Atedo Peterside

Atedo Peterside (born in July 1955) is a Nigerian entrepreneur, investment banker, and economist. He is the founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Anap Business Jets Limited (Anap Jets), and the Atedo N. A. Peterside Foundation (Anap Foundation).

Education

Peterside had a secondary education at the King's College Lagos. (He revealed i
an interview about his life
that he was admitted to King's College as a 10-year-old boy). He then proceeded to The City University, London (1973–1976) where he obtained a B.Sc. degree in Economics. He went on to obtain an M.Sc. (also in Economics) from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1977. His executive education is wide and varied, and includes the Owner/President Management Program at the Harvard Business School from 1991–1993. He was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Science Degree by the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria and was also elected an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers on 1 April 2019.

Career

Peterside founded the Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited (IBTC) in February 1989 at age 33. He served as the Bank's CEO till 2007.

IBTC opted to comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria order in 2005 (that all commercial banks had to have a N25 billion minimum capital base) by raising more capital and also acquiring two commercial banks; Chartered Bank Plc and Regent Bank Plc, in order to become a universal bank on 19 December 2005. It then changed its name to IBTC Chartered Bank Plc.

On 24 September 2007, IBTC Chartered Bank Plc merged with Stanbic Bank Nigeria Limited to form Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, and he was elected Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Bank in October 2007.

Peterside was Group Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc from August 2012. Having overseen a number of regulatory matters through to completion, he announced his resignation on 21 March 2017 with effect from 31 March 2017.

He is currently the Chairman of Anap Jets FZE which commenced business through Anap Business Jets Limited on 01 January 2015. He sat on the boards of both The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Standard Bank Group Limited between August 2014 and June 2024. He opted to retire from both Boards on 10 June, 2024.

He was a member of the National Economic Management Team (2007–2015), and member of the National Council on Privatization (2010–2015). Until the end of March 2020, Peterside sat on the Board of Directors of Flour Mills of Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries and Unilever Nigeria. He was the Non-Executive Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc from April 2010 till 30 June 2020. Peterside resigned from the Boards of all these quoted brands in Nigeria so as to focus more of his time on the work of Anap Foundation. He is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of ART X Collective Limited and also serves on the African Advisory Board of the Prince's Trust International. Between 2017 and end-June 2023, he was the inaugural Chairman of Endeavour High Impact Entrepreneurship Ltd/Gte, a non-profit organization that provides mentorship and support to scale-up companies.

In May 2022, Atedo Peterside won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to banking at the African Banker Awards staged in Accra, Ghana by African Development Bank. At the award Ceremony, he sent a powerful message saying that he built the bank by getting everyone working there from Day One in 1989 to buy into the mission of the bank and its shared values and culture.

Contribution to politics and public policy in Nigeria

Peterside has used his visible public platforms to comment on, or influence politics and public policy in Nigeria. He has also held various advisory roles to the government of Nigeria but never agreed to accept a full-time public sector appointment.

He was 1 of 3 Conveners of Concerned Professionals back in 1993 which was an attempt to make various professionals politically active in response to the annulment of June 12, 1993 elections and the fight for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria.

He was appointed the Chairman of the Committee on Corporate Governance of Public Companies in Nigeria. The Committee drafted the first Code of Best Practices for Public Companies operating in Nigeria, which was published in October 2003.

Between 2007 and 2010 and also between 2011 and 2015, he was a member of the National Economic Management Team.

Between 2007 and 2011, he was the honorary adviser to the Governor of Rivers State.

Between 2011 and 2015, he was on the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), and successfully oversaw the privatisation of the Nigerian power sector amongst other transactions. He was also the Chairman of the NCP's Technical Committee.

In January 2012, he made a strong case on national television for the removal of N1.3 trillion petrol subsidy when it was an unpopular position to take.

In early 2014 he was appointed a Federal Government of Nigeria Delegate to the National Conference which held in that year.

In January 2017, he wrote an op-ed listing eleven recommended actions for the turnaround of the Nigerian economy.

In March 2020, he declined an invitation to attend a forum being organized by Nigeria's Central Bank because he was not pleased by the dethronement and illegal exile/banishment of the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II.

On 22 March 2020, Peterside set up the Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank

In May 2020 he was named Co-Chairman (alongside the Finance Minister) of the Steering Committee for the new National Development Plan for Nigeria.

