His Excellency, Mr Godwin Obaseki, the 10th governor of Edo State has established track records in Investment Banking, Asset Management, Securities Trading and the Public Sector both nationally and internationally before joining partisan politics, where he has brought his wealth of knowledge to bear in addressing issues of governance in the state.
One of the most accomplished governors in the federation, Obaseki has in the space of seven years, through his Make Edo Great Again(MEGA) agenda, achieved enviable success by implementing wide scale transformation projects across critical socio-economic sectors in the state.
In public administration, he has re-positioned the civil service and transformed the state’s hitherto failing education sector by deploying cutting edge technology in training and equipping Edo teachers with modern skills to deliver sound and qualitative teaching thereby turning the state into one of the leading lights in education in Nigeria. Indeed, the EdoBest project success has become an inspiration to other states, and had inspired Lagos to create the EkoExcel scheme.
The governor is also recognised for making Edo state the foremost e-governed state in Nigeria through a digitally implemented state wide policy that includes the construction of over 2, 000km of fibre optic connections to link every Local Government Area. His Health reforms, industralisation schemes and aggressive sports development programmes, which has rebuilt sports facilities such as the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, among others has led Edo state to reclaim its position as a leading state in sports.
Holder of post graduate degrees in both Finance and International Business from Columbia University and Pace University in New York, he started out in 1983 with Capital Trust Brokers Limited Lagos as a stockbroker where he excelled and subsequently worked with International Merchant Bank (an affiliate of First Chicago Bank). In 1988 he joined AVC Funds Limited, Lagos where he served as a Project Manager and led the core team that set up two of the new generation banks which eventually reshaped the face of the banking industry in Nigeria. Between 1993 and 1995 he worked in New York as a principal of Equatorial Finance Co, a Financial Advisory firm with a focus on Africa and providing Structured Trade Finance for African related transactions through credit, financial advisory and risk insurance.
He Founded Afrinvest West Africa Limited (formerly Securities Transactions & Trust Company Limited (SecTrust)) in 1995 as the pioneer Managing Director. The firm has since grown to become a leading Investment Banking and Investment Management firm in Nigeria. He served as the Chairman of the Edo State Government’s Economic and Strategy Team (EST) from March 17, 2009 till September 2016 pro bono publico when he stepped down to contest the gubernatorial elections.
Indeed, as Chairman of EST, he pioneered a number of policy reforms that saw the state restructure its public finance, secure funding for infrastructure and improve the business environment to attract investment in power, agriculture and other critical sectors.
His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki’s accomplishments is a testament to the fact that purposeful leadership is at the heart of transformational development.
