The President of the Chatered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Professor Pius Oladeji Olarenwaju will on Tuesday delivered the 6th annual birthday lecture series in honour of Professor Akpan Hogan Ekpo, a former Vice Chancellor, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Billed to hold on June 24th, 2025, at the 1000 seater auditorium at the University of Uyo, Prof. Olarenwaju, a professor of Banking Law at Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State, will be speaking on the theme, “The Economic Crises In Nigeria: The Way Forward”.

According to the invitation by the Governing Board of the Prof Akpan Ekpo Centre for Public Policy, University of Uyo, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Nyaudoh Ndaeyo will be the chief host of the event.

Sworn in as President and Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in May 2024, Prof. Olanrewaju, a thorough bred professional and seasoned academic, belongs to many professional bodies.

He is a fellow of (CIBN), a fellow of Institute of Capital Market Registrars, a fellow of Institute of Management and Administrative Technology and a fellow of the Enterprise Risk Management Professionals. He co-authored several books and articles in learned journals.

His career had transversed the economy for the past 30 (thirty) years from banking, legal consultancy, management and academic.

An Expert in Banking and Commercial Law, Prof. Olanrewaju is currently the Provost/Dean of Law of the School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilisan.

Formally conferred with Emeritus Professorship by the University of Uyo on Saturday, November 9th, 2024, Akpan Ekpo, an acclaimed professor of Economics and Public Policy, became the first person to be appointed Emeritus Professor by the institution.

A letter of notification signed by the University Registrar, Mrs Blossom E. Okorie, says that the conferment was based on Ekpo’s “track record of service to the university and humanity in general”.

“It is hoped that this honour would not only serve as recognition to your personality and modest efforts at human development, but also as a platform for further contributions to the advancement of our University and the Nation,” the letter stated.

Currently, chairman of the Foundation for Economic Research and Training (FERT), Lagos, Ekpo, who will be 71 on Thursday, June 26th was also director general, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Lagos between May 2009-December 2018.

He is also a pioneer Vice Chancellor of the Akwa Ibom University of Technology and a former director at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

After his secondary education at the United Christian Secondary School, Apapa, Lagos in 1969, Ekpo received a Federal Government scholarship to study in the United States of America.

He graduated from Howard University, Washington in 1976 with a Bachelor’s degree (Cum laude with honours) in Economics and obtained a Masters in Economics from the same university.

He was on the Dean’s List of the university throughout his undergraduate studies and on full scholarship based on his academic performance.

In 1975 as the best and honours student, he won the American Economic Association Fellowship to study briefly at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. In 1980 and 1983, he bagged the MA and PhD degrees in Economics from the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

In his Valedictory Lecture delivered at the University of Uyo in June 2024, titled, “NIGERIA: THE ECONOMICS OF POTENTIALS AND THE POTENTIALS IN ECONOMICS”, Ekpo whose works are published in several publications, books and journals, argued that, “A country can be experiencing high growth rates yet 80-85% of her citizens cannot provide or have access to the basic necessities of life.

Hence, development goes beyond high growth rates to include structural changes, freedom as well as closing the inequality gap.”