In September 2020, Mr. Peterside was appointed the Co-chairman of the National Steering Committee for Agenda 2050 and the 2021 – 25 Development Plan that was inaugurated by President Buhari. At the inauguration, on 09 September 2020, he made some pertinent opening remarks at the televised Inaugural Meeting of the Steering Committee which held on that same day. The assignment ended when Buhari's tenure ended on 29 May, 2023.

On Friday, 23 October 2020, Atedo Peterside made a landmark appearance on Arise TV's Morning Show from 9am to 10am during which he was interviewed by a panel of 3 journalists. The frank, bold and very informative interview engaged and gripped the nation in the aftermath of the #EndSARS and #EndPoliceBrutality Protests which had attained global attention and which were marred by the tragic Lekki Toll Gate shootings of peaceful protesters who were singing and waving the Nigerian National Flag on October 20, 2020; Bloody Tuesday. In a gripping interview, Atedo Peterside condoled families who had lost loved ones, criticised President Buhari's address to the nation on 22 October 2020, admonished the authorities for illegally trying to block the bank accounts of some of the Protest sympathisers and pointed the way forward for the youths via political activism and the forthcoming 2023 elections.

In late November 2021, Atedo Peterside published an article in major Nigerian newspapers entitled: 2023 elections: Hitting rock bottom, finding a way up.

The GoNigeria Initiative

GoNigeria is a non-profit, non-party movement dedicated to building a new voice for the young people in Nigeria. The initiative encourages Nigerian youths to become politically active and to register en-masse to vote in future elections. This began with the 2023 General Elections.

Atedo Peterside was the Convener of this Initiative which was launched by Anap Foundation in early December 2021, when Mr. Peterside featured on an exclusive Arise TV interview on Tuesday, 07 December, 2021; in a Question and Answer session with Charles Aniagolu, to explain what the GoNigeria initiative was all about.

The 18 initial Advocates of the GoNigeria Movement are drawn from all the 6 geopolitical zones (3 from each zone). They are: Atedo Peterside (Convener), ‘Yemi Adamolekun, Tomiwa Aladekomo, Osita Chidoka, Dike Chukwumerije, Folarin Falana (Falz), Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, Bishop Matthew Kukah, Hamzat Lawal, Nuruddeen Lemu, Ayisha Osori, Arunma Oteh, Muhammad Ali Pate, Dr. Tony Rapu, HH Muhammad Sanusi II, Dr. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, Ibrahim Dahiru Waziri and Aisha Yesufu.

Alongside the advocates, several well-known celebrities were also instrumental in amplifying the GoNigeria message. They include: Mr. Debo Adedayo (Mr. Macaroni), Mo Abudu, Kate Henshaw, Chioma Omeruah (Chigurl), Onyeka Onwenu, Oluwatosin Olaseinde and Bovi Ugboma (Bovi).

To further boost the reach and impact of the campaign, several youth-targeted competitions were launched, where a cumulative of two million Naira per competition was doled out by Anap Foundation to participants who finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd. This began with the GoNigeria Poetry Challenge, where youths aged 18–45 who had their Personal Voters Card (PVCs) were tasked with creating a 30 seconds video encouraging other youths to register, pick up their PVCs and vote in the 2023 General Elections.

This was soon followed by the GoNigeria English Rap Challenge, the GoNigeria Pidgin Rap Challenge, the GoNigeria Comedy Challenge, the GoNigeria Hausa Rap Challenge and the GoNigeria Igbo Rap Challenge. Several youths across the 36 states of the country participated and many were motivated to register and follow-through to get their PVCs.

On Wednesday, 21 December 2022, Atedo Peterside made an appearance on a Channels Television program POLITICS TODAY, where he was interviewed by Seun Okinbaloye. In the interview, Mr. Peterside presented highlights of the 2nd Presidential Election Polls commissioned by Anap Foundation and which was carried out by NOIPolls. The Polls were inconclusive in terms of predicting an outright winner, but firmly established that fresh dynamics had emerged which pointed to a 3-horse race with Peter Obi, of the Labour Party Candidate, unexpectedly slugging it out with Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressive Congress party and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party (PDP), whilst Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP was a lone outsider.

Many persons attributed this positive development to the interest that many more educated Nigerian youths were now taking in becoming politically active, spurred on by the work of GoNigeria, Fix Politics and many others.

