The economy of Nigeria is
set to be exposed to a fresh chapter of growth and development that will be as
challenging as it will be rewarding with the appointment of Ms. Patience Oniha
as the new Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), the agency of
government put in place to oversee and manage public debt.
Ms. Oniha began her
career at Icon Limited Merchant Bankers in 1986, during which time she rose to
the position of a Manager, before joining First Securities Discount House
Limited (now FSDH Merchant Bank Ltd.) as a pioneer staff in 1992. She rose to
the position of General Manager/Director before joining Ecobank Nigeria Limited
in 2000. Between 2004 – 2008, Ms. Oniha was in Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Ltd.
as a General Manager.
After a fulfilling career
in the banking sector spanning over 22 years, she left after acquiring skills
in Credit, Marketing, Treasury and Investment Banking. Ms. Oniha made a career move to the public
sectors when she joined the DMO in 2008 as Director, Market Development
Department. In this capacity, Ms. Oniha brought her banking experience to bear
on various aspects of the DMO’s activities.
Amongst her achievements
during her 8 years at the DMO was the introduction of Benchmark Bonds to
develop the domestic bond market in order to improve liquidity and to create a
sovereign yield curve which created opportunities for State Governments,
Multilaterals and corporates to raise long term funds.
The purpose behind this
drive was to create a debt capital market where the public and private sectors
can access long term funds to finance Nigeria’s growth and development. For
sustainable development of the debt capital market, she actively engaged with
local and foreign investors, regulators and other stakeholders to develop a
large and diversified investor base for FGN Securities and Bonds issued by
other borrowers.
Oniha recorded quite a
number of “firsts” during her time in DMO as she managed the successful
issuance of Nigeria’s debut USD500 million Eurobond in January 2011. The debut
Eurobond opened a new source of funding for the Federal Government and
Corporates.
Thus, it was not a surprise when in 2013, she also managed the
issuance of the dual-tranche USD1 billion Eurobond which was subscribed to the
tune of about 400 per cent. A number of Nigerian banks also tapped into this funding
window by issuing Eurobonds. She was also responsible for the inclusion of FGN
Bonds in the J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets (GBI – EM) in
October 2012 which made Nigeria the second country in Africa, after South
Africa to have its local currency sovereign bond included in the Index. The
inclusion of FGN bonds in this Index attracted foreign investors to the
domestic bond market as a whole. This was followed by the inclusion of FGN
Bonds in the Barclays Capital Emerging Markets – Local Currency Government Bond
Index (EM – LCBI) in March 2013.
While still at the DMO,
Ms. Oniha was appointed as pioneer Head of the Efficiency Unit at the Federal
Ministry of Finance. To execute the mandate of the Unit which was to moderate
government’s Overhead Expenditure and generate savings from the procurement
process, Ms. Oniha leveraged on her experience and global best practice to
introduce a number of initiatives. Amongst them were the issuance of 7
Circulars to control expenditure on specific Overhead items and the negotiation
of discounts with airlines. These delivered savings estimated at N17 billion to the Government. She was
working on the introduction of new processes for payment and procurements when
she was appointed Director-General of DMO with effect from July 1, 2017.
This lady of distinction
bagged a B.Sc. Economics, First Class Honours from the University of Benin in
1983 and went on to earn an M.Sc. Finance from the University of Lagos in 1985.
She widened her scope and horizon by becoming a member of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in 1990 and a Fellow in 2008. Ms. Oniha is
also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
In recognition of her
antecedents and as a resourceful and result oriented person, the news of her
appointment was welcomed by Stakeholders with statements such as: Since your
student days, it was clear to those of us who knew you that you were destined
to excel in Scholarship, Career, Profession and be a great woman of
distinction;
Congratulations on this well-deserved appointment and for flying
the flag for us women; This is a most well deserved promotion. Well done; You
truly distinguished yourself at the Efficiency Unit; The Country will benefit
immensely from your tenure; I thank God for the excellent spirit and service
you have been rendering; I definitely know you will serve the country better
once more; Your appointment was indeed expected, having been part of the
success story of the DMO. I must also commend you on your numerous achievements
during your stay as the Head, Efficiency Unit of the Finance Ministry. The
foundation you have built will serve as a template to be adopted by State,
Local and other arms of government.
Oniha’s performance at
the DMO between 2008 and 2015 are a testament to her hard work and dedication
towards the betterment of Nigeria. Her emergence as Director-General, Debt
Management Office, recognizes her professional knowledge, notable focus and
bold, unassuming approach - qualities needed to provide critical leadership to
a hugely important agency in a period where growth and development need to be
achieved in spite of economic challenges facing the country.
*Courtesy Abimbola Johnson whowrote in from Channelkoos.com
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Pix: Ms. Patience Oniha, new Director-General, Debt Management Office, Nigeria
