New Lease of Life for Keystone Bank MD, Obeahon Ohiwerei
“This life, I can’t kill myself,” has become a popular cliche now, thanks to its overuse by Nigerian youths. This is the imagined sentiment of Obeahon Ohiwerei, the former MD/CEO of Keystone Bank. After shocking the world by giving Keystone bank a fortune in the form of a complete turnaround, Ohiwerei reportedly took off into the sunset. According to some, the accomplished banker handed in his resignation; according to others, private matters mandated his decision for seclusion. Regardless, the fact is that the man left the public scene, and there he has been ever since.
One is not likely to find a banker of Ohiwerei’s calibre in the glassy walls of most Nigerian banks. In many ways, the man has surpassed the image of the typical banker-MD with a large belly and larger ambitions for hegemony. In fact, one might argue that Ohiwerei is the exact opposite. No sooner had he saved Keystone bank from certain expiration than he took a step back himself.
Outsiders may not remember but Keystone bank faced the same crisis of
termination that every other banking/ financial institution has faced after colliding with the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The kind of debts that warrant AMCON’s presence is like permanent markers that seldom wash off. And yet, this is exactly what Ohiwerei did upon his assuming the role of Keystone bank MD/CEO.
Not long after Ohiwerei took over as MD, Keystone bank recovered its groove, became like a dazzling beauty that customers could not resist, and even outstripped its former glory. Folks expected that the antecedent of this move would stick around for at least a decade, but Ohiwerei did not.
Upon leaving Keystone bank, folks again expected him to launch a financial institution that would be on par with at least the mid-range banks and money houses. But Ohiwerei did no such thing. The last anyone heard, he had decided to relax in Canada and take a break from all things banking—a break he has been pushing off since the start of his banking career in 1991.