On Tuesday, 14 March 2023, Atedo Peterside was interviewed by Arise TV's Charles Aniagolu. The detailed and informative interview saw Atedo Peterside drawing attention to the flaws in the electoral process which included apparently falsified Presidential Election Result Sheets which were uploaded on the INEC IREV Server. Mr. Peterside therefore argued that it was premature to congratulate the President-Elect, who emerged from a flawed and tainted process that was now the subject of Election Petitions from his two major opponents.

Philanthropic work

Peterside founded the Anap Foundation, a non-profit organisation that is committed to promoting good governance. He has been the President from inception in 2003.

Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank

On 18 March 2020, Peterside appeared on Channels Television to warn Nigerians about the danger of complacency, listing four major reasons why Coronavirus disease may hit Nigeria harder than the rest of the world. The video was widely shared on social media. He has also called on the Nigerian government "to use various agencies at its disposal to enforce quarantine following the spread of COVID-19 in the country."

The Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank was founded on 22 March 2020 to help Nigeria overcome the COVID-19 pandemic threat. It is composed of eighteen members from across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria and the diaspora (USA & Germany). These are volunteers "with decades of expertise in medicine, logistics, e-commerce, economics, finance, law, communications, religious knowledge, academia, mobilization, advocacy, sustainability, governance, accountancy, actuarial science, health management organisations, grant making and international disaster management."

The Foundation has also released "Coronavirus Alert" in major Nigerian languages to alert the public to the issues facing the country with the pandemic.

On 4 February, the Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank collaborated with Media Houses to launch a Name and Shame Initiative for violators of the COVID-19 safety protocols.

National honours

In 2010, Peterside was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).

Personal life

Atedo Peterside, the Arusibidabo of the Opobo Kingdom, is married to Mrs. Dudun Peterside (nee Pearce). They have three children, Tokini, Atowari, and Tariye. Tokini Peterside is the founder of ART X Lagos.

His father Chief Michael Clement Atowari Peterside (Sunju IX), who lived from 24 June 1918 to 15 January 2016, was an Ophthalmologist and a retired Controller of Medical Services in the Old Rivers State. He held the Nigerian chieftaincy title of the head chief of the Sunju Peterside chieftaincy family of Opobo. At his death, the chief was 97.

Peterside's mother is Patricia Awune Gboloba Bob-Manuel. At the time of her marriage, she was a princess of the royal family of Abonnema.

Peterside lists his hobbies as boating, polo, reading, and traveling.

Notable speeches and interviews

* "Shared responsibility: Building and sustaining a strong economic future for Nigeria" , Speech given as a Keynote Speaker at the Silver Jubilee (25th Anniversary) of the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja. (October, 2019)
* "The Ugly Side of Buhari and Jonathan" , An op-ed published on the back page of THISDAY Newspaper, on January 27, 2015.
* "Business Aviation is a Necessity in Africa , Interview with Mr Chinedu Eze of THISDAY Newspaper published on 4th May 2015.
* "Beware of 9 Mistakes that haunt Nigeria By Atedo N. A. Peterside" , Speech given on the floor of the National Conference during the week of 7–11 April 2014 and published in the back page of BusinessDay Newspaper on April 8, 2014.
*"Letter to my Countrymen: This National Conference Must Succeed" , op-ed essay published on the back of THIS DAY Newspaper of March 10, 2014
*''"NIGERIA: TIME TO DELIVER'' , A welcome address at the fifth edition of the annual Standard Bank West Africa Investors' Conference.
*"Eleven Actions Required for Speedy Economic Turnaround" by Atedo Peterside" , Op-ed essay published in the Global Monitor on 25 January 2017.
*"Final Tribute to Dad, Chief M C A Peterside," published on the back page of ThisDay February 12, 2016
*"Tribute to Otunba Balogun By Atedo N. A. Peterside"
*"Nigerian elite competing in a game called 'State Capture' By Atedo Peterside"
*"FG's N90bn hajj subsidy setback to Nigeria's economy By Atedo Peterside"
*"Atedo Peterside faults N90bn subsidy for hajj, says FG sending wrong signal"
*"Trying to Make the Naira Appreciate in a hurry won't work By Atedo Peterside"

References

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Living people
1955 births
Nigerian business executives
Nigerian bankers
20th-century Nigerian businesspeople
21st-century Nigerian businesspeople
Nigerian investment bankers
Nigerian chairpersons of corporations
King's College, Lagos alumni
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Businesspeople from Lagos
Alumni of City, University of London
Ibani people