-driven Cross Riverians, WE will all see REASON and embrace this philosophy of letting well equipped Cross Riverians come in and help get the job done.

WE begin with ASUQUO EKPENYONG Jnr, a bright under-40, whose resume, we just received.

See where he has been?
Harvard Business School, Boston, USA. -Key Executive Programme,

University Of Reading, UK
MSc International Banking and Financial Services (Passed with Distinction)

University Of Reading, UK
B.A. Economics

University Of Reading, UK
International Foundation Programme (A-Levels equivalent, Passed with
Distinction)

See where he has worked and what he achieved on the job:

Ekondo Micro Finance Bank, Board Director, Jul 2013-PRESENT
His Responsibilities include:
• Formulating bank strategy and operational policies
• Ensuring maximisation of return to shareholders
• Collaborating with the Management team to implement growth plan
• Providing oversight functions through various board committees –
Board Credit Committee: Review of all loans approved by management as well as the review & approval of loan applications above the management’s limit.

Board Audit Committee: Oversight of the financial reporting process, the audit process, the system of internal controls and compliance with laws & regulations.

Board Finance & General Purpose Committee: Review of financial
accounts, direction of financial strategy, budget preparation and
implementation, etc.

Board Establishment Committee: Monitors & controls remuneration,
benefits structures, provides input into talent management and
succession planning etc.

Pearland Energy, Executive Director, Finance, Dec 2011 – PRESENT
An indigenous Oil and Gas company operating in the upstream sector
• Responsible for the financial affairs & management of the organisation
• Worked extensively with a team to prepare various bid
documents/proposals for the postponed 2013 Marginal

Oil fields Auctions by the Nigerian government, as well as various bids for oil fields from divesting IOCs in Nigeria

University Of Calabar, Lecturer, Department Of Banking and Finance,
Nov ’10 – April ’12
Responsibilities include:
• Preparation and delivering of lectures to students
• Project supervisions
• Examination/result officer for various classes

Chamley Bureau De Change Ltd, Managing Director, Sept ’10 – PRESENT
A Bureau De Change licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to trade in foreign exchange
• Succeeded in growing Chamley’s balance sheet size significantly over its 5 years of operations despite Nigeria’s volatile Forex trading markets
• Succeeded in guiding Chamley through various stringent regulatory changes mandated by the Apex bank in 2014, as well as raising funding to meet the new regulatory capital requirements which saw a tripling of the minimum capital requirement for Bureau de Changes within a time frame of 2 weeks.

Iquasu Ventures Ltd, Managing Director/Founder, June ’10 – PRESENT
Founded by Asuquo Ekpenyong in 2009, Iquasu is a haulage & Logistics company providing distribution and freight services to various manufacturing companies in Nigeria. It operates a fleet size of 60 trucks.
Responsible for:
• Raising Capital to start up the company
• Managing the day to day operations of the company and growing it to
its current fleet size of over 60 new trucks from a start-up of 6
fairly used trucks. The company is currently rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
by the Lafarge International safety standards.

Davandy Finance & Securities, Lagos, Analyst, August ’09 – MAY ’10
Responsibilities included:
• Performing financial analysis for internal and external clients
• Evaluating investments and putting together buy, sell or hold
recommendations for securities

Aramark Services Ltd, Newbury, Uk, Customer Controller, July ’06 – August ’06
Responsibilities for:
• Taking and processing customer orders
• Dealing with the day to day accounting aspects of the business

University Of Reading, Reading, Uk, Clearing Database Assistant, July
2005 – July ‘05
Responsibilities included:
• Answering calls
• Processing prospective student’s educational qualifications
• Handling queries

Is He professionally qualified? You better see for yourself:
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF BANKERS OF NIGERIA (CIBN)
Howard University Business School, Washington D.C. – Global Executive
Leadership Program (July 2015)
Africa Management Services Company, Lagos – Lead Executive Program (March 2013)
University Of Pretoria – Executive Management Development Program (October 2012)
Central Bank Of Nigeria – Workshop for Microfinance Non-Executive
Directors (April 2012)
Euromoney Energy Training, London – Oil & Gas School (August 2010)
Euromoney Training Emea, Lagos – Investment Banking Workshop (January 2010)

Stay with us…more profiles coming soon……

The views expressed are those of the authors.